The mistreatment of foreign cultural viewpoints is a constant in the history of the United States. It begins with the relation of magic, science, and religion within the American cultural viewpoint. Within this are specific ideas of what each of these terms mean. For instance, science is seen as an empirical study, something that has supporting evidence and is therefore accepted as truth. Secondly, religion is seen as a group of individuals practicing a belief. Although the United States was founded on religious tolerance, only large modern religions are widely accepted. The most important part of this viewpoint is its idea of magic. Magic is attributed as a negative connotation in American culture. It is used to describe unaccepted practices
…show more content…
Similar to Shamanism, Voodoo has received a negative connotation in the United States (Brown, p. 4). Like shamanism, this negativity arises from misunderstanding and the fear of such misunderstanding. In Hatian Voodoo a regular practice is the possession performance, or trance state in which the priestess becomes a vessel for the spirit world. In such instances, the followers at the ritual interact and feel the spirits presence (Brown, p. 6). This act shares inherent similarities with that of both shamanistic rituals and the prayer ritual of Christianity. Even with these basic similarities Voodoo is still seen as taboo and evil. A possible explanation is due to the American viewpoint seeing such practices as savage, or barbaric. This draws attention to the writing on the Nacirema by Miner. Miner describes several different ritual practices such as a daily body rituals, and visits to medicine men called “listeners” (Miner, 1956). Although after reading through the article it becomes apparent that Nacirema, is actually the modern American. This work shows how anything can be shown as barbaric by using certain terminology. It becomes evident that the view that these practices are barbaric is simply because our view point looks at them, just as the reader would first interpret the culture of the …show more content…
A prime example is the Obijwa, this is a prime example of when two world views completely differ, and end in tragedy. Such an issue arose between the Ojibwa and the technocratic model so accepted by Americans. In Obijwa culture nature is seen as a living and breathing, as well as an integrated part of their lives. In one anecdote an Ojibwa man notes that thunder and lightning are due to a form of thunder birds (Hallowell, p 10). This acceptance and integration with nature, and the body with the soul is common throughout the Ojibwa culture. This Ideology is completely disregarded in American viewpoints, as shown in the technocratic model. The model moves to view the body as a machine, in order to treat the problems it faces (Davis-Floyd, 1993). Clearly there is a large conflict in world views between these two ideas of thought. The Ojibwa viewed the world as intertwined, and although they most likely did not have words for magic, science, and religion, one can conclude that based on other beliefs they would have used these phrases interchanably. Adversely, in the Technocratic Model, definitions are set in stone. This is a prime example of the American view point striving to place themselves in control. Unwilling to accept that they are a part of nature, they move to rise above nature, by giving machine like attributes
Similar to Shamanism, Voodoo has received a negative connotation in the United States (Brown, p. 4). Like shamanism, this negativity arises from misunderstanding and the fear of such misunderstanding. In Hatian Voodoo a regular practice is the possession performance, or trance state in which the priestess becomes a vessel for the spirit world. In such instances, the followers at the ritual interact and feel the spirits presence (Brown, p. 6). This act shares inherent similarities with that of both shamanistic rituals and the prayer ritual of Christianity. Even with these basic similarities Voodoo is still seen as taboo and evil. A possible explanation is due to the American viewpoint seeing such practices as savage, or barbaric. This draws attention to the writing on the Nacirema by Miner. Miner describes several different ritual practices such as a daily body rituals, and visits to medicine men called “listeners” (Miner, 1956). Although after reading through the article it becomes apparent that Nacirema, is actually the modern American. This work shows how anything can be shown as barbaric by using certain terminology. It becomes evident that the view that these practices are barbaric is simply because our view point looks at them, just as the reader would first interpret the culture of the …show more content…
A prime example is the Obijwa, this is a prime example of when two world views completely differ, and end in tragedy. Such an issue arose between the Ojibwa and the technocratic model so accepted by Americans. In Obijwa culture nature is seen as a living and breathing, as well as an integrated part of their lives. In one anecdote an Ojibwa man notes that thunder and lightning are due to a form of thunder birds (Hallowell, p 10). This acceptance and integration with nature, and the body with the soul is common throughout the Ojibwa culture. This Ideology is completely disregarded in American viewpoints, as shown in the technocratic model. The model moves to view the body as a machine, in order to treat the problems it faces (Davis-Floyd, 1993). Clearly there is a large conflict in world views between these two ideas of thought. The Ojibwa viewed the world as intertwined, and although they most likely did not have words for magic, science, and religion, one can conclude that based on other beliefs they would have used these phrases interchanably. Adversely, in the Technocratic Model, definitions are set in stone. This is a prime example of the American view point striving to place themselves in control. Unwilling to accept that they are a part of nature, they move to rise above nature, by giving machine like attributes