Quiz 12 Rituals, Rites and Religion T/F Hair color is - PDF document

Quiz 12 Rituals, Rites and Religion T/F Hair color is characteristic used by 1. teacher to divide class. T/F Movie showed that children have no 2. racial bias T/F The children in this school had never 3. March 20, 2006 socialized with people of other races. T/F Children had no reaction to the division 4. of themselves into two groups. T/F The divisions were arbitrary. 5. What is religion? Mana, broadly defined 1. Animism: Doctrine of Souls (Tylor, 1871) � Belief in powerful force – Inside ordinary bodies there are intangible beings – Vitamins – “god” is elaboration of soul – Soaps and detergents 2. Natural vs. Supernatural (Emile Durkheim) – Lottery tickets – Souls are not necessarily cause of lifelike behavior • (rituals!) in inanimate objects – Concentrated form of animistic force: Mana Two elements Magic vs. Religion � Natural � Supernatural � Supernatural � James Frazier, Golden Bough – Control vs. lack of control over supernatural – Religion is lack of control, Magic is controlled 1

Shamans: Rituals � Religious specialists � Patterned behaviors that deal with supernatural realm – Examples? – Fulltime vs. part time � (vs. Secular ritual; Mana?) � What’s the difference? � Periodic vs. Non-Periodic Life cycle rituals Separation � (rites of passage) � Physically, socially, symbolically � Victor Turner (1969) Ndembu (Zambian � Special dress horticulturalists) � Real exclusion – Separation (menstrual hut) – Transition (liminal phase) – Reintegration Transition (Liminal) Reintegration � Literally between separation and integration � Initiate is welcomed back � No longer previous status, but not yet member of next stage � Ceremonial � Learning of special skills, 2

Cross-cultural comparison: Birth Other Rituals � Where infant mortality high -- babies � Pilgrimage stay in liminal phase longer � Sacrifice � Named, probably a human, but not � Rituals of Reversal necessarily “person” (with rights and – Carnival, Mardi Gras, Mummering, St. moral status) Patrick’s Day � Ultrasound in U.S. -- ritual that confers “personhood” status on fetus Cults Revitalization � Revitalization � Ghost Dance � Cargo – Under circumstances of severe disadvantage – Concerned with dramatic improvement in immediate conditions of life, or prospects of afterlife – Ghost Dance in Plains, 1880s, • Return of dead, return of Bison Cargo Cults Quiz 13 T/F Shamans are religious specialists. � Return of ship with European goods 1. T/F Doctors can be regarded as – Throwing away of trade goods 2. shamans in contemporary U.S. – Building of airstrips society. – Shows that distinction between T/F Taboos are natural. 3. supernatural and natural is not accurate T/F Lottery tickets are a kind of cargo 4. cult. T/F Taboos are immutable. 5. 3