Exam 15: Religion

Which of the factors listed is helping to rejuvenate Catholicism in the United States?

Which of the following social processes strongly affects the ways in which religion and religious practices are being stretched and shaped today?

Anthropologist Marvin Harris suggested that human culture is a response to the practical problems of earthly existence, arguing that society is shaped by:

Which of the following is a person who sacrifices his or her life for the sake of his or her religion?

Catholic religious services often have the priest intoning the liturgy in Latin, and this helps to preserve the continuity of both the religion and the service. In Durkheim's view, what might this be considered a form of?

In his research in Niger, West Africa, anthropologist Paul Stoller apprenticed with a local sorcerer as a means of exploring the role of religion in community life there. During his apprenticeship, Stoller's work came to an abrupt end and he fled back home to the United States. What did his research and experience demonstrate regarding the power of religion in people's everyday lives? What risks do anthropologists take by immersing themselves in others' religious belief systems and practices? Do you think it is possible to comprehend another group of people's religious beliefs and practices without accepting that they are real for believers? Why or why not? What does it mean for a religious belief or practice to be considered real, and who should determine whether or not it is real?

Anthropologists are primarily interested in what aspect of religion?

Anthropologist Clifford Geertz examines the role of symbols in religion. He argues that each symbol has deep meaning and evokes powerful emotions and motivations in the religion's followers. What are two different examples of religious symbols used in the world today? What meaning do the symbols have for the religious followers? What emotions and motivations do the symbols evoke in followers and why? How do these symbols help followers make sense of their worlds? What purpose do these symbols likely serve regarding community life? Do you think symbols are imperative to religious beliefs and practices? Why or why not? What are some of the problems posed by Geertz's approach to religion?

On what basis do people often make sense of the world, reach decisions, and organize their lives?

In his work with the Azande people, E. E. Evans-Pritchard found that which of the following individuals are formally taught the knowledge of rituals and medicines and use that knowledge to thwart the work of a witch?

Most of us routinely trim our fingernails. The cuttings are tossed into the wastebasket and we don't usually give it much thought. Believers of ________ would take special precautions with their fingernail clippings, which could be used to cast a spell on them.

Which of the following theories contends that religious practices have likely developed in response to very practical problems as people sought to adapt to the natural environment?

George Gmelch discovered that baseball players who use a particular ritual, such as touching the bill of their cap every time they are up to bat, believe what about good magic?

Which of the following, according to Victor Turner, is the first stage of a rite of passage that involves the physical, psychological, or symbolic removal from the daily activities of the group?

What did anthropologist Mary Douglas conclude about the nature of some Jewish dietary codes after completing her work examining how purity and danger function in Western societies?

What did German political philosopher Karl Marx mean when he called religion "the opiate of the masses"? According to Marx, what purpose or purposes does religion serve in society? How is religion related to the economic reality and class struggle found within a society? Do you agree with Marx's arguments and ideas regarding the purpose of religion in society? Why or why not?

What has the Catholic Church in the Chiapas region of southern Mexico been accused of promoting?

The Grateful Dead toured the country until the death of Jerry Garcia, the band's founder. They attracted a huge and devoted fan base, many of whom traveled long distances to see the band perform and partake of the hallucinogens commonly found at the concerts. What kind of religious practice might an anthropologist call such activity?

In Japan, the second Monday of January is a national Coming of Age Day. Young people who have turned 20 years old in the past year wear traditional clothing, attend ceremonies in local government offices, and celebrate at parties afterwards. Coming of Age Day is an example of:

French sociologist Emile Durkheim argued that religion, particularly religious ritual, serves a crucial role in combating one's sense of anomie and in addressing larger social dynamics of alienation and dislocation. How did Durkheim define anomie, and what is a specific example of it in the world today? How does religious ritual help combat anomie? How does religious ritual address larger social dynamics of alienation and dislocation? How did these notions argued by Durkheim influence the anthropological approach to the study of religion?