Religion, Peace, and Conflict Midterm Review

Chomolungma

"Mother goddess of the universe" the Tibetan name for Everest's north side

Crusade

A holy war. Bush kept religious language to a minimum and took special pains to assure 9/11 was not a latter-day crusade.

Jerry Falwell

A televangelist founder of the Moral Majority and of the religious right. He relished the opportunity of 9/11 to flog his familiar enemies: abortionists, pagans, feminists, gays, and lesbians. He said: "You helped this happen"

What is Marx's alienation?

According to Marx, the product of a worker's labor under a capitalist system results in feeling alienated. The production of labor is felt to belong to someone else and is simply a way for the worker to meet the needs of physical life - purely for wages. Thus, alienation can make an individual or society feel isolated, unworthy, and insignificant

Bruce Lincoln's aesthetic versus ethic

Aesthetics includes all practice and discourse concerned with "taste", that is, the evaluation of sensory experiences. Ethics concerns itself with "morality" in the form of abstract tenets, concrete practices, and casuistic evaluations regarding specific behaviors performed by specific categories of person (ex: how a gentleman treats a lady). Every aspect of culture offers what is good (ethics) and what is pleasing (aesthetic). It submits itself to members of the community for evaluation.

Sayyid Qutb

An influential Islamist author that shifted allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood and was imprisoned. While free, he released a militant work of his critical views of American culture: violent football, lawn care, and jahiliyyah. He said he witnesses eroticism, the disconnection between church life and social life, and the lack of spirituality in everyday life. He is a MAXIMALIST; he has the conviction that religion ought to permeate all aspects of social, human existence.

How does Freud see religion?

As a universal obsessional neurosis. He says religious behavior resembles mental illness

What is contagious magic? (Frazer)

Based on the belief that objects or substances that have been in contact with a person retain a connection to that person's essence or qualities. Manipulating these objects can influence the person's fate or well-being.

Conflict

Bruce Lincoln sees it as the situation that arises when rival interests can no longer be contained by the structures and processes ordinarily competent to do so

What are objections to the prototypical approach?

By creating a prototype and categories, the approach aims to generate understandability and simplicity so that religions can be studied at their most basic level in comparative analysis. However, the aims are simultaneously its downfall; the prototypical definition is not accurate because it is too reductive, exclusive, and simplistic. It fails to address change, individual experiences, and non-conforming religions.

What is the significance of this quote in Bruce Lincoln's suggestion on creating a definition of religion: "... [George W. Bush and Osma Bin Laden] constitute the foe as debased, benign, even demonic: "Infidels," "pagans," "heretics," "apostates," "great Satan," and the splendid tautology of cold war rhetoric, "godless atheist communism." ...." (p. 74).

Communities and institutions that define themselves in terms of religion are concerned to reconcile the gritty nature of their struggles with the elevated precepts featured in their discourse. Those results permit would-be combatants to define themselves as moral and holy, chosen people, and the adversaries the opposite. Bruce Lincoln's work emphasizes that the category of "religion" is not fixed but is subject to contestation and manipulation. The quote exemplifies this fluidity by showing how religious identity can be invoked, redefined, or weaponized in the context of political conflicts.

What does Eliade say about myth?

Eliade viewed myths as symbols put into narrative form. Myths often describe how the world came into being and how humans fit into this cosmic order. They serve as a way to orient individuals in the universe and offer a sense of belonging and purpose.

Explain the insider/outsider problem in defining religion. What is the emic or etic perspective in religious studies?

Emic (M for Member) versus Etic (ouTsider) perspective. Bruce Lincoln argues that the emic perspective does not exist apart from a non-participants curiosity. He also brings to attention the problem of deciding who is labeled an insider or outsider. Insider and outsider discourses vary greatly after the work of description has ended and explanation/analysis has begun. The question is who should we ask to give us a definition of religion?

Sagarmatha

Natives called the south side of Everest "Mother goddess of the sky"

What is excision and infibulation?

