1. The document discusses definitions and types of religion including animism, polytheism, monotheism, and shamanism. It also covers major world religions and trends like growing monotheism and fundamentalism. 2. Religions are influenced by and reflect aspects of the cultures and societies in which they exist. They help maintain social order and norms. Religions may also change and blend with other beliefs during periods of cultural contact and change. 3. Secular rituals in modern societies can provide similar functions to religious rituals in giving people a sense of community and meaning. Religious demographics are shifting in countries like the US and Canada.

1. Religion Monthly missive on sale At local community fair. Photo: J. Fortier

2. Religion What Is Religion? Origins, Functions, and Expressions of Religion Religion and Cultural Ecology Social Con t rol

3. Definitions Religion is any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to supernatural power, whether that power be forces, gods, spirits, ghosts, or demons Image of Hindu demon-deity ‘Bhairav’ Photo: J. Fortier

4. Definitions Magic Sorcery Witchcraft Greco-Roman magic figurine; Photo: Prof. E. Pollard, SDSU

5. Universality of Religion Need to understand Reversion to childhood feelings Anxiety & uncertainty Need for community A Hindu astrologer; Photo J.Fortier

6. Animism Animism is seen as basic tendency to dream of soul-others at night Belief in souls that derives from the first attempt to explain dreams and like phenomena Has come to be seen as a belief in soul-beings in others Tylor first studied religion anthropologically and developed a taxonomy of religions

7. Animism - A need to understand? E. B. Tylor Early humans believed in souls (false) Evolutionary progression: animism>polytheism> monotheism>science Nurit Bird-David Relational Ontology- belief that all beings are related

8. Raji woman collects Yam ‘Mother’

9. Buddha attained enlightenment under Ficus religiosa • Adam & Eve ate from the Fig tree Courtesy Woody Moise at picasaweb.google.com

10. Animism of the Pleiades: “The 7 Sisters” Animation of star Formations is Common across cultures

11. Types of Supernatural Forces & Beings Supernatural forces Supernatural beings Folk form of Siva, Nepal. Photo: J. Fortier

12. Supernatural forces Inanimate Mana Taboo Winds Weather elements, Bad or good luck Hail storm. Photo: ccc.atmos.colostate.edu/.../ sheila_clouds2.htm

13. Mana and Taboo Polynesian mana and related concept of taboo related to the more hierarchical nature of Polynesian society Melanesian mana defined as sacred impersonal force that is much like the Western concept of luck Mana – belief in immanent supernatural domain or life-force, potentially subject to human manipulation

14. Weather as Supernatural Ban Raji call weather forces ‘Hawa’a” Batek of Malaysia call them ‘Hala’’ Thunder Windstorms Earthquake/’Big’ weather disasters Ban Raji woman struck by Hawa’a

15. Supernatural beings Animate Gods, goddesses Spirits, Fairies, sprites, ogres Ghosts Dead ancestors Totems

16. Totemism Totems are apical ancestor of clans Members of clan did not kill or eat their totem, except once a year when the members of the clan gathered for ceremonies dedicated to the totem In totemic societies, each descent group has an animal, plant, or geographical feature from which they claim descent

17. Religion and Cultural Ecology Sacred Cattle in India

18. Religion and Cultural Ecology Cattle play important adaptive role in Indian ecosystem that evolved over thousands of years Hindus use cattle for transportation, traction, and manure Bigger cattle eat more, making them more expensive to keep Sacred Cattle in India Views of Western experts are ethnocentric and incorrect because:

19. Religions & Social Correlations Deities mimic aspects of human society Child-rearing practices Complexity of the society Degree of societal/governmental control Greek Minotaur. Photo: www.historyforkids.org

20. Types of Religions Shamanic - shamans part-time religious intermediaries who may act as curers – these religions are characteristic of foragers but found in farming societies too Shaman Possessed; Photo: J. Fortier

21. Kinds of Religion Olympian or Polytheistic religions –appeared with states, have full-time religious specialists and have potent anthropomorphic gods who may exist as a pantheon Monotheistic religions – have attributes of Olympian religions, except pantheon of gods subsumed under a single eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent being Communal religions – have shamans, community rituals, multiple nature gods

22. Major World Religions by Percentage of World Population 2005 Source: Adherents.com. 2005. http://www.adherents.com/Religions_by_adherents .html.

23. Trends Monotheistic religions growing Found in highly stratified state societies Fundamentalism growing Source: www.class.uh.edu

24. Religion and Change Religious leaders also may seek to alter or revitalize their society Nativistic or Revitalization Movements Social moments that occur in times of change The colonial-era Iroquois reformation led by Handsome Lake is example of revitalization movement Religion helps maintain social order

25. Syncretisms Voodoo, santeria Cargo cults of Melanesia and Papua New Guinea are syncretisms of Christian doctrine with aboriginal beliefs Often emerge when traditional, non-Western societies have regular contact with industrialized societies Cultural mix, including religious blends, that emerge when two or more cultural traditions come into contact

26. Location of Melanesian Cargo Cults • Part of Revitalization Movements

27. Antimodernism and Fundamentalism Tribalism, Fundamentalism, Parochialism all opposed in some ways to Globalism Antimodernism – rejection of the modern in favor of what is perceived as an earlier, purer, and better way of life

28. Antimodernism and Fundamentalism Assert an identity separate from the larger religious group from which they arose Seek to rescue religion from absorption into modern, Western culture Strive to protect distinctive doctrine and way of life and of salvations Many fundamentalists are politically aware citizens of nation-states Fundamentalism – antimodernist movements in various religions

29. A New Age Number of Americans giving no religious preference grew from 7% to 13% between 1990 and 2001

30. A New Age Exemption from taxation on income and property Not all religions receive official recognition Scientology recognized as church in U.S. but not in Germany In U.S. official recognition of a religion entitles it to a modicum of respect

31. Secular Rituals Include formal, invariant, stereotyped, earnest, repetitive behavior and rites of passage that take place in nonreligious settings Many Americans seek in such apparently secular contexts as amusement parks, rock concerts, and sporting events what other people find in religious rites, beliefs, and ceremonies

32. Religious Composition (in Percentages) of the Populations of the U.S., 1990 and 2001, and Canada, 1991 and 2001