Tuvalu: That Sinking Feeling

People have been asking me about extra credit, so one of the suggestions that I gave people was to look at the impact of environmental change on certain peoples. I suggested Tuvalu as one case that you might find interested.

You could use this website as a jumping point:

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/12/tuvalu_that_sin_1.html

There's a bunch of information out there about Tuvalu.

You could look at the impact of global warming on other peoples too, such as the Inuit. Or you could look at the impact of deforestation on people like the Yanomamo in S. America or Semai in Malaysia.

If you choose this route, then make sure to cite your sources and to use more than just the website that I'm emailing to you now.

Be prepared to answer these on the final

I will ask you to answer some, or all, of the following questions using your readings, class discussions, and experiences:

1) Why is it important to protect the cultural heritages of tribal peoples? Why is it of concern to anthropologists? Is there anything that we can take away from studies of such peoples?

2) Linguists estimate that there are over 7,000 languages spoken in the world today. Nearly half are in danger of becoming extinct in this century. Is it important to preserve such languages? Can we learn anything from these languages?

3) Discuss the Trobriand interpretation of cricket? Explain how the game changed Trobriand society. How is this form of cricket different from the cricket played by the British?

4) What is globalization? Is it something new? Is there anything unique about globalization today? For instance, is culture becoming homogenized? If so, then how? Is it becoming more heterogeneous? If so, then how?

5) What does it mean to say that “time is a gift”? How different is “time is a gift” from “time as money”? How might such a view change our lives? Can you think of any negative aspects to this view of time?

6) Bronislaw Malinowski, in his classic essay Magic, Science and Religion, claimed that each of these was a viable mode of cognition and that most societies exhibit all of them in variable proportions. In what ways does magical thinking persist in contemporary America? Is it likely to persist into the future?

7) In the essay “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight”, Clifford Geertz tries to read Balinese ritual and actions like a text in order to decode the symbols in their society. Leni Reifenstahl, the director of the film “Triumph of the Will”, argued throughout her life that this film was not a Nazi propaganda film, but a documentary. How might a symbolic anthropologist, like Geertz, approach the question of whether this film was a form of Nazi propaganda or a documentary? That is, what do the scenes, colors, and images in the film tell you?

8) What do different origin stories tell people about who they are? Can origin stories coexist in the world?

Reminder: Next Monday is the final for this class. Don't miss this final!

Please email me if you have any questions.

Take Home Quiz

There is no blog post due this week. Your take home quiz (20 pts) should discuss one of the following questions. A thorough response should be approximately 2 pages. You should hand this quiz in by next week.

Oh--You do not need to read the article in your reader about the Zuni origin story. You can, however, read it if you are interested.

1) Religious rituals are religion in action. Describe what in fact is accomplished by religious rituals?


2) What is a revitalization movement? Explain how and why do they come into existence?

I'm looking for detail in your responses. I encourage you to give examples for your responses, e.g. referencing and/or discussing the readings, class discussions, films, etc.

Also, for next week, Paul Tyler, an ethnomusicologist, is going to guest lecture. He's scheduled on the syllabus to speak on December 1st.

This is due by class time on Monday.

Magical Thinking

GOD IS IN THE TV

When I saw the question asking how magical thinking persists in contemporary North America I could not help but think of water stains on the side of buildings and Hispanic dinner plates. Move the beans. . .move the rice. . .IT IS MARIA!! I remember watching shows like ripley’s believe it or not on how people would see religious figures in the oddest places such as on a dinner plate or in the form of a potato they grew in the back yard.

There are also shows that bring crews into houses where spirits roam about, they show you the orbs in pictures and forms of white noise. They not only want to spook you but also prove that spirits live on whether they are nice spirits or troubled ones.

MURDER BY OUIJI BOARD?

