Religion and Anthropology
Adolescents and Religiosity
Abstract
As the selected topic for his discussion, animism has been defined a system in which everything such as plants, people, animals, and objects have spirits that animate and make them conscious. While animism includes several features such as forms, beliefs, as well as rituals, it primary focus is the Supreme Being and the everyday human living. Christians consider this belief as being incorrect because encompasses multiple spirits. They argue that animists regard everything as being part of nature. Like religions, animists also believe in the supernatural. For them, humans are surrounded by supernatural forces. Because spirits can be offended, people need to them by making offerings or sacrifices. Hence, individuals needed to take utmost care to ensure harmony between them and the spirits. Therefore, this paper made the claim that whereas animists hold that everything is divine in nature, they never see the transcendent nature of all in existence as being united, but they place more focus on the uniqueness of every individual soul.
Introduction
Animism, as a type of belief system, holds that all natural things have life and possess innate spirits. First coined in the 19th century by Sir Edward, a renowned anthropologist, the term refers to a system that everything such as plants, people, animals, and objects have spirits that animate and make them conscious (Sitton,1998). Animism embodies several features, including forms, beliefs, as well as rituals. While many animists believe in God, their religious life tells a different story because they have little to do with God. Their primary focus includes the Supreme Being and the everyday human living. From the Christian view, animist and its tenets get it incorrect regarding the elemental parts of the cosmos and how they work. The main issue with the animism belief system is that it regards everything as being part of nature. It believes in the existence of evil and noble spirits. Like other belief systems, animists believe in the supernatural. They hold that humans often live surrounded by supernatural powers and forces, many of which remain hostile. For this reason, animism holds that individuals spend most of their time trying to appease the gods, the ancestors, and the spirits by offering different things to them. In this sense, utmost care must prevail to ensure harmony between these two worlds. Thus, whereas animists hold that everything is divine in nature, they never see the transcendent nature of all in existence as being united, but they place more focus on the uniqueness of every individual soul.
Literature Review
Since humans form part of the natural world, rather than distinct from it, animism and its proponents perceive all things from an equal footing. As such, animists consider all items such as people, plants, animals, and other natural elements as being equal. They also hold that because all things share the same footing, it is imperative to treat all agents with respect and decorum (Sitton, 1998). In many of the animist communities, rituals play vital roles in helping individuals to gain the favor of spirits that protect people against malicious spirits. Sitton (1998) asserted that in the animism world, there exist several bans and injunctions. Such restrictions prevail to create harmony between the physical and the spiritual realms. Violations of these taboos could lead to a myriad of curses to society, and people must perform sacrifices to mollify the gods. According to Sitton (1998), most of the animistic cultures have several fundamental norms about what is right in life. For instance, animists believe that everything in life is spiritual. They equally assume that the spiritual world often controls everything in human life. Animists also say that spiritual forces live in all places and help to shape all that occurs in the world. Similarly, apart from controlling the living, animists also believe that the spirits subservient the material world (Sitton, 1998).
Halverson (1998) defined animism as a religious faith and life system of the world’s tribal people. He argues that the significance of studying animism lies in its appeal and pervasiveness. In terms of its prevalence, he argues that many of the world’s religions bear a concept of God that makes supernatural abstract and complex to decipher. For instance, Hindus believe that God has no attributes. Thus, Halverson (1998) stated that animism needed more emphasis because it formed part of human religion. About the appeal of animism, Halverson (1998) thought that it held great attraction for people. He argued that people regarded animism because it infused the sacred into reality. It also gave people the means to cope with their everyday life, needs, and problems. For instance, people needed to find jobs, excel in education, receive the cure, and operate successful business enterprises. Based on these needs, Halverson (1998) believed that understanding Animism allowed people to understand various metaphysics. On animistic practices and belief sets, Halverson (1998) said that many of these religions taught people about the presence of one Supreme Being, who lived yonder other gods. For animists, the Supreme Being either resided within people or somewhere else. In the spiritual world, animists held that in life, everyone had to deal with personal and impersonal spirits. Unlike other systems, animists understand the concept of sin from a different perspective. Halverson (1998) argued that animists recognize that offended spirits can avenge in the form of curse, accident, failure, or disease.