The practice in primitive African tribes (BUT also found in Muslim and Christian modern nations, including missionary committees Catholic and Protestant) where a women's clitoris is cut away to remove her gratification and make her a servant to her husband without desire.

Dharma; Din; Li; Eusebia; Pietas

The quality one is thought to possess as a result of properly fulfilling sets of social obligations, expectations, and ritual procedures, not only towards the gods or ancestors but also to ones family, peers, superiors, servants, etc.

What is determinism? (James)

The view that an individual's behavior is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual's will to do something.

Why does Geertz pay so much attention to the insider POV?

To try to see and understand religion as its practitioners do, valuing their beliefs, values, and practices.

What is totemism? (Frazer)

Where certain groups or clans identify with and venerate specific animals, plants, or natural elements as their totemic ancestors or protectors. Totemic symbols and rituals are integral to animistic belief systems.

What are the differences between magic and religion that Frazer focuses on?

Where magic declines, religion comes to fill its place. Religion follows personalities instead of the laws of contact and imitation. Differing from magic, religion is a better explanation of the world because it never claims to have iron-clad principles of explanation.

What is imitative magic? (Frazer)

Where rituals and actions are performed to imitate the desired result. For example, if one wishes to bring rain, they might mimic rain-making actions, like pouring water or dancing in a manner associated with rain.

What is imago mundi

a mirror image of the entire world as it was first fashioned by divine action

What is the profane? (Eliade)

the things of mundane, everyday life

What are Daly's observations of gynecology? What is gyn/ecology?

"Gyn/Ecology: (note: the slash was used by Daly to represent fighting with an ancient labrys) The Metaethics of Radical Feminism" is a book written by Mary Daly, a radical feminist theologian, philosopher, and scholar. The rise of gynecology, specialized medicine for women's health, was entrenched in sexism and the sexual caste system. Specialists were almost entirely male who undertook unsanitary procedures such as the removal of ovaries to cure insanity, and radical mastectomies and lobotomies. Plastic surgery can be included in this analysis, a lucrative enterprise to conform to male sexual expectations. Mind-gynecology insisted that women's mental health disorders were just because women are naturally fragile and unstable. (note: it isn't talked about in his chapter, but the neurotic patients Freud studies who were female were often dismissed and distrusted. Freud disregarded their intellect and emotions almost entirely)

What are some of Emile Durkheims main ideas?

- Social life has shaped the most fundamental features of human culture. Social solidarity has always been primary (ex: ancient contracts sworn by religious oaths for the sake of the community, the first possessions were communal in character not private property) - Religion and morals are inseparable. - Society is a tangible collection of facts which connect to each other and are external from human minds - The key element of religion is not the supernatural but the sacred - Magic and religion are entirely separate - The totem is supremely sacred to primitive religions and the most basic form of religion - The true nature of religion is ritual and function

What are Eliade's two axioms?

1) his strong stance on reductionism; he believes in the autonomy and independence of religion, which is not a by-product of some other reality 2) the second applies to method: Eliade insists combining the history of religions and the comparative study of things in the form they present to us (phenomenology)

How does Marx view religion?

>Religion operates as an ideological weapon used by the ruling class to legitimate the suffering of the poor as something inevitable and God given. >Religion misleads the poor into believing that their suffering is virtuous and that they will be favored in the afterlife. >As determined by economic realities.

Religionswissenschaft

A GERMAN TERM THAT ROUGHLY TRANSLATES AS THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

Apocalypse

A prophetic revelation, especially one concerning the end of the world. Bush used this imagery in his speeches when he said "the terrorists may burrow deeper into caves and other entrenched hiding places", signaling the moment when the Lamb of God opens the sixth seal of the scroll of doom where evildoers hid from God's judgement.

What is mysticism?

A specific tradition that emphasizes the certainty of profound personal experience with God

Explain how a religion of resistance transforms into a religion of revolution. What are the conditions that allow the transformation of a religion of resistance into a religion of revolution?

