Religion and Belief Systems

Religion
• Is a social institution that answers
questions and explains the seemingly
inexplicable. It provides explanation
for why many things happen and
demystifies the ideas of birth and
death.

Animism
• Refers to the belief of innumerable spiritual beings
concerned with human affairs and capable of helping or
harming human interests. Animistic beliers were first
competently surveyed by Sir Edward Burnett Taylor in
his work Primitive Culture (1871), to whom is owed the
continued currency of the term. While none of the major
world religions is animistic (though they may contain
animistic elements), most other religions are (those of
tribal people). For this reason, an ethnographic
understanding of animism, based on field studies of tribal
people, is no less important than a theoretical one,
concerned with the nature or origin of religion. The belief
that all objects have spirits is animistic.

Importance of Animism in the Study of
Culture and Religion
• Animism denotes not a single doctrine or creed but a view
of the word consistent with a certain range of religious
beliefs and practices, many of which may survive in more
complex and hierarchical religions. Modern scholarship’s
concern with animism is coequal with the problem of
rational or scientific understanding of religion itself. After
the age of exploration, Europe’s best information on the
newly discovered people of America, Africa, Asia, and
Oceania often came from Christian missionaries. To the
intellectual of that time, profoundly affected by Charles
Darwin’s new biology, animism seemed a key to the so-
called primitive mind-to human intellect at the earliest
knowable state of cultural evolution.

Monotheism
• Refers to the belief of the existence of one god,
or in the oneness of God; as such, it is
distinguish from polytheism, the belief in the
existence of many gods, and from atheism, the
belief that there is no god. Monotheism
characterizes the traditions Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam, and elements of the
belief are visible in numerous other religions.

Polytheism
• Is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or
divinities. The word comes from the Greek
words poly + theoi, literally “many gods”. Most
ancient religions were polytheistic, holding to
pantheons of traditional deities, often
accumulated over centuries of cultural
interchange and experience. Present-day,
polytheistic religions include Hinduism, Shinto,
some forms of Wicca, Vodun, and Asatru.

• Polytheists divide their world up into a variety of domains
and assign gods to each: a god of the sea, a god of the
sun and so forth. In their efforts to cover their bases,
polytheist end up with conflicting gods. A god of war and
a god of peace, a god of virginity and a god of fertility, a
god of creation and a god of destruction. Things that
might please the god of war might upset the god of
peace. Rites of fertility would directly opposed to rites of
virginity. In short, pretty much anything a person can do
might please one god and anger the other. This seem a
recipe for chaos, but we must remember that life, and
indeed the world itself, is chaotic.

Institutionalized Religion
• Also known as organized religion, is a social
organization in which beliefs systems and rituals are
systematically arrange and formally established. It is
typically characterized by an official doctrine (or dogma),
a hierarchical or bureaucratic leadership structure, and a
codification of rules and practices.
• The term organized religion is frequently used in mass
media to refer to the world’s largest religion groups,
especially those known by name internationally, and it
also refers to organization with which one can legally or
officially affiliate oneself.

Most of the world subscribes to one to the following
religion:
• Christianity – The most widespread world religion,
Christianity was derived from Judaism. It is based to the
belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the
redeemer of the mankind. There are many different
Christian denominations.
• Islam – followers of this religion is called Muslims. They
believe that the true word of God was revealed to the
prophet Muhammad around 570 A.D. God in Islam is the
same god as the Christian and Judaic deity.

Most of the world subscribes to one to the following
religion:
• Hinduism – This is the oldest major world religion,
dominant in India. Hindus do not worship a single person
or deity but rather are guided by a set of ancient cultural
beliefs. They believe in the practice of karma, which is
the wisdom of health of one’s eternal soul. Karma can be
strengthened with good acts and harmed by bad acts.
Hindus believe that karma plays a role in the
reincarnation, a cycle of continuous rebirth through
which, ideally, the soul can achieve spiritual perfection.
The state of person’s karma determines in what form he
of she will be reborn.

Most of the world subscribes to one to the following
religion:
• Judaism – is a monotheistic religion that predates
Christianity, built in the belief that the Israelites are the
“chosen people” of God.
• Buddhism – most of the Buddhists live in Japan,
Thailand, Cambodia and Burma follow the teachings of
Siddhartha Gautama, a spiritual teacher of the sixth
century B.C.E. Buddhism, like Hinduism, does not
feature any single all-powerful deity but teaches that by
avoiding materialism, one can transcend the “illusion” of
life and achieve enlightenment.

Types of Religious Groups
• Church – is a religious group integrated with society.
• Sect – is a religious group that sets itself apart from society as a whole.
• Cult – is a religious group that is outside the standard cultural norms, typically
centered on a charismatic leader.
Example: The Roman Catholic is well integrated in the society.
Example: The Amish of Pennsylvania are a classic sect. Though
Christian, they choose to set themselves apart from the rest to the
society by their lifestyle, which avoids many aspects of modernity.
Example: The People’s Temple, a cult that emerged in the 1970s, was
led by a man named Jim Jones. He started his cult in Sab Francisco,
and then convince several hundred followers to move with him in
Jonestown, Guyana. He claimed to be a god and insisted on strict
loyalty. In 1978, he and 973 of his followers committed a mass
suicide.

Separation of Church and State
• The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declares: ”The
separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.” (Article II,
Section 6).
• “No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the exercise thereof. The free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without
discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No
religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or
political rights”. (Article III, Section 5)
• “No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied,
paid, or employed, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or
support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian
institution, or system of religion.

Activity: Complete the table below:
Religion
Founding
Person /
Place
Belief in
god(s)
Holy
Books
Code of
Conduct
After life
Other
Beliefs
Hinduism
Judaism
Buddhism
Christianity
Islam

Thank You