Religion
Religion is an Ideological Institution setup and organized by the Accumulating Classes to satisfy our Cognitive Need to know and understand (one of our Seven Essential Needs) by providing System friendly answers to life's Big Questions.
Related Terms
Religion > Boundary Fetish, Boundary Problem, Narrative, Sacrilization
Notes
This definition excludes grass roots Connection Framework, spiritual systems rooted in Connection Experience. As soon as a Connection Framework is infiltrated and co-opted by members of the Accumulating Class, the spiritual system transforms into a Religion.
Definitions
William James "Were one asked to characterize the life of religion in the broadest and most general terms possible, one might say that it consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto."[1]
Clifford Geertz "...a religion is:
(l) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.[2]
Geertz also notes religion helps deal with the existential despair caused by "Bafflement, suffering, and a sense of intractable ethical paradox..." [3]
According to Geertz, religion arises partly in response to the Problem of Meaning. "The Problem of Meaning...is one of the things that drive men [sic] toward belief in gods, devils, spirits, totemic principles, or the spiritual effiacy of cannibalism..."[4]
Footnotes
- ↑ James, William. Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature (p. 53). Kindle Edition.
- ↑ Geertz, Clifford. “Religion as a Cultural System.” In Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Michael Banton, 1–44. Oxon: Routledge, 2004. p. 4.
- ↑ Geertz, Clifford. “Religion as a Cultural System.” In Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Michael Banton, 1–44. Oxon: Routledge, 2004. p. 14.
- ↑ Geertz, Clifford. “Religion as a Cultural System.” In Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, edited by Michael Banton, 1–44. Oxon: Routledge, 2004. p. 25