Bruce Lincoln states that religions of resistance result from the inevitable failure of the religion of the status quo to permeate and persuade all segments of society (Ex: Taoists that encouraged harmonious acceptance of the natural way contrary to Confucianists who attempted to regulate all social activity). Different values, taken seriously, result in practices with a degree of deviance, which implies/enacts defiance. Religions of resistance feature charismatic leaders, rituals that promote solidarity (ex communal meals), ritual healing (metaphorical representation of being victims to the status quo). The key difference between religions of resistance and religions of revolution is that ones of revolution define themselves in opposition to the dominant social faction itself, not its religious arm alone, promoting direct action against the factions material control over society. For a religion of resistance to transform into one of revolution there must be 3 things: 1) objective conditions within society must worsen 2) the religion of resistance must successfully articulate a new theory of political legitimacy, which denies the right of the dominant faction to occupy its privileged position and the right of the religion of the status quo to dictate normative values 3) The religion of resistance must overcome its insularity and begin to recruit actively, incorporating new adherents from segments of society previously absent from its membership

Jihad

Commonly understood to denote a holy war/struggle. It represents two struggles 1) in the realm of peace, Muslims struggle with their own selfishness, laziness, and other things that inhibit their pursuit of religious self-perfection. 2) in the realm of war, jihad takes the form of aggressive military campaigns designed to spread the practices, laws, sensibility, and political structures that ground themselves in the Prophet's revelation, and mediated through Quaranic text and oral teachings.

In Bruce Lincoln's view, what distinguishes Culture from culture? What is the source of legitimacy in both?

Culture as a general term is the prime instrument through which groups mobilize themselves, construct an identity, and exclude outsiders. "High" culture has a capital C. It consists of the "choice" works and "select" genres that enjoy privileged status, social cachet, and official support. It is the subset of culture most valorized by the fraction of society most valorized. These valorized peoples (ex: elder male priests) have control over institutions and processes with responsibility for cultural judgements and metajudgements. Popular and mass culture has a lowercase c, it involves the sum of all the communications circulating withing a group that the group recognizes as distinctly its own and through which it differentiates itself from others. Bruce Lincoln quotes: "captial-C Culture is nothing other than hegemony, while lowercase-c culture is everyhting hegemony seeks to suppress, contain, and devalue"

What does Freud say about dreams, the unconscious, and psychoanalysis.

Dreams to Freud draw on something quite unlike the unconscious or preconscious. It draws upon a layer of the mind that is hidden and powerful; the realm of the unconscious. This realm is the source for basic physical urges like sexual activity. It also included every impression and emotion we have ever experienced or wished to do. Psychoanalysis aims to rationally study this realm. It focuses a lot of the forcing mechanism of repression, where someone experienced something that produced a response so powerful that it could not be expressed openly and therefore is repressed. These repression leak into dreams, pointless movements, fears, irrational attachments, obsessive rituals, and other strange "neurotic" behaviors. Freud argued that all people are somewhat neurotic. Freud also describes dreams as wish fulfillments, states created by the mind by powerful drives like sex.

What is included in Mary Daly's Unholy Trinity?

European-American Christian Morality had turned out to be cruelly male-centered giving quiet assent or open approval to the discrimination of women, and also to the assent of the Unholy Trinity of Evils: the violent crimes of rape, genocide, and war. These are afflictions of male supremacy and androcentric religions. The foundational crime is rape; a personal act of male violation and female victimization; the source of all wider violence; the epicenter of evil. Rapism spawns racism; gynocide (violence against women) spawns genocide. Rape is the impulse that fuels the male attraction to warfare.

What is ritual sacrifice? (Frazer)

Frazer also delved into the concept of ritual sacrifice as a form of sympathetic magic. Sacrifices, whether of animals, plants, or even humans in some historical cases, were believed to appease deities or spirits and bring about desired changes in the natural world.

What are taboos? (Frazer)

Frazer examined how rituals, spells, and taboos were used in magical practices to influence events or control natural forces. These rituals often aimed to manipulate sympathetic connections to achieve desired outcomes, such as fertility, healing, or protection.