Now I am not a superstitious person and I need to experience something first hand in order to be effected in anyway and that’s why in high school I paid no attention to the ridiculous tradition of the Ouiji Board. Communicate with the dead? I thought it was stupid. Apparently the group of us made contact with a male spirit, a nice one, living in my ex-girlfriends house. It was all fun and games until the spirit informed us that someone close to one of us would die in the next few months.

I forgot how this was derived by the board but that message was conveyed to us somehow. There were about 10 of us down there that night and I forgot all about it. Even a couple years had passed before I realized that my friends mother died suddenly about 3 or 4 months after that Ouiji Board night. It was an untimely death and has ruined the lives of my friend and the rest of his family, after recalling those events I will never mess with a Ouiji Board again.

Magic, Science and Religion

In reference to the reading by Malinowski I shall reflect on a statement that stuck out for me. There was a line that proposed the thought that was brought up on how those of a clan worship the God of the clan which means that the God of the clan can be nothing else but the clan itself. It was a bit confusing at first and I had to read it again but it reminds me of how I view God or any religion for that matter.

A religion, I believe for what the reading was attempting to inquire, is best utilized without a literal sense. Thus this God being the clan itself means that for those who worship the God, the clan will benefit from it. Now to my belief that God or any form of higher power from any religion is an energy or mindset that benefits the good in the world. Lack of this energy or mindset plummets individuals and promotes evils. Both understandings are quite similar. . .

Spiritual Ritual

The human psyche is centered on a system of wants and needs. When we are in our first minutes of life we cry for the milk of a mother’s breast. We cry when we want sleep, and we cry when we don’t feel good. It is an essential, inherent human nature—to want something. Through religion people satisfy a want, and—for many—a need. The religious rituals practiced are a means of salvation or enlightenment, whether we are Buddhist, Christian, or Hindu.
A ritual is a practice that acts as a device, a bridge between the mortal and immortal, the physical and the spiritual. Catholics use communion to unite the bodies of sinners with Christ and purify the body. For some it is a symbol. For others it is very real. Buddhists practice paths of enlightenment, not worshiping Buddha, but building their person through enlightenment. Their goal is to create something sacred in themselves through ritual.
Again, rituals are a connection, an activity that makes the spiritual ascertainable to those who practice them, satisfying their need for connection.

Ritual; The Need for Structure

The need for ritual in religion comes from the same place as religion itself. They provide control in a world of chaos. These rituals give us order, as well as, something to pass on to the next generation. Ritual are a sign of the level of commitment one has to their beliefs. They represent devotion and self discipline. One adhere to the rules and structure of rituals as a sign of faith. The rituals may seem ludicrous at times. but they are a test. A test to one level of seriousness about their faith. They are meant to weed out those who claim to believe from those who do believe. One must not see rituals as a burden or tedious, but as challenges and necessary if they are true believers.

Religion in Action

Ritual, in my experience, goes hand in hand with religion. Every religion I can think of practices some form of ritual. And as people form opinions about exotic cultures they tend to forget to see their own from an outside point of view.  The Catholic religion for example has many rituals. These actions can create a sense of community and likeness with strangers who share similar beliefs. Every religion that has a ritual most certainly has a meaning behind it, some meanings may be obscure to a nonparticipant. Some of the rituals I am familiar with include, communion, which is the paying of respect of Jesus Christ and drinking what is the symbol of his blood. This is reenacted according to how it was exactly preformed at the Last Supper. Another action that is accomplished by a ritual is Confession, again a ritual associated with christian religions. This is the process of telling someone such as a priest your sins. This act is supposed to "clear" you essentially from the sins you have committed by telling about your sins penance. There are many different rituals that Catholics act all of which accumulate to the their "proper" serving of God.

ghost in the science

Contemporary North America still exhibit magical thinking through their belief in horoscopes, ghosts, spirits,miracles and other superstitions. Magical thinking coincides with religion and science; without magical thinking there would be no science because there would be no unexplained events to try and disprove. I think many other cultures rely a lot more on magical thinking than North American culture because science isn't necessarily as dominant as religion and other beliefs. magical thinking, as well as religion, helps people make sense of the unknown but when science comes into the picture and starts explaining events or unknown things with logic, it tends to take away from the magical thinking. I'm not a religious person, but i do believe in ghosts and spirits and i have to admit I love reading my horoscope, although I don't really believe all of it is true, its still fun to play into it. magical thinking makes life more interesting and adds excitement; logic isn't always the best thing.I think the supernatural or ghosts and other things like horoscopes will continue in the future but eventually science will begin to erase other magical thinking and even religion.

