ANTHR-130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Group Cohesiveness, Solomon Islands, Syncretism
12 Oct 2020
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Tends to explain human suffering (why is there injustice?). Some people think that bad things happen to us as bad karma because you did something bad in another life (hindu belief). Others believe that suffering allows us rely on god and have faith. When religion sustains inequality this becomes problematic (ideology- compels us to accept systems that are profoundly unequal: provide solace, healing, and emotional release- comfort/something to fall back onto. There is always a place for you when everything else fails. Others in the community will support you as well: social cohesion- enhances togetherness/community/interdependence. Where people do not just care about themselves they come together and worship: social control- the 10 commandments/sharia law. Believers think of them as good but also it makes them constrained in terms of what they can or cannot do. In religion you call on god through prayer. Forces of nature can be controlled by humans through magic.