According to Doss (2015), animism refers to primal, traditional, or folk religion. He also said that it means a religious practice where human beings, plants, objects, and animals interact freely and equally. He argued that animalism existed in almost all societies and at all stages of life, including economic development. On the issue of whether animism preaches false religion or otherwise, Doss (2015) believed that every impulse to worship came from a person’s internal longing for God. He argued that while God implanted and cultivated such impulses among people, sin worked best to destroy them. For Doss (2015), the source of false religion came from the fall of Adam and Cain’s actions. He further argued that as people departed from worshipping their true God, they formed alternative ways. He also proposed that at the heart of false religions existed what he called human ‘self-sufficiency.’ Equally, he argued that though through different manifestations have happened through the ages, animism has only emerged as a complete system of disapproval to God as opposed to an assortment of sensational practices. For Doss (2015), the term ‘animism’ embodied what Ellen G. White called ‘spiritualism.’ He concluded that animism presented one of the most significant challenges of the 21st Century religion.
On his part, Boateng (2010) viewed animism as beliefs based on spirits that human beings could manipulate through rituals, words, as well as other methods. For him, animism included various forms of dogmas in the spiritual realm. He further argued that this system had two fundamental doctrines: the doctrine of the soul and the spirit. He maintained that the principle of the soul assumed that all human beings had a soul that survived after death. With the doctrine of the spirits, he posited that other spiritual powers also existed in human life. He also argued that animistic cultures lacked bodies of literature where people could excerpt their beliefs. However, he admitted animists had sets of assumptions and values through which they organized and understood the universe. For instance, he estimated that nearly half of the world’s populace based their lives on animistic reasoning. He went further to affirm that most of the pre-Christian cultures in areas such as Africa, America, and elsewhere participated in animistic worships and centered their religion on the spiritual world. He argued that in these cultures, people understood that there existed different types of spirits that inhabited the cosmos. He also stated that many of these cultures had a concept of mighty powers and people believed in afterlife. In other words, , Boateng (2010) held that most of the pre-colonial communities had animistic beliefs and did not need any form of civilization because they had well-organized religions.
Hayward (1997) suggested that effective propagation of animism demanded an excellent understanding of its belief set and strategies that used three encounters, including a truth, power, and love encounters. He defined animism as a belief in many spirits and souls inhibiting the world. In his three kinds of encounters, Hayward (1997) attempted to demonstrate the influence and spread of animism. He has also tried to explain how complete animism has remained across and throughout the centuries, mainly spanning the years before Christianity.
Discussion
One of the most significant challenges facing animism, as outlined above, is that most people do not regard it as a religion. For most people, it is a theoretical concept that only explains a broad range of religious practices and activities. In particular, the modern era has had a significant impact on animism, mainly from Christianity. For instance, Christianity has mainly worked best to disrupt the central doctrines that animism circulates. People like Ellen G. White consider it as primitive and archaic, calling the world to embrace other systems that support and worship one God. Besides, since animism is deeply rooted in ancient cultures, many of its beliefs have eroded due to modernism and changes in how people live. Various changes have also ensued, often attempting to transform how this system should look or operate. Hanson (2010) argued that the main change that it has faced is its definition. He said that people thought that its original description had errors and required a new development. As such, he argued that a new and recent definition has emerged, distorting the unusual meaning of the term.
Conclusion
This paper made the claim that whereas animists hold that everything is divine in nature, they never see the transcendent nature of all in existence as being united, but they place more focus on the uniqueness of every individual soul. Animism has been defined a system in which everything such as plants, people, animals, and objects have spirits that animate and make them conscious. While animism includes several features such as forms, beliefs, as well as rituals, it primary focus is the Supreme Being and the everyday human living. Christians consider this belief as being incorrect because encompasses multiple spirits. They argue that animists regard everything as being part of nature. Like religions, animists also believe in the supernatural. For them, humans are surrounded by supernatural forces. Because spirits can be offended, people need to them by making offerings or sacrifices. In this sense, people needed to take utmost care to ensure harmony between them and the spirits. Moreover, the different authors presented above have also given vital insights into this topic, helping to shape one’s knowledge on the advent and historical context of the term ‘animism.’
References
Doss, G. R. (2015). Animism, the occult, and mission. Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 11(2), 105-114.
Halverson, D. C. (1998). Animism: the religion of the tribal world. International Journal of Frontier Missions, 15(2), 59-68.
Hanson, M. (2010). Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Theological Librarianship, 3(2), 57-59.
Hayward, D. J. (1997). The evangelization of animists: Power, truth or love encounter?. International Journal of Frontier Missions, 14(4), 155-159.
Sitton, D. (1998). The basics of animism: Spiritual warfare in tribal contexts. International Journal of Frontier Missions, 15(2), 69-74.
Boateng, D. O. (2010). Animistic World View and the Search for Truth in the Christian Classroom: Towards a Holistic Approach. Asia-Africa Journal of Mission and Ministry (AAMM), 2, 97-108.