Religion and Belief System

• Religion - social institution that answers questions and explains the seemingly inexplicable.
• Religion - provides explanations for why things happen and demystifies the ideas of birth and death.
• Religion and Belief Systems

  • Animism
  • Polytheism
  • Monotheism
  • Institutionalized Religions
  • Separation of church and state
• Religions - different in terms of perspectives and practices.
• Religion - can be found in all human societies which makes it culturally universal.
• Religion - affects us and our way of thinking in the existing world. It serves as a pattern for the actions we take in day-to-day existence.
• -Functions of Religion-

  • Functionalism
  • Conflict Theory
  • Symbolic Interactionism
• Functionalism (who) - Emile Durkheim
• Conflict Theory (who) - Karl Marx
• Symbolic Interactionism (who) - Max Weber
• Animism - Belief that the natural world, as a whole or in parts, has a soul or spirit.
• Animism

  As a whole = World Spirit, Mother Earth
• Animism

  In parts = rocks, trees, springs, and animals.
• Spirits - can be in either good or bad form which can make interactions and influences on humans in various ways and forms
• Bad spirits - negative energies, possessions, demonic disturbances and cases of insanity.
• Good spirits - attributes that aid humans in acquiring their needs and addressing their issues.
• Polytheism - Belief in more than one deity which is characterized by the worship of many deities that illustrate the ways of life including beliefs, practices and traditions.
• poly - which means “many”
• theism - which means “god”.
• Polytheistic deities consist of variants such as: Sky god, Death deity , Mother goddess , Love goddess, Creator deity, Trickster deity , Life- death-rebirth deity, Culture hero
• Hinduism Considered as the world's oldest religion still being practiced today.
• Ganesh (Ganapati) One of the Hindu gods - an elephant-headed god.
• Ganesh - god of wisdom and learning, as well as the remover of obstacles, and consequently the sign of auspiciousness.
• Ganesh - written down the Mahabharata from the dictation of Vyasa.
• Ganesh - He is the lord (Isa) of the Ganas or troops of inferior deities, but more well-known as the son of Shiva and Parvati.
• Ganesh - common representations a pot-bellied figure, usually but not always yellow in color. In his four hands, he holds a shell, a discus, a club, and a water lily; his elephant head has only one tusk.
• Monotheism - Belief in one god, which is accountable for all the things happening in the world including the world’s creation and existence.
• Monotheism - Scholars argue that as human societies affiliate with a few of the gods in the pantheon, they have come to practice exclusive worship of several deities that was promoted with the ascension of a singular chosen deity to supremacy.
• Hume (2015) - believed that the differences between polytheism and monotheism led to the changes of the human mind, wherein rationality is more associated with monotheism while tolerance is to polytheism.
• Monotheism - Ex: Christians and Muslims
• Institutionalized Religion - is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established.
• Institutionalized Religion - also called as Organized Religion
• -CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTITUTIONALIZED RELIGION-

  • Wide-scale religious clout
  • Hierarchical leadership and membership
  • Codified Rituals
• Wide-scale religious clout - the number of individuals affiliated with this religious institution is immense that it crosses political and international borders and cuts across social status.
• Hierarchical leadership and membership - followers of this type of faith system are relegated to socio-political posts within the system, which provides ranking and status. This implies that access to the divine may not be given to every member but is a privilege of a select few. The decisions for the welfare of the religious group are also made by those who hold power while members are expected to follow them.
• Codified Rituals - processes of interacting with the divine and with fellow members are guided by written rules and regulations that have the power of the law , such that a member’s inability to comply results in the imposition of sanctions.
• -Most of subscribe religions-

  • Christianity
  • Islam
  • Judaism
  • Hinduism
  • Buddhism
• Hinduism – They believe in principle of Karma, which is the wisdom or health of one’s eternal soul.
• Hinduism – it is the oldest major world religion, dominant in India. Hindus do not worship a single person or deity but rather are guided by a set of ancient cultural beliefs.
• Karma - can be strengthen with good acts and harmed by bad acts.