What does Frazer say about the divinity of kings?

Frazer notices the sacrifice of a pretend king to preserve by magical transfer the power of divine life. The king is seen as the divine center of the world and his mere words become law. The nature of the divine kind is very magical.

What is animism? (Frazer)

Frazer's work acknowledges the belief in spirits as a fundamental aspect of animism. Spirit interaction may include offerings, prayers, or ceremonies meant to ensure the goodwill or protection of the spirits.

What does Freud say in the future of an illusion?

Freud characterizes religion as an "illusion" that arises from human wishes and desires, particularly the need for protection, comfort, and a sense of order in the face of life's uncertainties and existential anxieties. He suggests that while religion may be an illusion, it remains a deeply ingrained and enduring aspect of human culture due to its ability to address profound psychological and emotional needs.

What does Freud say about infantile sexuality and the Oedipus complex?

Freud focuses a lot on children aged 1-6. He insists that early childhood is shaped by sexual desires. (stage one oral: a mother's breast, stage two anal: control of excretion, stage three onward: the importance of the genitals, fantasies, desires) (bruh...). These stages do not disappear but instead are overlaid by new ones. This is important for understanding the place of religious belief in the sequence of emotional growth. The Oedipus complex states that in the phallic stage (stage three), children experience a desire to replace one of their parents and become the lover of the other. He eventually submits to his father because of the castration complex.

What are objections to the functionalist approach?

Functionalism's comparative approach often prioritizes elements that are rooted in partial (often Eurocentric) ideals. Functional elements of religion, such as symbols and rituals, may not universally apply due to cultural variability, thus a definition that relies on them is not accurate. In other words, it is criticized for oversimplifying complex social dynamics and not always addressing the potential negative aspects of religion, such as its role in conflict or as a tool of social control.

What is thick description?

Geertz argued that to understand religious practices and beliefs, one must engage in detailed, contextual interpretation. This involves studying the cultural symbols, rituals, and narratives to grasp the deeper meanings and significance within a particular religious tradition

What does Geertz say is the purpose of religion?

Geertz thinks religion is a way people make sense of their world using symbols. It's a set of guidelines that helps individuals understand how to act and live. Religion connects a person's view of the world with their values and habits. Through symbols and rituals, religion offers explanations for life's challenges and mysteries, providing comfort and understanding.

What is ethnographic research?

Geertz's work emphasized the importance of ethnographic research in the study of religion. He encouraged researchers to immerse themselves in the cultural settings they were studying, engage with the people, and provide rich descriptions of religious practices

What does Eliade say about the Eternal Return?

He argued that many traditional cultures, especially those with a cyclical concept of time, believed in a mythical time when sacred events occurred. By reenacting these myths through rituals and symbolic actions, individuals could participate in the timeless, sacred reality, transcending the mundane, profane world.

What does Tylor say about the aspects of human culture?

He says the connection between basic rational thinking and social evolution is apparent in all aspects of culture. Humans look naturally to connections (ex: torture victims for tears to create rain for crops, hurting or healing others by acting on anything that has been in contact with them). He finds the same patterns of rationalization in language and math. The process starts simply with mimicking nature sounds, or counting on fingers, and advances to what we have today.

What does Freud say in his book Totem and Taboo?

He suggested that totemism might reflect a stage in the evolution of religion and morality. The totem, in his view, was a primitive representation of the father figure. Freud presented a hypothetical scenario known as the "primal horde" where early human society consisted of a single dominant male (the father), with a group of subordinate males. The father had exclusive sexual access to females in the group. At some point, the subordinate males banded together, killed and devoured the father, and established a social order without the paternal authority. Freud argued that the primal murder of the father and the subsequent taboo on incestuous relationships (resulting from the sons' guilt) played a crucial role in the development of moral and religious prohibitions. Rituals and taboos in religious practices, according to Freud, are expressions of the ongoing conflict between unconscious desires and moral and societal norms. Religious rituals serve as a way to manage and express these tensions.

How does James see the healthy minded versus sick souls?

