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19 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Boundaries |
-ppl are concerned with how to cross boundaries but also about how to live well within them -in religion, its not just about crossing boundaries but about respecting them -learning to live well within boundaries/learning how to cross them safely give rise to 2 kinds of religion |
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Ordinary Religion |
synonymous with culture. it shows people how to live well within boundaries. its the source of distinguishable cultural forms and the background out of which the norms that are in our everyday life live. puts its premium on the things that are most present and revered within everyday life. reveals itself in vague intuitive statements: ‘what will be will be’ ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ ‘its better to give than to receive’. its better at being implicit than explicit. Ordinary religion can reveal itself in the many customs that are part of a culture: expected ways of greeting people, wedding etiquette, habits of diet, holiday behavior, etc. Each of these can tell a lot about the main values of a society. each is a boundary marker that helps people locate themselves. ordinary religion can take itself in what is called ‘spirituality’. living well in this world, not in another. tends to be at home with the way things are. its about living well within boundaries. values social distinctions that define life in the community and respects social roles people play. honors ranks people hold, general institutions of government, education, family, recreation. reinforces the bonds between members of a society, provides social glue to make people cohere -the ordinary religion of American culture comes through the media, public school system, government communications, and commercial networks. |
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Extraordinary Religion |
the religion that helps people to transcend or move beyond their every day culture and concerns. Extraordinary religion grows at the borders of life as we know it and seeks to cross over. in the west, extraordinary religion helps people to contact their God. outside the ordinary circle of society. involves encounter with some form of difference, natural or supernatural. encourages special language that distinguishes, finds expression in universal statements, the language maps landscape that ppl have not clearly seen. gives ppl names for the unknown and provides access to world beyond. “other” world does touch this one but is never merely the same as it. encourages religious activity on part of the community and individuals. challenge believers to pass into unknown territory. mystics and prophets are heroes and heroins of extraordinary religion. concerns itself with whats extraordinary in day to day existence. |
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Components of a Religious System |
-Creeds: explanations about the meaning of human life. take various forms, from highly developed theologies/sacred stories of origin to informal oral traditions and opinions that surface in casual conversation. -Codes: rules that govern everyday behavior. may take form of moral and ethical systems, may also be customs that have become acceptable in a society -Cultuses: rituals to act out understandings expressed in creeds and codes. ritual cultures reinforce creeds and codes in complete religious systems -Communities: groups of people either formally or informally bound together by the creed, code, and cultus they share. in the ordinary, such communities tend to be ethnic or cultural, uniting those that share common land, history, language. in the extraordinary, such communities tend to be identified with formal institutions. they are designated in terms of their social organizations as churches, denominations, sects, smaller spiritual practice groups. |
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Religious System |
-both ordinary and extraordinary exist as religious systems: they're composed of parts related to other parts, together form a whole. These parts are the four C’s: creed, code, cultus, community. these 4 name the related symbols that make up a religious system. each is present in both ordinary and extraordinary. |
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Description of Religion |
-religion can be seen as a system or symbols (creed, code, cultus) by means or which people (a community) locate themselves in the world with reference to both ordinary and extraordinary powers, meanings, and values. locating oneself means taking not of where the boundaries are and placing oneself in relation to them, may mean placing oneself carefully within boundaries. from this perspective, while many live without gods, nobody lives without religion. many live in more than one religious system. definition of religion have often ended by assuming that religion had to be about the gods. religion deals with boundaries in restorative or transformative ways |
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Restorative Religion |
works to bring back a sense of order and safety, tranquility and peace when they seem eroded. keeps people on tracks they find comfortable |
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Transformative Religion |
functions to change things. the changes may be constructive, enhancing life, or may be destructive, negating life as most people understand it |
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Manliness of Religions |
-refers to the distinct religions of the many people in the US and their continuing religious creations, re creations, and changes -Religious pluralism and post pluralism |
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Religious Pluralism |
Free existence of many faiths |
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Postpluralism |