Communion

Rituals give religion tradition and bound its followers together. Without the rituals there is an obscurity as what to follow. I see rituals as activities people involve themselves in occasionally in order to feel accomplished in their religion. The rituals, after being performed for centuries, seem to lose real value through monotonous repetition. People cannot always feel extremely in tune with communion every time they do it. But after they are done, they feel as though they have done their part. Communion is something that binds everyone together in the catholic faith and some protestant faiths as well. I remember when I went to church, I had to take a class in order to formally join the church and thus participate in communion. After I finished the class, I was excited to finally take part in communion. While I finally participated in communion, I felt truly connected to the other church members of all ages.  Before I was just a kid that had to stay seated because he was not yet a member. But now, I was a part of a much larger group of many different people, equally participating in the ritual. I felt very mature that day and accomplished after communion. All of the ritual was explained to me, but to this day I do not understand why we pretend to eat and drink Christ. This is probably very common though with other rituals in other religions. There might not be a sensible reason for everything, but as long as it is tradition and creates a community of followers the reason does not matter as much. 

Do this, do that.

Discussion about religious rituals can take year long discussions. They vary from religion to religion and each has its different purposes. When used by the Catholic faith, the rituals are used to draw the members of the church to Christ. Whether it is through communion or repeating prayers, they believe they will be in a better standing with Christ when the rituals are performed. By confession, Catholics believe they can admit their wrongdoings and be cleansed of their sins. In other faiths, rituals are used in the same way: each contribute in one way or another to being in better standing with who they believe is the "greater power". Whether it is within themselves or a being in the spiritual realm, some great action or sacrifice is used to show devotion.

The Importance of Religious Rituals:

For many people religious rituals are held, I believe, in order for people to display their affection and support for their religion in a physical way.  Catholics, for example, use communion as a physical demonstration of their devotion to their religion.  Religious rituals are also important for followers to feel connected and involved with their religion.  These rituals, and religion in general, gives people a sense of security and, often times, a meaning.  The shaman in the BBC article, for example, felt that by performing rituals to "send good vibes" to the presidential candidates was helping in their own way.  It gave them a sense of self-reliance and that they were in one way or another helping the outcome of the election.  Religion is important in this aspect.  It is important for people to feel secure and to have something to believe in.  It shouldn't matter how different beliefs are, what's important is the fact that religion gives many people something to be happy about.  Religious rituals help people to portray their religions and allow people to feel that they are physically making a difference in some way, whether that be by blessing the American presidential candidates, or by making themselves happy by being involved with something they feel very strongly about.

Magic, Science, and Religion

Science is a subject that relies on magic and religion because without the thoughts that religion and magic create, there wouldn't be any theories that could be conducted to determine the realities of the world.  The difference lies with the physical world and metaphysical world.  Religion deals with faith, which you cannot explain.  It's nontangible.  Science deals with actual facts about the world we live in.  You test your theories in the assumption that you will come to a conclusion, even when you sometimes don't find a conclusion, that is still an answer.  When the three are combined, many people think that its terrible or demoralizing.  When you consider the questions that scientists ask, where do they come from?  Looking at the world in a metaphysical state, we begin to think outside the box which gives us questions that scientists then take and perform tests and theories.  I still believe that its hard to explain magic or religion, but some cultures of the world rely heavily upon these in search of the notions that help them with survival.  It's not the distinction between these subjects that are confusing to most of us, but when you combine magic, religion, and science, our minds seem to block out any necessary relations that may take place.

