Animism And Religion

Her religious indoctrinations allowed for her subjugation but ultimately, she broke free from her false consciousness and used her faith as a tool to fight oppression. However, this is an atypical response and there is a disconnection between teachings of the church and her own developed religious beliefs that empowered her to fight. The church as an institution can and has been used as a tool of oppression, Menchú recognizes this “Catholic Action and other religions and the system itself have all tried to keep us where we were. But I think that unless a religion springs from within the people themselves, it is a weapon of the system” (Menchú 157). In her own words the church is a weapon of the system, the system of oppression. However in time

Religion has been present in this world for thousands of years, providing ancient civilizations with answers to their questions and a moral code to abide by. Today, religion still serves that same purpose and more, forming and changing as time goes on. Though religions today may share some elements, they do share vastly different opinions on the soul, time, truth, and the senses, and provide answers and a way of life to those who desire it.

A major aspect of one’s society is religion. Without it, the way people hold themselves accountable would be nonexistent. In addition, many moral standards that exist today are values taken directly from religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Currently, there exists a feud between people who believe in a god, and of those who do not. Eventually those who believe in a higher power will fight against each other. In “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe brings to light the differences and similarities of Christianity and Animism in order to demonstrate the effects of religion upon one’s society, which is exemplified by Okonkwo and his people. This is noticed in the lives of the Ibo, the missionaries, and

     The first argument that Freud makes in his assault on religion regards civilization. Freud argues that human

Freud believed human behavior was not consciously controlled, and credited three parts in the mind to any psychological activity. These are called the unconscious, the preconscious and the conscious. Personality too was given three parts, the id, the super ego and the ego. Freud believed these parts in our mind have their individual parts to play in the way we go about life. He also stated the only way to work through conflicts that arise from our subconscious and unconscious mind is through dream analysis and psychoanalysis. Other key concepts in psychodynamic theory are the psychosexual stages of development, anxiety, defence mechanisms, and free association.

As Protestantism began to spread in Europe, tension arose between Catholics and Protestants. The tension caused war between monarchs, nobles, and common people over religion. However, the many wars evolved into being about much more than religion; they became about politics and specifically, a struggle for power. Many people throughout Europe saw religion as a perfect pretext for the real reason of war: power. Through the seemingly infinite wars of religion, politics and religion came hand in hand. As exemplified by the Dutch Revolt and the Thirty Years’ War, religion was the starting cause of both wars, but political power was the true justification in the end.

I decided to watch 330 Million Gods to gain more insight on the rituals and beliefs in Hiduism, which is the philosophy of life. In the beginning of the film, there were millions of people comes together and bath at the hole river as part of their religious beliefs. Once a year, school celebrate Saraswati, Goddess of art and learning, by offering food, flowers, and a change of clothes as if the goddess is a special guest. Also, ritual was performed in order to breath life into the goddess. Nevertheless, the people understand that the god status is being replace every year, but they believe that the painted clay god is a symbol of communication or represent of divinity. The most famous god in Hindu are Brahma, the god of creator of the universe,

Almost all religions around the world are based on a belief. Almost every religion have certain rules and principles that order together within a society: Many people misunderstand and misinterpret the holy texts the Bible, Quran, Torah, and others fabricate. Religion is defined as faith to a higher being who one believes has created us. It has also been used as laws through history to stop the committing of crimes. In many religions, the consequences of breaking rules and regulations of the religion are burning in the pit of hell. Religion is man-made and was created for many reasons but mainly to keep peace and justice in the world. But the words can be manipulated and used as an excuse to start wars on this planet. This caused many to believe that the world would be a better place without religion.

Another one of Hayao Miyazaki's movies that represent an animistic worldview is My Neighbor Totoro. One of the main spirits in the movie are dust bunnies. A family consisting of a father and two daughters move into an old house that is filled with dust bunnies. At first, the children believe that the dust bunnies are just inanimate objects, but soon realize that they come to life when no one is watching them. The girls then make it their mission to catch the dust bunnies in the act of moving and to follow them to see what they do. They act completely nonchalant about discovering that these little dust bunnies are living throughout their house and are actually thrilled that they now have something to do.

It is fair to say that most individuals within modern society consider themselves a certain religion. Within this religion they believe that all human beings who are apart of that religious community are sacred, in and of themselves, because they share a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices as well as worship the same God. It can be argued according to Mark Juergensemeyer, author of “Terror in the Mind of God.” that religion has a natural affinity to violence. That is why, even though religion began the division of humankind, the religious conscience has turned out to be the most reliable voice of opposition to the self-righteous delusions of nationalist wars. In Juergensemeyer’s book he identifies religion as a primary force of violence rather than nationalism. One explanation to this statement is that; violence is relatively harmless and the act of violence is justified as a means of propagating faith, suggesting that the survival and expansion of religion through violence is acceptable. Another explanation of religious violence is that it is largely symbolic, it can be performed in dramatic and theatrical ways. Ultimately these acts occur for a certain strategic reason, or political gain. Although Juergensymeyer ignores the nationalism approach to violence other authors such as Benedict Anderson offers a more in depth meaning of nationalism as Zygmunt Bauman notes the relationship between nationalism and violence which is exemplified through the Holocaust.

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

On the other hand, Freud is more concerned with instilling the idea that infancy and childhood is a key role in development, he states, “by the time the child's intellect awakens, the doctrines of religion have already become unassailable,” suggesting that religion is a force that shapes civilization in which people function, as well as form our judgment of human civilization. Hence, the importance of developing successfully as opposed to failing to function in society, whether they are religious or not. Instead, he dubs man as “a creature of weak intelligence who is ruled by his instinctual wishes.”

would be like saying that the letter W explained the alphabet. He also believed that the

Freud believed that the human personality consisted of three interworking parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id, the largest part of the mind, is related to desires and impulses and is the main source of basic biological needs. The ego is related to reasoning and is the conscious, rational part of the personality; it monitors behavior in order to satisfy basic desires without suffering negative consequences (Boundless.com). The superego, or conscience, develops through interactions with others (mainly parents) who want the child to conform to the norms of society (Boundless.com). Freud believed that our adult lives were shaped by childhood experiences, meaning that if children did not receive the proper nurturing, that the child would be stuck in that stage or behaviors

In Sigmund Freud’s studies, he studied religion and how it reflected on people during different stages of his life. The stages he comes to discover were those of the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, and the genital stage. All of these stages are related to how a child reacts to mothers and fathers and how the Oedipus complex plays a role from infancy through adulthood. The way Freud believed these stages started and progressed are involved with his two theories of psychology. One is the ontogenetic theory, which is most enhanced by Freud, and the phylogenetic theory which is the theory by Freud that is the most criticized.