Healthy Minded - "fundamentally...affirming and optimistic." And thus, "experience comes naturally and spontaneously." ick Souls - "more inclined to notice evil, to lean towards pessimism." Sick souls can "achieve a similar contentment [as healthy minded people] by conscious effort and practice." Sick souls seeking wellness. Sick souls having a turning point (sometimes through religion)

Why, according to Tylor, did religion come about?

Humans vivid encounters with life/death and phantoms/dreams. From there, they questioned what is behind the visible scenes of nature, like gods and spirits.

Explain the importance of the distinction between the sacred and the profane in religious studies.

In both Durkheim and Eliade's perspectives, the distinction between the sacred and the profane is crucial for understanding the nature of religion, its role in society, and its significance in individual and collective human experiences. While Durkheim focused on the sociological and collective aspects of this distinction (collective consciousness, unity over the sacred, social integration, rituals and symbols for social order, shared religious identity) , Eliade delved into its phenomenological and experiential dimensions (heirophany through rituals and symbols, sacred space and time through myths)

Al-Qaeda

Islamist terrorist organization that launched a series of attacks against U.S. It saw itself as the faithful heir to the prophets, and an enemy to non-believers

What are objections to the essentialist standpoint?

It assumes (and reduces religion to) a common identity or essence to underlie religion's many varied manifestations.

What is sympathetic magic? (Tylor and Frazer)

It is based on the principle that like produces like. This includes the Law of Similarity (e.g., a voodoo doll resembling a person) and the Law of Contagion (e.g., an object that has come into contact with a person retains a connection to that person).

What is the nature of religion according to William James?

James defines religion as, "the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider divine." Deeply felt moments when humans encounter whatever they believe is divine. Something that is beyond one's conventional experience.

What do James' theories say about religion?

James' theory positions experience as the most important aspect of religion. In other words, the most significant facet of religion is a personal and individual interaction with the divine.

How does Kant's philosophy influence our modern view of the relationship between religion and state?

Kant brought the struggle against the regime of truth that was centered around the medieval church with a compromise formulation, whereby religion was acknowledged as the only means to engage lofty metaphysical issues like the immortality of the soul, but inappropriate for all other matters. For everything save metaphysics, reason is both necessary and sufficient, and it is with this division of intellectual labor that Western modernity was founded.

What is hierophany?

Manifestation of the sacred; These are moments or events where the divine breaks into the ordinary, and individuals can perceive or experience the sacred. Rituals and symbols often facilitate hierophanies.

What is suttee (sati)?

Mary Daly draws attention to the Hindu practice of widows throwing themselves onto funeral pyres (fire) of their husbands when cremated so that they would help their husband achieve moksha (reunited with Brahman). With higher-class men, multiple wives and servants (often young, sexually abused girls) would be forced to jump into the flames at spear point. This is an example of gynocide (genocide applied to only women). Scholars observe these women are heroic and acting freely but avoid labeling it was it is: an atrocity. They say nothing about the structures of male oppression that forced Indian women into a pathetic state, internalizing the perverse values that worked to destroy their souls. Mary Daly notes the difference in recognition for this holocaust and the one in Nazi Germany.

What is value neutrality?

Max Weber's term for objectivity of sociologists in the interpretation of data

Explain the meaning and implications of McCutheon's view that definition is a tool in studying religion.

McCutcheon argues that the act of defining "religion" is a tool, a methodological instrument, and not a straightforward, neutral, or objective endeavor. In other words, defining religion is not just a matter of describing a pre-existing phenomenon; it is an act of classification, categorization, and interpretation. He challenges the idea that religion is an objective, self-evident category. He argues that it is a social and intellectual construct that has been defined and redefined by various individuals and groups over time. As a result, the very concept of "religion" is not a fixed and universally agreed-upon category but a fluid and culturally contingent one. His view highlights power dynamics across class, racial, ethnic, and cultural lines in defining religion. He encourages scholars to be critical of themselves.

What does Tylor say about the growth of religious thought?