Religion and Beliefs

I'm not a very religious person.  I was raised with religion in my family, but it never really drew me in.  I believe that religion is to give people a deeper meaning, which is great.  But what if your perfectly content with your life?  Why do you need a deeper meaning?  

People go through all these practices to feel a part of their religion.  This gives them peace of mind.  I do not feel a need to feel apart of one particular religion, but I do embrace all religious beliefs, and I am fascinated by certain aspects of each one.  I think it is interesting how simular these religions and their practices are, but feel separated from each other. 

I embrace religion, but I am not convinced of any that apply to me.  I look to look at all religions and apply them to the here and now.  I do find many practices sill, like communion, and so I choose not to formally practice these rituals, but rather just have and build my own faith that I can relate to.

stairway to heaven

Religion can be defined as a belief and faith in a higher, supernatural controlling force over our own mortal humanness. It is a communal practice of faith and worship that brings people together under the same notion of God(s). I think that people practice religious rituals because it reflects a sort of reassurance in people and provides morals for followers to abide by. Christians believe that Jesus has the power to forgive their sins and grant entrance into the kingdom of heaven if they ask for forgiveness. Christians use prayer as a means of requesting guidance and assistance in life as well as praying for forgiveness of their sins. By ritually praying, Christians consistently remind themselves that there is a higher power that will ultimately be responsible for their fate. Religion also establishes a set of morals that must be followed in order for there to be "good" in the world. Christians that ritually refer to the Bible and the Ten Commandments have an understanding of the morals of Christianity and believe that following those commandments will save them a place in heaven. This is another example of reassurance in religious rituals. The concept of heaven is very important to many religious people regardless of their religious faith. In high school, I was in an ethics class with a friend who's father had recently passed away. She commented that she had not considered herself a person of faith or religion until her trauma. She turned to Christianity because she felt it was necessary in order to cope with her loss. She felt that it offered her a sense of hope and reassurance that her father was resting peacefully and that one day they would be reunited again. It is not unusual for people to turn to religious rituals after a traumatic experience because it removes feelings of doubt and hopelessness and provides a feeling of optimism. Religious rituals are practiced in every day life because it produces reassurance and hopefulness in people.

Religious rituals are religion in action. Describe what in fact is accomplished by religious rituals?

What makes a religion more than just a set of beliefs are the traditions and activities that go along with these beliefs. After being raised Catholic and attending Catholic school for a while, I've had the chance to witness and take part in the cuhrch's practices. An example of a ritual for Catholics is receiving the Eucharist at every mass (the little peice of bread and sometimes wine which we are supposed to believe is actually a piece of Jesus). This ritual allows for the Catholic community to come together, pray, have time to reflect on themselves, and receive blessing from Jesus/God Himself. It is what the entire mass revolves around and is the most sacred time of the hour or so in which the people are congregated.
Another, less frequent, ritual performed by Catholics is going to mass on Ash Wednesday, the day after Mardi Gras, the day before the season of Lent begins. The ritual is to signify the beginning of what we choose to sacrifice/give up until Easter for God (whether someone gives up chocolate, caffeine, or personal time to do community service). People of the Catholic faith show up to mass on this Wednesday and the ashes of palms are marked in the shape of a cross on their forehead. This is a way to show pride for religion throughout the day, symbolize the personal cross to be carried throughout the next few months during the time Jesus had to, and to have that support with the community in preparation for Easter for the next few weeks.

It does sound odd to other people not accustomed to the rituals, as was pointed out in another post. I am used to it after being forced to practice for 18 years of my life, but I still find it strange to have faith that, when I go to church, I am eating Jesus...??? This also just shows how the bible and other religious books can be interpreted so many ways (ie: jihad=religious struggle; some take as actual fight, others as struggle within oneself), since Christians of different denominations all read Jesus' sharing of his bread/body at the last supper.

