Download Religion - Cultural Anthropology - Notes | ANT 2410 and more Study notes Introduction to Cultural Anthropology in PDF only on Docsity! Lecture 20 Outline 11/04/08 Definitions of religion Religion is “the beliefs and practices concerned with supernatural beings, powers and forces.” (Anthony Wallace 1966) “A religion is a system of symbols which act to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.” (Clifford Geerttz 1973) Supernatural: those powers, events, and experiences that are beyond ordinary human control and the laws of nature, and are outside reality as normally experienced. Religion is a cultural universal: every culture has some set of beliefs and practices that center on the relationship of humans to the supernatural. Most important functions of religion Religion exists in every culture serving to: - answer grand questions such as who we are, where we came from, what is the meaning of what we are doing, where we are heading toward, why the world is the way as is, how we should respond to the situation in which we find ourselves, ...; - alleviate uncertainty and anxiety; - boost a sense of control; - provide social stability by maintaining the existing social order; - affirm a person’s place in society and enhance feelings of community, thus give people confidence. The origin of religion Humans are not products of religion. A religion is a product of humans. According to E. B. Tylor, one of the earliest social scientists to propose a major theory of the origin of religion, religion came into being when people first attempted to comprehend conditions and events, such as dreams, trances, and death, which they could not explain by reference to daily experience. E.B. Tylor’s evolutionary scheme of religious development: Animism -- polytheism -- monotheism Two basic types of religious beliefs Animism: the belief that living creatures and inanimate objects have life and personality, referred to as spirits, ghosts, or gods.
