Religion As A Cultural System

The question being asked is, why do cultures build religious structures? Also, how have artists tried to portray images of deities?

In the study of religion, one can quickly discern that there are two major differentiations between the anthropological definition of religion, and that of religion in the context of belief systems. Religion, in the context of anthropology, can often be related to social institutions. On the other hand, religion in the context of belief systems indicate faith in something or someone...such as oneself, a god, or object. As identified by scholar Clifford Geertz, the anthropological definition of religion is “a system of symbols which acts to (1) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (2) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (3) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality

A community is a social unit of any size that shares common values, whose members resides in a

Clifford Geertz, in his essay “Religion as a Cultural System”, presents what he considers to be the definition of religion. According to him, religion is about symbols and people use these symbols as a guide for their view of the world and how they should behave in that world. Religion, states Geertz is “a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic” (Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, page 90). What he is trying to do in this essay is provide the reader with a way of understanding religion by

Religion is a social institution composed of a unified system of beliefs, symbols, and rituals that guides human life, including behaviors and values. I agree with the claim that the sociological study of religion makes one’s religious faith stronger in societies and communities because the more knowledgeable you are of your religion, the more you follow and practice its beliefs. Reading the books of the religion of your choice allows you to choose the lifestyle you live and control your beliefs. Sociologically studying one’s religion cannot damage religious faith unless you are sociologically studying a religion other than yours. Your devotion to your religion has been given to you at birth, and normally children follow their parents before anyone else.

Religion within the context of Western civilization has undoubtably played a pivotal role in shaping and developing Western society. Regardless of the form of religion such as polytheism or monotheism, people in ancient societies believed in a God or Gods that sourrounded their daily and influenced thought. This belief in a higher power was an important part of human progression and expansion. Religion is the backbone of Western civilization and has always been a very important foundation of culture, education, philosophy, art, and social interaction.

During this semester I have learned that in essence, “free will” does not gear our decision making process, it is primarily society that influences all thoughts and behaviors in turn, impacting all aspects of our life. The evolutionary socialization process initiates at the moment of conception, in our mother’s womb, through childhood, carries on during adulthood and ends in our graves. The most important and influential agent of socialization is the family. On a global perspective, the primary teachers, our parents, educate us on language, beliefs, physical control, values and civilized behavior for public conduct. The greatest belief instilled is that of divinity and forming part of a religion.

Christianity is a historical, multi-cultural religion that is over two thousand years old and spans many countries, continents, and cultures. It is based around the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and the Bible. Bible’s “Old Testament” is taken from the Jewish Torah, however the “New Testament” is taken from the teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples. Jesus is said to have come back from the dead three days after being betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, and crucified by Pontius Pilate. After his death and resurrection, his disciples began spreading the faith around the Roman empire, though persecuted, until it was accepted as the dominant religion. From there, it survived the fall of the Roman Empire, and spread into the Germanic tribes

In this wonderful world there are different type of religions and cultures that are all special in their own way. Some religions that are known across the world are Christianity, Judaism, but most religions beyond that will sometimes get lost in the eyes of others. Some religions that are huge, but don’t get enough attention unless it negative or over romanced are: Islamic, Buddhism, Hinduism, Rastafarianism. As an anthropologist having a emic and etic perceptive is needed as to get accurate, and authentic information, so emic mean looking inside the culture and having a personal experience with the people; etic means to look from the outside and see how a certain culture interacts , and what they portray to the world. My focus of this paper

How can the sociological approach to religion help us understand the world in which Martine and Philippa live? The sociological approach to religion is separated into two distinct categories: quantitative methods, and qualitative approaches. I believe that we can better understand Martine and Philippa’s world through qualitative approach. One of the main observations I had was, the relationship between their religion and economic status. The sisters, and the rest of the community looked as if they lived in poverty. The members of the church never seemed to indulge in anything (besides the feast at the end of the film). Overall, the community seemed to be supportive, and were regularly there for each other.

After reading the activity 4.6 and relating it to the concepts in chapter 4 of Heuberger’s book, it is clear that the students’ reaction to the statement of one of their classmates was influenced by the dichotomy culture we live on. It means that “[w]e are likely to accept one side as right and the other as wrong,” right when it consists with our belief system and wrong when it does not (Heuberger 73). We are just the product of multiple influences such as the family, educational institutions, church, clubs, etc. Besides, she was the only student who thought different than the rest of the class.

Religion Religion is a social institution involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing the sacred. Religiosity is the importance of religion in a person’s life. In scene one, Alicia’s father told her to “Pray, and pray hard and God will give you a miracle. God is good and you can always depend on him!” Christianity, the religion in this case, provides purpose and meaning in the sense that praying and having faith in God is believed to bring forth results.

Sam Huntington's claims that Western ideas do not resonate with civilizations from the East is incorrect. Huntington only acknowledges that Western ideas were developed by the West when ideas such as the separation of the church and state weren’t practiced by Western civilizations all throughout Western history, while also ignoring the history of Eastern civilizations having similar ideas, namely liberty.

World religions have influenced culture and human history by affecting the way people live their daily lives. According to the Faith and Belief: Five World Religions video, religions are a system of beliefs based on feeling that there are some questions that cannot be answered except by faith. All of the world religions have different views and beliefs about these concepts. For example, in the Major World Religions slideshow, it said that Hindus believe in reincarnation and that the way people live now affects how they will live in their next life. For this reason, they live a life trying to have good karma and eventually escape the wheel of rebirth. This is very different from the way other religions, such as Christians live. As said in the

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of religion is as follows: “the belief in a god or in a group of gods, an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods, or an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group” (Merriam-Webster.) My personal definition of religion is that it is a set of beliefs and practices that generally pertain the worship of one or more than one spiritual beings or representations of a spiritual power. Religion can be personal belief or an organization or group of people who have similar beliefs and values. There are many different types of religions in the world and have been since the