RELIGION

1
RELIGION
2
RELIGION DEFINED

• RELIGION a system of beliefs, rituals, and
  ceremonies that focuses on sacred matters,
  promotes community among its followers, and
  provides for a personal spiritual experience for
  its members.

3
THE SACRED

• SACREDthose things that have supernatural
  significance and qualities, or, things that are
  set apart and given a special meaning that
  transcends immediate human existence

4
A SACRED SOCIETY

• SACRED SOCIETY a society focused on the other
  world, however conceived religious beliefs are
  practices are very important and often translated
  into laws.
• EXAMPLES-- Europe in the Middle Ages, Israel,
  Islamic Fundamentalist countries such as Iran.

5
THE SECULAR / PROFANE

• PROFANE those thongs that are regarded as part
  of ordinary life.
  
• SECULAR those matters that are temporal and
  worldly, and are not concerned with religion.

6
THE SECULAR SOCIETY

• SECULAR SOCIETY a non religious, materialistic
  society in which what really counts is the
  accumulation of material goods and wealth.
  
• SECULARIZATION a transition of a society from
  sacred to secular. It usually accompanies the GST.

7
SACRED-SECULAR HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH?

• Simply ask what is the most important thing to
  the societys people--living by their scriptures
  and religious beliefs or accumulating stuff--
  materialistic goods, power, sensuality.
• A person can be sacred in a secular society or
  secular in a sacred society--if one dares to
  violate those norms.

8
IS GOD PART OF THE RELIGIOUS EQUATION?

• At the core of most religions is a concept of a
  spiritual and eternal being, power, or force.
  The Prime Mover, as Thomas Aquinas phrased it.
  
• ETHICALIST a belief system that emphasizes
  living a good life rather than worshipping a
  deity.

9
AZTEC INSCRIPTION

• O Lord of mercy,
• grant that the chastisement
• which you have sent us
• will deliver us from evil
• and from all foolishness.

10
BLACKFOOT PRAYER

• O Great Spirit, pour down your blessings on our
  children, friends, and guests and give all of us
  happy lives.
  
• Make all the trails we follow lie straight and
  smooth before us, and let us live to a grand old
  age.
  
• For we are all your children, and we make our
  requests with sincerity of heart.

11
BEDOUIN PRAYER

• O Lord, look with favor on us. In everything that
  we may hear or sess, and in everything that we
  may say or do, look with favor on us,
  
• I ask the great God for pardon
• O Lord, save us from our sins, protect our
  children, and take care of those friends of ours
  who are not very strong

12
PRAYER OF ST. AMBROSE OF MILAN (340-397)

• Lord, teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself
  to me when I seek you.
  
• For I cannot seek you unless you teach me, nor
  find you unless yo first reveal yourself to me.
  
• Let me seek you in longing, and long for you in
  seeking. Let me find you in love, and love you in
  finding.

13
RELIGIONS ROLE IN MOST SOCIETIES

• ADDRESSES ULTIMATE MEANINGS-- who, what, when,
  where, why of existence.
  
• PROVIDES SOCIAL SUPPORT-- Durkheim and social
  cohesion
  
• PROVIDES A SCRIPT FOR LIFE-- directions on what
  is the moral life and how it should be lived.
  
• PROVIDES SOCIAL CONTROL-- regulating behavior by
  sanctions

14
BASIC QUESTIONS THAT RELIGIONS ANSWER

• WHO MADE THE WORLD?
• WHO MADE ME/ HOW DID I GET HERE?
• WHY WAS I MADE?
• WHAT HAPPENS AFTER LIFE?

15
EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT CHRISTIAN ANSWERS

• GOD MADE THE WORLD.
• GOD MADE ME
• GOD MADE ME TO KNOW HIM, TO LOVE HIM, AND TO
  SERVE HIM IN THIS WORLD AND TO BE HAPPY WITH HIM
  IN THE NEXT.

16
BELIEF IN SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION

• Most religions in communal societies believe that
  spiritual powers actively intervene in a wide
  range of human activities and natural events.
  
