Anthropology of religion
The
anthropology of religion involves the study of
religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across
cultures. In the
19th century,
cultural anthropology was dominated by an interest in
cultural evolution; most anthropologists assumed that there was a simple distinction between "primitive" and "modern" religion and tried to provide accounts of how the former evolved into the latter. In the
20th century most anthropologists rejected this approach. Today the anthropology of religion reflects the influence of, or an engagement with, such theorists as
Karl Marx,
Sigmund Freud,
Émile Durkheim, and
Max Weber. They are especially concerned with how religious beliefs and practices may reflect political or economic forces; or the social functions of religious beliefs and practices.
Anthropological approaches to religion reflect a more general tension within anthropology: the discipline defines itself as a
science in that all anthropologists base their interpretations and explanations on
empirical evidence (and many anthropologists are concerned with developing universal models of human behavior), and the discipline also defines itself in terms of the seriousness with which it takes local beliefs and practices (see
cultural relativism), and its commitment to understanding different cultures in their own terms through
participant observation. Thus, although many Westerners (including anthropologists) have rejected "religion" out of hand as being unscientific, virtually all anthropologists assume that there must be good reasons for the endurance and importance of religion and, by implication, assume that religious beliefs and practices are in some sense "reasonable." In order to determine the reasons for the importance of religion, however, anthropologists generally move beyond the literal claims of any religion to look at its metaphorical meaning or latent social functions.
One major problem in the anthropology of religion is the definition of religion itself. At one time anthropologists believed that certain religious practices and beliefs were more or less universal to all cultures at some point in their development, such as a belief in spirits or
ghosts, the use of
magic as a means of controlling the
supernatural, the use of
divination as a means of discovering occult knowledge, and the performance of
rituals such as
prayer and
sacrifice as a means of influencing the outcome of various events through a supernatural agency, sometimes taking the form of
shamanism or
ancestor worship. According to Clifford Geertz, religion is a system of symbols, beliefs, and patterns of behaviors by which humans control that which is beyond their control. Today, anthropologists debate, and many reject, the cross-cultural validity of these categories (often viewing them as examples of European
primitivism). Anthropologists have considered various criteria for defining religion – such as a belief in the supernatural or the reliance on ritual – but few claim that these criteria are universally valid.
In Western culture, religion has become more or less synonymous with
monotheism and the various
moral codes that monotheism prescribes.
Moral codes have also evolved in conjunction with
Hindu and
Buddhist beliefs, independent of
monotheism. However, prescriptive moral codes or even normative
ethical codes are not a necessary component of religious beliefs or practices any more than they are a necessary component of science and the scientific method.
Anthony F.C. Wallace proposes four categories of religion, each subsequent category subsuming the previous. These are, however, synthetic categories and do not necessarily encompass all religions.
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Individualistic: most basic; simplest. Example: vision quest.#
Shamanistic: part-time religious practitioner, uses religion to heal, to divine, usually on the behalf of a client. The Tillamook have four categories of shaman. Examples of shamans: spiritualists, faith healers, palm readers. One who has acquired religious authority through one's own means.#
Communal: elaborate set of beliefs and practices; group of people arranged in clans by lineage, age group, or some religious societies; people take on roles based on knowledge.#
Ecclesiastical: Most complex. Incorporates elements of the previous three.
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Cultural anthropology*
Symbolic anthropology*
Symbology*
Sociology of religion*
Anthropology of the African Pygmies religion 
