Chapter 14

Supernatural Beliefs

What We Will Learn

• What is religion?• What functions does religion perform for

the individual and the society as a whole?• What different forms does religion take

among the societies of the world?• What role does religion play in the

process of culture change?

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.

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

Religion in Societies

• Evangelist Timothy J. Keller thrives in Manhattan by embracing the city and identifying with its culture.

Religion

• Animism • Belief that people have souls or spirits

in addition to physical, visible bodies.• Polytheism

• The belief in the existence of many gods.

• Monotheism• The belief in only one god.

Religion• Animatism

• Belief in a generalized, impersonal power over which people have some measure of control.

• Mana• An impersonal supernatural force, inhabiting

certain people or things, which is believed to confer power, strength, and success.

Question

• ______ is a set of beliefs in supernatural beings and forces directed at helping people make sense of the world and solve important problems.

a) Beliefb) Religionc) Rituald) Superstition

Answer: b

• Religion is a set of beliefs in supernatural beings and forces directed at helping people make sense of the world and solve important problems.

Supernatural Healing

• A traditional healer from Jamaica uses supernatural powers.

Magic

• Vodoo, a form of imitative magic, is practiced in Togo.

Magic• Supernatural beliefs that involve manipulation of

supernatural forces to intervene in human activities and natural events.

• Imitative magic• Based on the idea that the procedure

performed resembles the desired result.• Contagious magic

• Based on the premise that things, once in contact with a person continue to influence that person after separation.

Sorcery and Witchcraft

• Witchcraft is an inborn, involuntary, and often unconscious capacity to cause harm to other people.

• Sorcery is the performance of certain magical rites for the purpose of harming other people.

Wicca

• A modern-day movement of witches and pagans.

• Covens are local groups of witches found in major cities in the United States, which are presided over by high priestesses.

• Satanists are individuals belonging to a group of people who worship Satan.

Wicca

• Led by Amy Krinner, a coven of Wiccans practices magic in Bayshore, New York.

Question

• _______ involves the manipulation of supernatural forces for the purpose of intervening in a wide range of human activities and natural events.

a) Magicb) Witchcraftc) Sorceryd) Religion

Answer: a

• Magic involves the manipulation of supernatural forces for the purpose of intervening in a wide range of human activities and natural events.

Question

• Unlike magic or witchcraft, ________, stories of a culture's gods, their origins, and such, serve to explain the large questions surrounding human existence.

a) legendsb) mythsc) religiond) tales

Answer: b

• Unlike magic or witchcraft, myths, stories of a culture's gods, their origins, and such, serve to explain the large questions surrounding human existence.

Myths

• Sacred literature that states certain religious truths.

• Include stories of the gods, their origins, their activities, and the moral injunctions they teach.

• A culture’s mythology is closely connected to its moral and social order.

Social Functions of Religion

• Social control• Conflict resolution• Intensifying group solidarity

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.

Question

• By helping individuals cope with the anxieties often accompanying deaths, accidents, illnesses and other misfortunes, religion serves a/an:

a) group identity function. b) cognitive function.c) positive function.d) emotional function.

Answer: d

• By helping individuals cope with the anxieties often accompanying deaths, accidents, illnesses and other misfortunes, religion serves a/an emotional function.

Classifying Religions: Anthony Wallace• Wallace identified four principal patterns of

religious organization based on what he calls cults.

• Wallace uses the term cult to refer to forms of religion that have their own set of beliefs, rituals, and goals.

• This use of the term should not be confused with the definition used to refer to an antisocial religious group that brainwashes its members before leading them to mass suicide.

Classifying Religions: Anthony Wallace

• Four forms of religious organization:• Individualistic cults• Shamanistic cults• Communal cults• Ecclesiastical cults

Individualistic Cults

• The least complex form of religious organization in which each person is his or her own religious specialist. • Vision quest

• A ritual found among a number of Plains Indian cultures wherein through visions people establish special relationships with spirits who provide them with knowledge, power, and protection.

