hi queen

• Religion


  Various systems of belief and practice concerning what people determine to be sacred or spiritual
• Religion


  • Found in every known culture
  • Practised in a public way by a group
  • Can include feasts and festivals, God or gods, marriage and funeral services, music and art, meditation or initiation, sacrifice or service, and other aspects of culture
• Religion


  A social institution - an organized and integrated set of beliefs, behaviours, and norms centred on basic social needs and values
• Religious experience


  The conviction or sensation that one is connected to "the divine"
• Religious beliefs


  Specific ideas that members of a particular faith hold to be true
• Religious rituals


  Behaviours or practices that are either required or expected of the members of a particular group
• Substantial definitions of religion

  Attempt to delineate the crucial characteristics that define what a religion is and is not
• Functional definitions of religion

  Define religion by what it does or how it functions in society
• Family resemblance definitions of religion

  Define religion on the basis of a series of commonly shared attributes
• Scholarly definitions of religion

  • Religion is the belief in Spiritual Beings (Edward B Tylor)
  • Religion is the propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man (James George Frazer)
  • Religion is 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 the divine (William James)
  • Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things (Émile Durkeim)
  • Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern (Paul Tillich)
  • Religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, persuasive, and longlasting moods and motivations (Clifford Geertz)
  • Religion is a symbolic transformation of experience (Thomas F. O'Dea)
  • Religion is a system of symbols by means of which people orient themselves in the world with reference to both ordinary and extraordinary powers, meanings, and values (Catherine L. Albanese)
  • Religion is a means to ultimate transformation (Frederick Streng)
  • Religion is a means of ultimate transformation and/or orientation (Joseph Adler)
• Four dimensions of religion


  • Beliefs
  • Rituals
  • Experiences
  • Social forms
• Religious beliefs


  A generalized system of ideas and values that shape how members of a religious group come to understand the world around them
• Creed


  Outlines the basic principles and beliefs of a religion, used in ceremonies as a formal statement of belief
• Theodicy


  An explanation of why, if a higher power does exist, good and innocent people experience misfortune and suffering
• Rituals


  Repeated physical gestures or activities used to reinforce religious teachings, elicit spiritual feelings, and connect worshippers with a higher power
• Rite of passage


  Marks a person's transition from one stage of life to another
• Rites of passage


  • Baptisms
  • Bar Mitzvahs
  • Weddings
• Rituals


  Function to bring a group of people together to create a common, elevated experience that increases social cohesion and solidarity
• Rituals


  Can access powers that both relieve or induce anxieties within a group
• Taboos


  The designation of certain objects or acts as prohibited or sacred creates an aura of fear or anxiety around them
• Rituals


  Present at times when people face uncertainty or chance, provide a basis of psychological stability
• Rituals


  Can be used to create anxieties that keep people in line with established norms
• Taboos


  Designation of certain objects or acts as prohibited or sacred creates an aura of fear or anxiety around them
• Observance of rituals


  1. Prevent the transgression of taboos

  2. Return society to normal after taboos have been transgressed
• Failure to observe these rituals was a transgression that threatened to unbalance the cosmological order and impact the success of future hunts
• Taboos


  A form of ritualized social control that encourages people to act in ways that benefit the wider society, such as the prevention of overhunting
• Spiritual experience


  Feeling of immediate connection with a higher power, explains one set of motives behind the continued prevalence of religion
• Forms of spiritual experience

  • Incredible visions or revelations of religious founders or prophets
  • Communicating with spirits through altered states of consciousness used by tribal shamen
  • Expanded consciousness accessed through prayer or meditation
• Spiritual experiences can be awe inspiring but also intensely overwhelming for those experiencing them
• Spiritual experiences reveal a form of knowledge that is instantly transformative
• Community


  Formation of specific forms of social organization or community
• One of the key social functions of religion is to bring people together in a unified moral community
• Five Major Religions in the World

  • Judaism
  • Christianity
  • Islam
  • Hinduism
  • Buddhism
• Judaism


  Monotheistic religion that began in ancient Israel about 4,000 years ago, followers must live a life of obedience to God
• Judaism


  • Strict dietary laws (Kosher laws) originating in the Torah, goal is for holiness not health
  • Rituals like circumcision, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, multiple daily prayers
• Christianity


  Belief in the trinity of father, son, and holy spirit as one God, Jesus is the exemplar of the religion
• Christianity


  • Sacraments like baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, penance, anointing the sick, marriage, Holy Orders
  • Caring for the poor and disadvantaged is a core quality and practice
• Islam


  Monotheistic religion that originated in Saudi Arabia around 600 CE, belief that God (Allah) is the only true God and Muhammad is God's Messenger
• Islam


  • Five pillars: daily recitation of the creed, prayer five times daily, providing financial aid, participation in the month long fast, pilgrimage to Mecca
• Hinduism


  Belief in reincarnation and karma, the Dharma outlines a Hindu's duty in life and place in the caste system