Exam 15: Religion

According to Talal Asad, how did the cross, the Torah, and the cow gain their symbolic power?

In many cultures, the first menstruation in women is seen as a powerful marker of womanhood and is frequently marked by ritual. In some cases, the young woman is separated from the larger social cohort and left in a state of isolation that may provide a time for reflection. According to anthropologist Victor Turner, what is this stage in the ritual process called?

Anthropologists typically conduct fieldwork as participants, living in and coexisting with those they study. Why is it that anthropologists believe religion, as a set of beliefs about how the world ought to be, can also be successfully studied in this manner?

Religious revivals have been spreading across various areas of the world. In some countries, such as China, however, the government faces a dilemma. How might religion threaten a government? How would a religious revival act as an antagonistic force to an established government? What kinds of strategies has the Chinese government seemed to use in order to avoid religion as a threat and still allow it to be practiced? What do you think are the underlying forces spurring the religious revival, what direction do you think it will take in the future, and what forces do you think will affect the future direction? Do you think religion will eventually die out in the future? Why or why not?

Emile Durkheim argued that which of the following was key to allowing a society to regenerate its sense of social solidarity?

Anthropologist Victor Turner (1920-1983) considered religious pilgrimage to be a unique form of religious ritual. What is a religious pilgrimage? What are three specific examples of religious pilgrimage and what do they entail? What stages of process do the pilgrimage examples you provided entail? What purposes does religious pilgrimage serve for the individual and his or her community?

Which of the following is considered a type of magic that involves performances that imitate the desired result?

The author describes his own work in Chinatown and the appearance of a temple used by the Chinese religious communities there. People were observed praying at the altar and conducting themselves in a manner consistent with a religious site. What other function does the temple serve that is not religious?

Paul Stoller's participation in sorcery and magic in Niger afforded him a window into what aspect of both life and religion in that country?

Anthropological research illustrates that people make a religious tradition come alive in their own context through local expressions and adaptations. Which of the following is an example of this?