Shamanistic Cults

• Forms of religion in which part-time religious specialists called shamans intervene with the deities on behalf of their clients.

• Shaman• A part-time religious specialist who is

thought to have supernatural powers by virtue of birth, training, or inspiration.

Shamans

• Piaroa Indian shaman Miguel Ochoa is pictured here with medicinal plants gathered from the jungle village of Aska aja, near Puerto Ayacucho, Venezuela.

Communal Cults• Societies in which groups of ordinary people

conduct religious ceremonies for the well-being of the total community.

• Rites of passage• Any ceremony celebrating the transition of a

person from one social status to another.• Rites of solidarity

• Any ceremony performed for the sake of enhancing of social integration.

Ecclesiastical Cults• Highly complex religious systems employing

full-time priests.• Ecclesiastical cults are characterized by full-

time professional clergy, who are formally elected or appointed and devote all or most of their time to performing priestly functions.

• Unlike shamans who conduct rituals during times of crisis or when their services are needed, these full-time priests conduct rituals that occur at regular intervals.

Question

• The most complex form of religion is the ________, which is commonly found in societies with state systems of government.

a) individual cultb) communal cultc) ecclesiastical cultd) shamanistic cult

Answer: c

• The most complex form of religion is the ecclesiastical cult, which is commonly found in societies with state systems of government.

Major Religions of the World

Rabbi Naamah Kelman

• Rabbi Naamah Kelman, the first female rabbi to be ordained in Israel, is a full time religious specialist who works within a hierarchical organization.

Number of Adherents of Major World Religions

Religion Millions

Christian 2106

Roman Catholic 1105

Protestant 369

Orthodox 218

Anglican 79

Independent 416

Number of Adherents of Major World Religions

Religion Millions

Bahai 7.5

Buddhist 375

Hindu 851

Jewish 15

Muslim 1283

New Religionists 107

Characteristics of Different Religious Organizations

Role Specialization Subsistence Example

Individualistic NoneFood

collectorCrow vision

quest

Shamanistic Part-timeFood

collector Pastoralism

Tungus shamanism

Characteristics of Different Religious Organizations

Role Specialization Subsistence Example

CommunalPerform rites for

communityHorticulture

Totemistic rituals

Ecclesiastical Full-timeHorticulture/Pastoralism

Christianity and

Buddhism

Religion in the U.S.

• Summary of the findings of two recent surveys on religion in America:• Roman Catholicism is the largest single

religious group, comprising 24% of the adult population.

• Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches, comprising some 220 denominations, represent 36% of the adult population.

Religion in the U.S.• Summary of the findings of two recent surveys on

religion in America:• Approximately 1.5% of the population is Jewish.• The Islamic religion is the fastest-growing organized

religion in the United States.• The percentage of adults identifying with a religious

group dropped from 90% in 1990 to 81% in 2001.• The fastest-growing group in the U.S. Is those who

do not identify with any specific religion; this group went from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001.

Globalization of Religion

• Cardinal Bernardin Gantin represents a part of the world that is growing rapidly in the number of people practicing Catholicism.

Liberation Theology

• A form of Catholicism found throughout South and Central America in which priests and nuns became actively involved in programs for social justice for the poor.

Religious Forces of Social Change

• Nativistic movements, found among American Indians.

• Cargo cults, found in Melanesia.• Separatist Christian churches are

small-scale churches that break away from the dominant church to gain greater political, economic, social, and religious autonomy.

Religious Forces of Social Change

• Mahdist movements is a term to describe revitalization movements in the Muslim world.

• Millenarian movements found in Christian areas of the world.

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

Religious Nationalism

• A phenomenon that is occurring in many parts of the world today in which traditional religious principles are merged with the workings of government.

Religion and Nationalism• On July 4, 2006, this

Statue of Liberation Through Christ was consecrated at a fundamentalist church in Memphis, Tennessee, as a way of demonstrating their belief that Christianity is the foundation of American society.