• This belief carries over into associational
  societies among religious believers.

17
Ritual THE HOPI OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

• Traditionalists believe that rainfall is the
  result of supernatural intervention in their
  behalf. The beings are called kachinas. The live
  in the nearby mountains and dwell in the Hopi
  villages each summer. Hopi males wear kachina
  masks and perform a series of dances to bring
  rain. The belief is that the kachina spirit
  enters the dancer while wearing the mask.

18
Ritual Canadian Inuit (Eskimo)

• Some Inuit believe that prolonged inability to
  find game may be caused by a goddess angry over
  the misconduct of members of the camp.
  
• To persuade the goddess to release the game they
  perform a ritual in which camp members publicly
  confess their sins or normative violations.

19
ALL RELIGIONS.

• 1. have beliefs about the existence and nature of
  supernatural powers
  
• 2. mythologies about the historical deeds of
  these powers
  
• 3. rituals intended to influence these powers.

20
SORCERY

• SORCERY the performance of rites and spells
  intended to cause supernatural forces to harm
  others.
  
• Sorcerers are believed not to strike randomly but
  direct their evil magic against people to whom
  they feel hatred, anger or envy.
  
• In many communal societies they are despised,
  feared, and respected for their power

21
WITCHCRAFT

• There is no general, clear distinction between
  witchcraft and sorcery. Sociologists and
  anthropologists usually emphasize the greater use
  of psychic power rather than physical objects in
  bringing good or ill for witchcraft.
• Historically, witches have been scapegoats for
  social, political, and economic ills and punished
  for their actions--the Salem phenomena

22
THE NAVAJO WITCH

• The Navajo associate withces with serious
  sins--witches commit incest, bestiality (sex with
  animals), and necrophilia (sex with corpses)
  they cannibalize helpless infants and murder
  others, and they are shape-shifters-- they change
  themselves into animals

23
WICCA today..

• Wicca, sometimes called "The Craft" or "The Craft
  of the Wise" is one of many earth-based religion.
  The religion which is closest to Wicca in America
  is probably Native American spirituality.
  Traditional Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner,
  a British civil servant, who wrote a series of
  books on the religion in the 1940's. A more
  recent form is eclectic Wicca which involves a
  combination of Wiccan beliefs and practices,
  combined with other Pagan and non-Pagan elements.
  The various traditions of Wicca are part of the
  Pagan or Neopagan group of earth-based religions.
  

24
More..

• Many Wiccans believe in a deity that is largely
  unknowable -- sometimes called "The All" or "The
  One." However, they believe that they can
  comprehend the male and female aspects of the
  deity, whom they call the God and the Goddess.
  Sometimes, they commune with "The Goddess" or
  "The God." Other times, they link with specific
  Pagan deities from the past. Instead of "the
  Goddess," they might relate to Athena, Brigit,
  Ceridwen, Diana, Hecate, Ishtar, Isis, Venus,
  etc.

25
Religion According to Gallup
26
ORGANIZATIONS TODAY

• CHURCH a formal religious organization that is
  well established and well integrated into
  society.
  
• ECCLESIA a church that is a states official
  religion.
  
• DENOMIATION a religion that maintains friendly
  relations with the government and with other
  religions but does not claim to be the nations
  only legitimate faith

27
More on organizations...

• SECT a loosely organized, nonbureaucratic
  religious organization with nonprofessional
  leadership that actively rejects the social
  environment in which it exists.
• MEGA-CHURCH a large religious congregation in
  which the church becomes a life center around
  which people organize their activities and
  provides its me,bers with many nontraditional
  services and facilities.

28
CULTS

• CULT a religious organization that has little or
  nothing to do with conventional religious
  traditions and believes that society is
  degenerate and that the members of the
  organization must withdraw together from normal
  life and live apart in group quarters or a
  commune.

29
WORLDS LARGEST RELIGIONS

• Religion world pop.
• CHRISTIAN 32.8
• MUSLIM 19.6
• HINDU 12.8
• CHINESE FOLK 6.4

30
(No Transcript)