Once spiritual ideas acquired their grip on the minds of ancient peoples, they did not remain in fixed form. They came to be complex polytheistic systems and reached their highest form with one supreme being at the top.

Discourse

One of the main building blocks of religion according to Bruce Lincoln. "A discourse whose concerns transcend the human, temporal, and contingent, and that claims for itself a similarly transcendent status" becomes religious with claims to authority and truth.

Jeremiah/Jeremiads

Prophetic denunciations and calls for repentance in the manner of Jeremiah

What does Tylor say about the decline of animism?

Rational thought also has obvious unreasonableness in the minds of savages who according to him, think alike to children. The art of science has led us away from animism.

What is asceticism?

Religious discipline with an emphasis on self-control, detachment, and growth in virtue

What does Eliade say about symbols?

Rituals and symbols serve as bridges between the sacred and the profane, allowing individuals to connect with the divine and experience a sense of meaning and purpose.

Mysterium Tremendum

Rudolf Otto's term for the nonrational or numinous experience of the holy as a fascinating, incomprehensible, and incomparable mystery and power.

What is Talal Asad's critique of Clifford Geertz's definition of religion?

Since Geertz made interiority the locus of the religious, his definition favored Protestantism as the model of religion. For other religions that don't stress the belief and the individual but more the practice, discipline, and community, their concerns and traditions are ignored, distorted, and rendered aberrant under his definition. Talal Asad critiques the project of defining because it assumes there is a discrete object to be identified in contradiction to others. He says there cannot be a universal definition of religion because it itself is the historical product of discursive processes.

Who is E. B. Tylor?

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, a 19th-century anthropologist, made significant contributions to the field of religious studies and anthropology, particularly in his book "Primitive Culture" (1871). He is often associated with the concepts of animism and magic.

Who is J. G. Frazer?

Sir James George Frazer was an influential figure in the field of anthropology and the study of religion. His major work, "The Golden Bough" (1890), explored various aspects of magic and religion in myth, ritual, and folklore.

family resemblance

Steers a middle path between essentialist and functionalist approaches. One can see that all members of a particular group more or less share a series of traits or characteristics. Family membership is not a member of yes or no but one of degree.

How does Geertz see symbols?

Symbols, whether they are religious texts, rituals, or artifacts, convey cultural meanings and serve as a way for people to express and communicate their religious beliefs and experiences. Geertz encouraged scholars to explore how religious symbols operate within a given cultural context.

What is the idea of Mary Daly's sexual caste system?

The Catholic/Christian/Protestant Church teaches that a woman's divinely sanctioned role is to support men both in society and at home. She does not belong socially; her place is at home, to raise children to carry on the name of her husband. The absence and secondary placement of women in Christianity is seen in many areas: Eve is created to serve Adam, God is "the Father", Jesus is male, God comes to Earth as male not human, references to mankind. These notions have existed for so long that their strength goes unrecognized; they have imprinted of Christian women (and women in general) a feeling of permanent inferiority.

What is Mary Daly's Most Holy Trinity?

The assertion that feminism must affirm power, justice, and love to achieve total male-female equality. This trinity must reinforce its elements in sync in order to upend androcentric culture for privileged and unwilling men. Forums for daycare, petitions for equal rights, and abortion laws are not enough--they are counterproductive to the frontal warfare of equality. "Church" and "Christ" must be upended as well, because they are so deeply tainted by patriarchy and the alienation of women in religious acts and rituals.

What is Tylor's essentialist definition of religion?

The belief in spiritual beings

What is animism? (Tylor)

The belief in the existence of spirits or supernatural beings that inhabit the natural world. Rituals and practices are often aimed at appeasing or communicating with these spirits to gain their favor or protection. It often includes the concept of souls, where not only humans but also animals, plants, and even inanimate objects may possess a soul or spirit. Animistic religions often use symbols and totems to represent or connect with the spirits. These symbols can be found in art, ritual objects, and even tattoos.

Explain the function of classification as a religious act.