New combinations that occur as people borrow religious ideas and practices from one another |
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Oneness of Religion |
the religious unity among Americans, refers to the dominant public cluster of organizations, ideas, and moral values that have characterized this country -geographically, the religion of oneness means the ways of looking at religion and the styles of religious behavior that are present throughout the country |
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America as Religious Zoo |
many religious animals of sometimes altogether different species and hybrids. each of these is a form of extraordinary religion, but also has portions of ordinary religion |
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"one" religion |
has been historically dominant because of its share of population, power in government and supporting institutions, and public prestige |
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Common Characteristics of NA Spirituality |
-the view of the world is like a huge extended family network: family meaning responsibility and accountability. family should be responsibility for them and then accountable based on your actions -the view of nature. NA hold to a sacredness of matter. ex, appreciating a tree just because it's a tree. they look at something and say that it has worth just because it is. they have been called the first natural ecologists. when they were living in the midst of something they used EVERYTHING. -the dance, NA used the dance to act out myth and history. it is a story telling and celebratory mechanism. most of the time the formal dance (pow wow) go on for a long time, they tell a BIG story. a myth is not false, a myth is a literary form. myths are EVERYWHERE. all people have their myths. 2 creation stories in genesis 1-3 are myth. at the core of the story is something true -direction, the notion of being in your place, being centered, grounded. NA always talk about themselves included with some kind of land mass. strong in their place, they are part of it -shamans, vast majority of the time are men, holy healer men. seem to be the person in the community who communicates between this world and the other. medicine women, medicine man. will have a notion of healing |
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*Common Characteristics in Religion: Book |
-posses strong sense of relationship with what they hold sacred, see sacred realities as very closely linked to their daily existence -NA’s have thought of a world to which they were bound by ties of kinship -Thunder Beings, Grandmother Spider, Corn Mother -animals who took on human form like Coyote the Trickster, sacred birds, sacred buffalo -shamans: holy people who, as sacred healers, mystics, and magicians in one, were said to fly like birds and talk to animals -see themselves as connected to sacred events that occurred b4 the coming of the present world -the material world was above all holy, sacredness of matter -the forces of the universe could be named as relatives -evolved elaborate rules of courtesy for hunting/planting, apologizing to spirits of the life forms they took, offering “fruits” to these spirits, being careful to use every portion of what they killed -their personal inner worlds were sacred -dreams have revealed holy/hidden things -the name of an indian person should show his or her kinship w the natural world, also tell something of inner essence. names were traditionally changed as significant deeds and happenings occurred. colors were also important, each of the 4 directions had its color that brought certain qualities -indian lore is filled with account of animal human changes -Trickster Figures: shape shifters who could assume any form they chose in their adventures. beings of creative power who helped put present world in order. embody a principle of disorder that continually disturbs regular workings of society -continuity/discontinuity, identity/transformation were statements about boundaries. frameworks that bound NA together were all important. also realized the fragility of these frameworks -highlighted the importance of transformation in their ceremonies -sacred clowns: funny and frightening, dressed themselves backwards acting in backwards manner. embarrassed others by sexual joking/mimicking, teased. brought retribution to the people. by turning order inside out, pointed to fragility of boundaries and necessity to destroy them. -masked dancers impersonated different Gods/guardian spirits and sometimes felt they became the figure they impersonated -NA religions proclaimed the deceptiveness of appearances. this ordinary world touched another, sacredness was never far away. they believed their task was to bring themselves into harmony w the world -numbers: 4: privaledged number, four directions, appeared in story, legend and ceremony. 5: added center to the 4 corners. 7: added a vertical dimension -circles were sacred, they reflected/imitated shapes they saw in natural world |
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Trickster Figures |
shape shifters who could assume any form they chose in their adventures. beings of creative power who helped put present world in order. embody a principle of disorder that continually disturbs regular workings of society |
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Sacred Clowns |
funny and frightening, dressed themselves backwards acting in backwards manner. embarrassed others by sexual joking/mimicking, teased. brought retribution to the people. by turning order inside out, pointed to fragility of boundaries and necessity to destroy them. |
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Importance of Numbers |
4: privaledged number, four directions, appeared in story, legend and ceremony. 5: added center to the 4 corners. 7: added a vertical dimension |
