LESSON TWO: BASIC RELIGION(S)

LECTURE NOTES & READING GUIDE

Textbook Notes/Outline

  1. Introduction: Questioning the Evolutionary Paradigm
  1. The Sophistication of the Supposedly “Primitive”
  1. Basic Religions Not Measured Against Other World Religions on an Evolutionary Scale
  1. Beware of the Biased Distinction Between Civilized and Non-Civilized Because Elements of Basic Religions Found in All World Religions
  1. Basic Religions Represent the Majority of the Total Religious Experience of Humankind and Hence Must be Respectfully Understood
  1. Sources of Information Concerning Basic Religions
  1. Contemporary Basic Religions
  1. Anthropologists Visit and Study Peoples Who Still Practice Basic Religions
  1. The Limits of Studying Contemporary Basic Religions
  1. Human Religiosity Represented by Contemporary Basic Religions Might be Different from Past
  2. The Origins and Developmental Turns Hidden
  3. Very Few Written Sources for Basic Religions
  1. Archaeological Study of Basic Religions of the Past
  1. Twentieth Century Archaeology Gives Some Clues about Basic Religions of the Past
  1. Written Artifacts: Scrolls, Tablets, Inscription Materials
  2. Non-Written Artifacts: Burial Sites, Weapons, Tools, Buildings, Coins
  1. The Limited Usefulness of Archaeology: Artifacts Subject to Multiple Possible Interpretations
  1. Prehistoric Beginnings of Basic Religions
  1. Neanderthal Religion
  1. Earliest Hominid (125,000 – 30,000 B.C.E.)
  1. Neanderthal Burial Sites Suggest Offerings to the Gods or Necessary Accompaniments into the World of the Dead, and/or Worshipful Attitude Toward Animals (Bears)
  1. Cro-Magnon Religion
  1. Forerunner of Homo sapiens Emerge 30,000 Years Ago
  1. Cro-Magnon Burial Sites, Wall Paintings, and Figurines
  1. Burial Sites Suggest Concern with Life Beyond Death; Corpses Curled in Fetal Position, Suggesting Belief in Rebirth to Next Life
  2. Hidden Wall Paintings of Humans Hunting Animals Suggests Efforts to Predict Successful Hunt
  3. Numerous Figurines of Female Figures Might Suggest Worship of a Fertility Goddess
  1. Neolithic Religion
  1. Neolithic People Live from 7,000 to 3,000 B.C.E.
  1. Development of Agriculture as Way of Life Allows for Development in Religious Outlook and Practice
  1. Agriculture Allows for Stability, Leisure, and Rise of Urban Life
  2. Neolithic Peoples Develop Mythological Religiosity
  3. Neolithic Peoples Build Megaliths (Giant Stone Monuments), Possibly for Religious Purposes

[TR: Note the growing complexity of religion from Neanderthal tribes to Neolithic communities. As the society grows more complex (with more social stratification) so too does the idea of the Sacred and the religions that seek to foster a connection with this Sacred reality. Remember, religion is a “culturally patterned institution.” Today, we still find these earliest forms of religion in modern society. For example, have you ever wondered why we bury the dead? Why bring flowers to a grave? Why do we create paintings and hang them on our walls? Why do we whisper in art galleries or speak with hushed tones in the presence of mountains, forests, and great expanses of land and water? Why put large grave markers over the dead? Why create large memorial walls for those fallen in battle? The rituals and styles have changed. But there is something very BASIC, or primal, about these most reverent of behaviors. We cannot express exactly why we do these things; but we know (almost innately) that we must do them.]

[TR: Before jumping into the main part of the lesson material from the text, I find it helpful to consider the view of reality that under girds all of these “basic” beliefs and behaviors.

First, think of reality as a great web of intertwining threads. The places where the threads cross appear to us as individual “things” in the world. But no one thing is fundamentally different from another,for all “things” are composed of the same fundamental “thread stuff” (let’s call in Being) that constitutes the web. As well, because of the intertwining nature of these threads, all parts of the web are influenced by every other part of the web. We call this view of reality MONISM (because the many things in the world [which only appear to be different] are really ONE). We can also refer to this worldview as ECOLOGICAL (a term that derives from a Greek word [ekoiminos], which means “household.”) All “things” are part of one great “household.” And what one member of the household does affects other members of the great household. Considering this view of reality, can you now understand why “basic” religions tend to see the gods, people, rocks, the living and the dead, animals and plants, the past and the present, etc. as equally important and Sacred. NO ONE THING IS MORE SACRED THAN ANOTHER…. IN FACT, THE SACRED IS MORE LIKE THE WHOLE WEB, OR, MORE PROPERLY, THE EXPERIENCE (OR SENSE) OF BELONGING TO THE WHOLE. RELIGION IS WHAT HELPS US EXPERIENCE AND MAINTAIN THIS CONNECTION TO THE WHOLE. RITUALS ARE CONCERNED WITH MAINTAINING BALANCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD. THERE ARE ALSO MORAL CODES THAT FORBID ACTIONS THAT MAY DISTURB THE BALANCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.…Now think back to our opening scenario about your amnesia in the presence of your family reunion…. Do my questions make more sense now?

