The Sacred Santa Consumerism and religion in America
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Question 1
Anthropology theories are often based on human ideas of social structures, cognition, and emotions. Different communities have different views on religion with various myths, but Del DeChant summarizes anthropology theories of religion in his research on American consumerism. First, the theory that describes religion as a symbol that gives a meaning order like a cognitive map by Clifford Geertz. Religion books consist of symbols that teach people the meaning of religion. Some of these symbols explain why people were born and what will happen when they die. The theory gives a person a visual representation of what region is through symbols(Guthrie, 2006).
Secondly, anthropology theory of religion that meets individual needs (biological and psychological needs) by Malinowski. He argued that religion meets individual needs movement, growth, safety, and health. He also argued that religion relieves stress among people. Religion is a source of comfort for many people. By believing in religion, you can be stress relieved. This is because you meditate the Christ teachings and become inspired by hope and faith. People go to sacred places to worship and become stress relieved.
Third, religion as a system of beliefs and practices among people that deals with the supernatural. People from different backgrounds have different cultural beliefs on religion. Some people beliefs that religion heals and protects them. People take roles based on supernatural knowledge and ancestral worship.
Question 2
Philippines creation story (Igorot)
Before the creation, people did not exist on the planet earth. Lumawig, a Great Spirit, descended from above the sky and then cut several reeds on the earth’s surface and placed the reeds into pairs, which then he put them on different parts of the earth’s surface. He then spoke to the reeds and said: “you must speak.” After speaking to the reeds, they become people, and in each part of the world, there was a human being (man and woman) talking to each other with a different version of the language(Creation Myths from the Philippines, n.d.).
Later, after Lumawig created human beings, man, and a woman, he commanded them to marry and give birth to many children who spoke the same language and interacted together with the same cultural beliefs and customs. The generation continued like that with people marrying and giving birth, which led to a vast population on the earth. After Lumwag created the human being and multiplied to different parts of the world, he realized that these people lacked some essential needs. Lumwag created salt to help his people. He commanded one inhabitant of one area to boil the salt and sell it to other people living in different geographical regions, although the people instructed to boil salt but failed to understand Lumawig’s commands to cook the salt.
He then gave the salt to another group of people at a place known as Mayinit. The Mayinit people carried out the orders and did what the Lumawig wanted. Immediately Meyinit people were made the owners of the salt by the Great Spirit, and the other people must purchase the salt from them.
Later the Great Spirit visited a village called Bontoc, where he told people to make pots using clay. These people got the clay, but they did not make the pots since they did not understand the molding process, and their jars were not shaped well. The Great Spirit commanded them that they will always buy their jars because they failed to make clay pots. He took the idea of pottery to Samoki people who did what was expected by Lumawig, and their jars were well-shaped and looking beautiful(Philippine Folk Tales, n.d.).
References
Creation Myths from the Philippines. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2020, from https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/creation-phil.html
Guthrie, S. E. (2006). Anthropological theories of religion. In The Cambridge Companion to Atheism (pp. 283–299). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521842700.018
Philippine Folk Tales. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2020, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12814/12814-h/12814-h.htm