Cultural Anthropology

 The Culture of Religion

 What is
Science?
 The word scientia originally
meant general knowledge
and was inferior to sapientia
which meant wisdom
 Science as an occupation
did not appear until the 19th
century
 Before the 19th century,
many scientists sought to
provide evidence for religion
(natural philosophy)
A Definition of Science
Acquisition of reliable but not
infallible knowledge of the real
world, including explanations
of the phenomena
Science is a process, not a
body of knowledge
Image source:
Science is always tentative http://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Endeavor-
Primer-Principles-
(what hasn’t been disproved) Practice/dp/0805345965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&i
e=UTF8&qid=1358951332&sr=1-
1&keywords=scientific+endeavor (fair use)
Science deals with empirical
knowledge
Science includes explanations
in the form of hypotheses,
theories, and laws
What is Religion?
 The word religio
initially meant an
inner piety or desire
to lead a Christ-like
life
 Religion as a body of Image source:
beliefs and practices http://www.eurasiareview.com/25022011-
religion-and-terrorism-a-socio-historical-

appeared around the reconsideration/ (fair use)

17th century, partially

as a result of the
Protestant
Reformation
 A Definition of Religion
 A strong belief in a supernatural power or
powers that control human destiny
 An institution to express belief in a divine
power
 A belief concerning the supernatural,
sacred, or divine, and the practices and
institutions associated with such belief
 The sum total of answers given to explain
humankind’s relationship with the
universe
 Worldviews
We all have belief systems that
influence how we answer the
important questions of life
 Range of views within
Christianity, Judaism, Image source:
http://www.eurasiareview.com/2502
agnosticism, relativism, 2011-religion-and-terrorism-a-
socio-historical-reconsideration/

Buddhism, atheism, Islam (fair use)

 Scientists also have

worldviews (paradigms) that
determine the questions they
investigate
 Are there differences in
worldviews between science
and religion?
 Scientific and Christian Beliefs
Beliefs Needed for
Christian Beliefs
Science
 Nature can be studied  Humans are made
by humans in the image of God
 Nature works by natural  God rules the world
cause and effect
in a faithful,
 Natural phenomena are
repeatable/observable
consistent manner
 Experiments and  God has established
observations are natural laws
needed for explanation
 Humans are not
Source: Haarsma and Haarsma, Origin: A Reformed
Look at Creation, Design, and Evolution (Grand
able to understand
Rapids, MI: Faith Alive, 2007)
God’s world
completely
Conflict
Religion and science are two
ways of viewing the same
things; therefore one is correct
and the other is incorrect
Both are based on
interpretation of the Bible
Scripture is inerrant in
everything it comments on
and if science appears to
contradict the Bible,
science is wrong (Biblical
literalism or inerrancy)
Parts of the Bible are
contradicted by science, so
all of the Bible must be
rejected and therefore
science is the only reliable
path to knowledge of the
real world (scientism,
philosophical materialism)
Social and cultural functions of religion
 „Some religions place an emphasis on belief, while others
emphasize practice. Some religions focus on the subjective
experience of the religious individual, while others consider the
activities of the religious community to be most important. Some
religions claim to be universal, believing their laws and cosmology
to be binding for everyone, while others are intended to be
practiced only by a closely defined or localized group. In many
places religion has been associated with public institutions such
as education, hospitals, the family, government, and political
hierarchies.”
 These particular functions, as mentioned above, chiefly
determined and grounded by the particular development and
evolution of the concrete society.
 Religion as such has a provable evolutionary function: it increases
the sociological cohesion of a society, it means a source of
cultural identity, by virtue of which it improves the chances of
survival for the particular society. It is an advantage in regard of
group-selection.
Current issues concerning religions
 Understanding the relationship between religion and society
helps you a lot to conceive social trends and tendencies today.
 Spread of religious tolerance in contemporary western societies.
 Example No.1. During the presidential campaign (1961) of John
Fitzgerald Kennedy there was a definite reluctance about his
being a catholic in the protestant-dominated USA. But now
(2012) a few has any aversion about the fact, that the republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a committed Mormon.
 Example No.2. A few years ago the Al-Kaida propagandist,
extremist Islam leader, Abu Katada was set free in London –
though he continuously makes preaches against the tolerant
Western World and England in particular. Human rights
protectors told that one has the right to follow the extremist ways
of a religion too. What do you think about this question?
 Graded Task
Based on the movie “Angels and Demons,” answer the
following questions:
1. Angels & Demons is filled with examples of science versus
religion, a debate that mankind has raged for centuries.
Discuss which portions of the movie there are clashes between
the culture in science and the culture of religion (50 pts).
2. Would you rather live in a world without science or in a world
without religion? Discuss how these two cultures can survive
without the other or how these two should complement (25
pts).
3. What cultural role do the media play in the events that unfold?
How about Glick and Macri in particular? The media were not
interested in covering the election of a new pope until there
was tragedy involved. How much influence do the media have
on what information is relayed to the public? Is it true, as Glick
believes, that "viewers didn't want truth anymore; they wanted
entertainment"? (25 pts).