Movie note: As you read the textbook to learn about the behaviors and beliefs that grow out of this “monistic / ecological” view of reality, think about the Walt Disney movies “Pocahontas,” “Lion King,” and “Brother Bear.” They are great examples of this way of thinking. Also, see if you can see any of these elements in modern, secular society as well as in modern religions. We’ll talk about them in the discussion board assignment.

Now back to the textbook… As you read, think of these beliefs and behaviors in light of our image of the household and the web.

  1. Common Features of Basic Religions
  2. Animism
  1. Belief that All of Nature is Alive with Spirits (Latin: anima) That Have Feelings and Can be Communicated With is Most Common Human Religious Experience
  1. Basic Religions Tend to Worship Nature in Whole or Part
  1. Stones, Animals, Mountains, Seas, Trees (Almost Everything on Earth!) Can be Object of Worship
  2. Traces of Animistic Nature Worship Present in all World Religions Today
  3. Modern Deep Ecology Movement Quasi-Animistic
  1. Magic
  1. Attempt to Control Nature for the Benefit to Some and Detriment to Others
  1. Line Between Magical Coercion and Religious Persuasion of Nature is not Always Clear
  2. Magic Might Have Been Forerunner of Religion
  1. Sympathetic / Imitative Magic Seeks to Coerce Nature by Performing Natural Acts on Smaller Scale (e.g. Voodoo)
  1. Fetish Magic: An Object With Power to Ward Off Evil and Bring Good (e.g. Lucky Charm)
  1. Divination
  1. Religious Attempt to Predict the Future
  1. Divination as Decoding Exercise: Reading Entrails of Sacrificed Animals, Observing Flight Patterns of Birds, Casting Dice or Stalks
  1. Shamans and Prophets: Person Possessed by Spirits Capable of Speaking Their Messages to the Group
  1. Taboo
  1. Polynesian Word tabu / tapu for Acts to be Avoided Lest the Spirit World Release Harmful Effects
  1. Holy Persons, Places, Objects Considered Off Limit (Taboo) for Ordinary Person
  1. Other Common Taboo Items in Basic Religions: The Dead, Menstruating Women, Certain Foods
  1. Totems
  1. Objibwa Word ototeman Used to Refer to the Animistic Sense in Basic Religions that Humans Have a Kinship with Other Creatures and/or Objects in Nature
  1. Tribe or Clan Identifies Itself with Characteristics of an Animal, Plant, Heavenly Body
  1. Tribe or Clan Treats Its Totem Object with Special Devotion, Respect, Veneration
  1. Sacrifice
  1. Most Common Practice in all World Religions
  1. Animal Sacrifice is Most Common
  2. Human Sacrifice is Rare; Usually Enemies Sacrificed
  1. Goals and Objects of Sacrifice Vary Greatly
  1. Feeding the Spirits
  2. Gift to the Spirit World
  3. Establishing Bond Between Humans and Spirit World
  1. Myth
  1. Common Practice by Which Religions Attempt to Express Truth Non-Conceptually Through Stories of Human Interactions with Divine
  1. Myths Seek to Explain Whys and Hows of the World, Humans, and the gods / spirits
  1. Myths Account for a Community’s Religious Practices
  1. Rituals
  1. Rituals—Simple or Complex—Present in All Religions
  1. Rituals Often Re-enact Mythologies to Give Devotees of a Religion the Opportunity to Identify with the Divine Characters and Their Actions
  1. Rites of Passage
  1. Specific Rituals Designed to Give Religious Meaning to Transitional Points of Life: Birth, Puberty, Marriage, Death
  1. Greatest Attention in Basic Religions Given to Rites of Passage from Childhood to Adulthood
  1. Children Often Exiled from Parents and Group as a Rite of Passage into Adulthood
  2. Goal Seems to be to Initiate Children into Religious Traditions, Secrets, Lore of Society
  1. Ancestor Veneration
  1. Belief in the On-Going Existence of the Dead is Perhaps Root of all Religion
  1. Ancestor Veneration Suggests Fear that the Dead Will Return to Do Harm to the Living
  1. Dead Often Placed Under Large Stones or Staked Down to Prevent Return
  2. Names of Dead Dropped from Use, Their Houses Burned, to Prevent Return
  1. Ancestor Veneration Motivated Also by Belief the Dead Can Benefit the Living
  1. Placating and Pleasing Dead Ancestors as Means to Ensure Benefits
  2. Ancient Chinese Culture Had Highly Developed Ancestor Veneration for this Reason

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