The classification "religion" is one of the lenses that we commonly use to know our generic surroundings as a world comprised of significant relationships, identities, and values. Classification is based on a correspondence between name and identity--assumes that religion really is just one thing and thus there is a definitive classification system capable of expressing it. Classification is a religious act that helps us make values and establish relationships to manage the world.

What does it mean when Marx views religion as a control?

The cultural superstructure was used to placate the poor, stopping a revolt against the ruling class → addressing the emotional needs of an unhappy humanity. Stripping the working class of their "productive labor" and selling it Religion → Steals human merit for God Capitalism → Steals labor and gives it to the rich

What is Freud's threefold dimension of the human personality?

The ego (latin for I), the superego (latin for I above), and the id (latin for it). The id is considered the earliest and most basic element, it is unconscious and unaware of itself; it is where the raw, physical drives of the body translate to wishes. The top of the personality is the superego. It is a collection of influences that from birth begin to impose on one's personality from the outside world (like a family or tribes' expectations). The ego is what is in between, it is the "reality principle". Its task is to perform a continual balancing within. It must satisfy the id and be ready to curb the id when it clashes with the physical world or superego.

What are archetypes? (Eliade)

The models that mythological tales encourage people to follow

What is Eliade's nostalgia for Paradise?

The one theme that dominates the thought of all archaic peoples is the drive to abolish history and return to that point beyond time when the world began (live in the time as it came from the creators hands).

What is theodicy? (Weber)

The rational attempt to justify God in light of the reality of evil and suffering.

What is sacred? (Eliade)

The realm of the supernatural; things extraordinary and memorable; an experienc with the Holy

What is Soteriology?

The study of the doctrine of salvation

Confucianism

The system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and his disciples, stressing love for humanity, ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and harmony in thought and conduct.

Jahiliyya

Traditionally, this term designates the age of spiritual ignorance characterizing the pre-Islamic period of barbarism. Modernly, it is sometimes used to describe the world's malaise, not just as a matter of ignorance, but a more active state of rebellion against God's sovereignty on Earth.

What can we learn from Tylor's doctrine of survivals?

Tylor notes that not all cultures and not all things in any one culture evolve at the same pace. Some practices linger long after the march of progress has passed them. (ex: Archery, saying "bless you"). He says that if the principle of evolution shows why survival exists, then the principle of uniformity enables us to understand them. He says all human beings reason the same way.

What does Tylor say about psychic unity? Why is this important to his theory?

Tylor's theory of psychic unity challenged the idea that cultural differences were primarily the result of inherent racial or biological distinctions and instead emphasized the role of common human cognitive and psychological processes.

What is Karl Marx's superstructure?

Views economy, governments, religion etc. as part of a cultural superstructure used to enforce ideology from the ruling class → proletarians.

What does Max Weber say about religion?

Weber concludes not that religion is a mere reflection of social structure or economic forces, but precisely the reverse. For him, it is the new religious ideas and behaviors of Protestantism that usher in a reversal of attitudes toward acquiring wealth, and from that reversal has come the culture of commerce, markets, and capitalism.

What does Weber say about religion?

Weber insists that religious ideas must be accorded an independent, causative place in the process of understanding human history and society .Therefore religion generates beliefs and values that guide human actions.

The issue of family resemblance

Whether we decide that things overlap enough to be instances of the same thing requires a judgement analysis. Also, the approach appears to be circular in definition (ex: the sacred and profane suggest that we already need to know something about religion in order to understand the words to define it). Also, we have no choice but to employ prototypes that create bias.

What are ideal types?

model created by Max Weber when used as standard of comparison, enables us to see aspects of the real world in a clearer, more systematic way.

What is verstehen? (Weber)

the idea of understanding the subjective meanings, motivations, and interpretations that individuals attach to their actions and behaviors. The Principle presumes that we cannot explain the actions of humans as we explain occurrences in nature.

What is pragmatism? (James)

we discover the truth of our beliefs when we assess them by their value to our actions, by examining how they 'pay off' when we apply them in our lives.