1. Chapter 9: Religion & Ritual
Objectives:
Define religion, ritual, and myth and explain their social functions
Describe the history of anthropological studies of religion
Understand Clifford Geertz’s definition of religion as a cultural system
Explain the relevance of anthropological study of religion to Christian life

2. Studying Religion Clifford Geertz’s definition: What it accomplishes:
A system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men [and women] by formulating conceptions of general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic
Directs anthropologist’s attention to the social and cultural forms and meanings of religion
Does not require conception of “spirituality” or supernatural being.

3. Studying Religion
Anthropology offers an important perspective on the cultural part of religion.
Studying Christianity anthropologically can benefit Christians.
Can help us see that Christian symbols work in similar ways to other peoples’ symbols
Can help us perceive and critique how our Christian symbols intersect with other parts of our social and cultural life
Can help us understand how symbols and practices change over time and across cultures
Can help us to understand how other religions reflect our common humanity

4. Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft
Magic and witchcraft are related to religion but are also distinct.
Magic refers to ritual practices that are believed to have effects on particular situations.
It is like religion in that it addresses human insecurities and fears, and it involves dealing with the invisible realm of life.
It is unlike religion in that it is limited to specific events and outcomes; it doesn’t involve a lifestyle of devotion, and it has a much smaller corporate component.

5. Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft (cont.)
Witchcraft is evil done by a person without his or her awareness.
Harm that occurs to someone in the group may be attributed to the witch, which may serve as a plausible explanation when all normal causes for a problem have been exhausted
Sorcery is evil done by a person who caused it to happen.
A sorcerer has access to spiritual power and is able to activate the power to harm others
Witchcraft and sorcery are like religion because they help address otherwise unexplainable human suffering and provide an explanation for how the supernatural and natural worlds intersect.
They are unlike religion in that they involve less extensive ritual, less complex theologies, and few (if any) corporate practices.

6. Early Anthropological Approaches to Religion
Edward Tylor drew on unilinear cultural evolution theory to propose that changes in religious systems provide a prototype for cultural change generally.
All religions follow a common trajectory from primitive to complex.
Most primitive religion is animism, the belief that souls or spirits exist not only in humans, but also in plants, animals, elements of nature, or even all of creation.
Animism leads to polytheism, the belief in many gods/goddesses.
Polytheism leads to monotheism, the belief that there is only one god.

7. Functions of Religion
Anthropologists saw the limitations of unilinear cultural theory and moved towards a functionalist theory of religion.
Anthropologists did not ask whether or not a religion was really true; they were studying how religious beliefs and practices worked to stabilize or improve the culture as a whole.
Anthropologists also began to draw on materialist theories.
Cultural materialism is a theory that interprets religious behaviors and beliefs in terms of how they help humans adapt to the material conditions in which they live.

8. Religion as a Cultural System
Functionalist and materialistic theories of religion were reductionistic because they saw religion as merely an effect of other parts of culture.
Clifford Geertz’s definition of religion as a system of symbols
does not deny the functional consequences of religion.
encourages anthropologists to study religion as a thing in itself, rather than a result of other causes.
focuses on how people use religion to make sense of life, the universe, and everything.
Three important dimensions to religion as a cultural system are: symbols, ritual, and myth.

9. Religion as a Cultural System
Symbols
A symbol is an object, sound, action, or idea to which people assign arbitrary meaning.
Symbols affirm what people believe to be true of the world.
A symbol system evokes moods and motivations that allow for an expression of, and understanding of, a particular conception of a general order of existence.
People use real objects and actions to help create a sense that what they believe is true.

10. Religion as a Cultural System
Ritual
Any patterned, repeated, predictable action
May be secular or religious
Is performed to emphasize some fact, desire, or belief; to transform or influence the feelings or beliefs of those participating; or to resignify social relationships
Three significant categories of ritual are: Rites of intensification, rites of affliction, and rites of passage

11. Religion as a Cultural System
Ritual: Rites of Intensification
Rituals in which elements of society, belief, values, or behaviors are made more dramatic, intense, or real than in normal life
A high school pep rally and a romantic date are examples of nonreligious rites of intensification.
Christian worship, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Lord’s Supper are examples of religious (specifically Christian) rites of intensification.

12. Religion as a Cultural System
Ritual: Rites of Affliction
Rituals directed at alleviating suffering or resolving a problem
Rituals for the growth and protection of crops, physical healing, or the maintenance of good social relationships are so much a part of life that people do not consider them religion.
Baptism is a Christian rite of affliction.
Christian rites of affliction are not magic; they are not transactions because the outcome is not guaranteed.

13. Religion as a Cultural System
Ritual: Rites of Passage
Rituals that transform a person or people from one life state to another
Also known as life-cycle rituals
Take a person or people through phases in which social status is thought to change
Victor Turner identifies three common stages of rites of passage
Separation
Liminality
Reintegration

14. Religion as a Cultural System
Rituals: Rites of Passage (cont.)
Separation
Symbolically or physically separating those going through the transition from their old identity
Liminality
Person/people move into an identity that is not yet the new one but also not the old
They are sometimes required to do things that under normal circumstances would be forbidden, harmful, or shameful.
Reintegration
The person or people are welcomed back into the community in their new identity

15. Religion as a Cultural System
Myth
For rituals to have meaning they must be rooted in foundational myths.
In anthropology, the word “myth” does not imply that something is not true, but rather that it is important.
A myth is any story with sacred significance.
Tells people what is important, valued, and right
May be secular (like a ritual)
Two views of myth in anthropology
Malinowski sees myths as charters for social organization.
Levi-Strauss agrees with Malinowski but believes that myths more fundamentally organize human thought.

16. Ritual Change
The relative importance of particular myths change, and as people’s concerns or values change, so too do ritual forms.
Ritual change is evident even in wedding rituals.
The most radical form of ritual change is when someone converts from one religious system to another.

17. Christians and Anthropology
Anthropology analyzes religion as a cultural system and offers holistic interpretation of how people incorporate religion into their lives.
It does not make any claims as to whether a religious belief is true.
Anthropological analysis reveals how the image of God, present in every human being, drives people everywhere to seek God.
Those who feel called to cross cultural boundaries in sharing their faith need to understand how the symbols, myths, rituals, and other practices of religion work together to help people believe.
God is never completely or perfectly represented in any manifestation of human devotion, and therefore it should not surprise us that Christians have many different ways of expressing this commitment.