Chapter 14, Supernatural Beliefs

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Chapter 14, Supernatural Beliefs
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Chapter Outline

• Defining Religion
• Myths
• Functions of Religion
• Types of Religious Organization
• Globalization of World Religions
• Religion and Social Change

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Defining Religion

• A set of beliefs in supernatural forces directed
  at helping people make sense of the world and
  solve problems.
• All forms of religion are founded on a belief in
  the supernatural.

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Religion in Societies

• All societies have
• religious rituals that appease supernatural
  forces
• sets of beliefs concerning what we would call the
  soul
• notions about life after death.

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Origins of Religion

• Tools, weapons, and artifacts found in
  Neanderthal graves led anthropologists to
  conclude that they believed in an afterlife.
• Paleolithic art includes religious symbols that
  may have appeared as early as 200,000 to 300,000
  years ago.

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Religion and Magic

• Similarities
• Both are systems of supernatural belief and
  cannot be empirically demonstrated.
• Both must be accepted as a matter of faith.
• Both are practiced as a way of coping with the
  anxieties, ambiguities, and frustrations of
  everyday life.

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Religion and Magic

• Differences
• Religion deals with the major issues of human
  existence the meaning of life, death, and ones
  spiritual relationship with deities.
• Magic is directed toward specific immediate
  problems curing an illness, bringing rain, or
  ensuring safety on a long journey.

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Religion and Magic

• Differences
• Religion uses prayer and sacrifices to appeal to
  supernatural powers for assistance.
• Magic attempts to manipulate nature or other
  people by their own efforts.
• Religion tends to be a group activity magic is
  more individually oriented.

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Religion and Magic

• Differences
• Religion is practiced at a specified time, magic
  is practiced in response to specific and
  immediate problems.
• Religion usually involves officially recognized
  functionaries such as priests.
• Magic may be performed by practitioners who may
  not be recognized as having supernatural powers.

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Myths

• Sacred literature that states certain religious
  truths.
• Include stories of the gods, their origins, their
  activities, and the moral injunctions they teach.
• A cultures mythology is closely connected to its
  moral and social order.

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Social Functions of Religion

• Social control
• Conflict resolution
• Intensifying group solidarity

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Psychological Functions of Religion

• Cognitive
• provides an intellectual framework for explaining
  parts of our world that we do not understand.
• Emotional
• helps reduce anxiety by prescribing
  straightforward ways of coping with stress.

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Classifying Religions Anthony Wallace

• Based on level of specialization of the religious
  personnel who conduct rituals and ceremonies.
• Cult refers to forms of religion that have their
  own beliefs, rituals, and goals
• Individualistic cults
• Shamanistic Cults
• Communal Cults
• Ecclesiastical Cults

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Characteristics of Different Religious
Organizations
Role Specialization Role Specialization Subsistence Pattern Example
Individualistic No role specialization Food collector Crow vision quest
Shamanistic Part-time specialization Food collector Pastoralism Tungus shamanism
Communal Groups perform rites for community Horticulture Totemistic rituals
Ecclesiastical Full-time specialization in hierarchy Horticulture/Pastoralism Christianity and Buddhism
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Religion in the U.S.

• Roman Catholicism is the largest with 24 of the
  adult population.
• Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant
  comprising 220 denominations, represent 36 of
  the adult population.
• Approximately 1.5 of the population is Jewish.
• Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the U.S.
  with 1 of the adult population.

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Religious Outlook for Americans

• 3 out of 4 Americans claim their general
  outlook is religious or somewhat religious.
• 16 claim to have a secular or somewhat secular
  outlook.
• Women (42) are more likely than men (31) to
  describe their outlook as religious.
• Older adults are more likely than younger adults
  to describe their outlook as religious.

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Religion and Social Change

• When societies experience high stress, new
  religions may create social change.
• These include
• Nativistic movements, found among American
  Indians.
• Cargo cults, found in Melanesia.
• Separatist Christian churches of southern Africa.
• Mahdist movements in the Muslim world.
• Millenarian movements found in Christian areas of
  the world.

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Revitalization Movements

• Aim to add new life and purpose into the society.
  
• Tend to occur during times of cultural stress
  brought about by
• rapid change
• foreign domination
• perceived deprivation

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Revitalization Movements Process

• A society is pushed out of equilibrium by such
  forces as conquest and social domination.
• People become disillusioned, the culture becomes
  disorganized.
• Revitalization movements promise an effort to
  bring about a more satisfying society.
• Some call for a return to the better days of the
  past others seek to establish a completely new
  social order.