I think that religious rituals over all tend to accomplish a closeness within the religious community, and forms of practice, bringing their beliefs to life and making them tangible.

Fortune Cookie Magic

Contemporary North America exhibits all aspects of magical thinking (magic, science, and religion) in relative proportion. Science and religion are obviously more widely practiced and discussed by the average American because these are more pulicized aspects of our daily lives, but magic is ever present as well. Most people don't like to admit it, but how many of us read our horoscope in the newspaper or a magazine? I certainly get excited to read my fortune in a fortune cookie after my meal at a Chinese restaurant.

In my personal life, I do not follow religion, as many Americans do. I put most of my magical thinking into science. However, I say most and not all because magic does play a bigger role in my life than I previously thought. I believe in ghosts, and I believe that I have communicated with them in the past. I also love fortune cookies. Some may call me silly, but some of my fortunes in those little dry cookies have been really insightful. I recently got one that said I would be coming into money 3 months from that day. Interestingly enough, 3 months from that day I will be in Las Vegas. It may seem foolish to others, but I'm betting high that day.

Religion and its Strange Rituals

Some people view Roman Cathloics as weirdos. They're often viewed as extremely religious people, not as crazy as a Southern Baptist but they are up there. Some of the rituals such as "Confession" or "Holy Communion" or "Confirmation" are all seen as odd rituals.

But when you think about it, are the rituals of a Roman Catholic really that strange? I have been part of this religion for my entire life and I see no oddities in what is done. But look at other religions, Buddhism, Islam, aren't they odd too? Praising your god three-four times a day? Not eating cow? Doesn't that seem strange to you

When you're on the outside looking in, things look strange from afar. As a Catholic I have always thought that religions outside of mine were strange. I am accepting of all religions and I one day dream that the world can all live under the same religious tent and be at peace. But just because I am accepting does not mean that I think it is strange. I have Jewish friends and I also have friends that are Buddhists. They have explained to me their basic rituals and what they do during their ceremonies. The supposed catch is that performing what ever ceremonies you do is supposed to enlighten you. Give you a better understanding of why you're here and what the purpose is.

That is why religion has ceremonies, so that people can understand the meaning of their religion better.

More on Magic

For Monday, please discuss one of the following questions:

1) Bronislaw Malinowski, in his classic essay Magic, Science and Religion, claimed that each of these was a viable mode of cognition and that most societies exhibit all of them in variable proportions.

In what ways does magical thinking persist in contemporary North America?

In what ways does magical thinking persist in your lives at Columbia?

Is it likely to persist in the future?

2) Religious rituals are religion in action. Describe what in fact is accomplished by religious rituals?

3) You can discuss this BBC article in the context of your readings for the week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7699066.stm

The Rally

I am not politcal. I avoided everything to do with the elections for over a year. People asked if I was voting, and I wasn't. I replied, "No, there is no reason. I don't like Obama and he's going to win." Then someone sat me down and talked to me. They said this election was one of the most historic in our country, and not participating would be passing up the chance of a lifetime.

I decided I wanted to be part of it, I wanted to participate. I read about the canidates. I traveled a state away and missed class to vote the day before election. My hometown was buzzing, everyone there even knew about the Obama rally. They were jealous, jealous! Jealous that I had the opportunity to go and they didn't. That changed my attitude about everything. Here were my friends, united in believing in one man--when all of them had such differing opinions on everything else.

I went to the Obama rally, a supporter. I have never been part of that large a crowd in my entire life. The sheer energy of the throng gave me goosebumps. The crowd was engaged, excited, and validated--over a presidential election! The experience taught me something i did not expect to find--our nation still cares, and we care deeply, about America's future.

However, the most important thing I took away from the event was Obama's speech. I had never watched him speak before. His speech was perfect, effective, and direct. The crowd made of thousands of people stood watching in silence, desperate to hold on to every word.

It felt like the nation stopped, united over something almost all of us have disagreed about for the last 8 years.