Deck 15: Religion

Question 1

The bodies and possessions of Polynesian chiefs considered taboo because chiefs

A)were the primary totems for Polynesian descent groups.
B)occupied a liminal place in society.
C)were considered to be ritually unpure.
D)were practitioners of contagious magic.
E)were imbued with a great amount of mana.

Answer 1

were imbued with a great amount of mana.

Question 2

____________ have arisen in colonial situations in which local people have regular contact with outsiders but lack their wealth, technology, and living standards.

A)Shamanistic cults
B)Revitalization movements
C)Rite of passages
D)Structuralist movements
E)Cargo cults

Answer 2

Cargo cults

Question 3

According to Tylor, ___________ is the idea that a person's body is inhabited by two entities.

A)olympianism
B)totemism
C)animism
D)mana
E)polytheism

Answer 3

animism

Question 4

__________ is the term for the marginal or in-between phase of a rite of passage.

A)Voodoo
B)Mana
C)Taboo
D)Liminality
E)Animism

Question 5

Communitas is

A)social inequality that is accepted even by those who are less privileged.
B)a feeling of great social solidarity, equality, and togetherness.
C)anxiety about the meaning of life.
D)the Latin word for mana.
E)the supernatural.

Question 6

Malinowski found that the Trobriand Islanders used magic

A)as a means of increasing social solidarity.
B)to increase the bountifulness of the yam harvest.
C)in psychologically stressful situations, such as sailing.
D)as a means of leveling Europeans who refused to redistribute their wealth.
E)to kill their adversaries during intertribal warfare.

Question 7

Belief in mana was especially prominent in

A)the North Pacific coast of North America.
B)Madagascar.
C)ancient Greece.
D)Melanesia.
E)sub-Saharan Africa.

Question 8

Witchcraft accusations are often aimed at

A)powerful politicians.
B)individuals who are widely respected in a community.
C)socially marginal people.
D)upstanding citizens.
E)prominent religious leaders.

Question 9

Rites of passage usually consist of __________ phases.

A)uncertainty, anxiety, and solace
B)ritual, purification, and absolution
C)separation, liminality, and incorporation
D)aggregation, celebration, and liturgical orders
E)confusion, ecstasy, and nirvana

Question 10

Mana is

A)a kind of bread prepared during communal rituals in Melanesia and Polynesia.
B)absent in societies with differential access to strategic resources.
C)the most archaic religious doctrine.
D)concerned with supernatural beings rather than with powers or forces.
E)acquired in Melanasia, but it is attached to political offices in Polynesia.

Question 11

___________ was one of the founders of the anthropology of religion.

A)Emile Durkheim
B)Anthony Wallace
C)Victor Turner
D)Edward B.Tylor
E)Bronislaw Malinowski

Question 12

As a part of cargo cults, __________ invoked supernatural beings were invoked to intercede, to kill or otherwise deflate the European big men and redistribute their wealth.

A)rites of passage
B)revitalization movements
C)syncretism
D)taboos
E)magical leveling

Question 13

Polytheism refers to

A)belief in a single, all-powerful god.
B)the second stage of a revitalization movement.
C)the third phase of a rite of passage.
D)belief in a force that animates all living things.
E)belief in multiple gods.

Question 14

__________ frequently occurs during the liminal phase of a rite of passage.

A)Reversals of ordinary behavior
B)Intensification of social hierarchy
C)Formation of an implicit ranking system
D)Use of secular language
E)No change in social norms

Question 15

__________ refers to the manipulation of the supernatural to accomplish specific goals.

A)Animism
B)Magic
C)Religion
D)A rite of passage
E)Pantheism

Question 16

___________ involves full-time religious specialists.

A)Communal religion
B)Shamanic religion
C)Olympian religion
D)Mana
E)Taboo

Question 17

According to Tylor, religion evolves through the sequence of

A)olympianism, polytheism, monotheism.
B)animism, polytheism, monotheism.
C)mana, polytheism, monotheism.
D)animism, cargo cults, monotheism.
E)polytheism, animism, monotheism.

Question 18

The use of voodoo dolls is an example of

A)imitative magic.
B)contagious magic.
C)taboo.
D)animism.
E)superstition.

Question 19

Induction into the U.S.Marine Corps and going through the Native American vision quest are examples of

A)revitalization movements.
B)generalized reciprocity.
C)totemism.
D)rites of passage.
E)imitative magic.

Question 20

___________ is the belief that whatever is done to an object will affect a person who once had contact with it.

A)Contagious magic
B)Imitative magic
C)Serial magic
D)Sequential magic
E)Simultaneous magic

Question 21

Discuss two cases in which religion played an important role in social change.

Question 22

The religious specialist most frequently found among foraging bands is a

A)full-time practitioner.
B)shaman.
C)witch.
D)priest.
E)totem.

Question 23

__________ are not examples of shamans.

A)Priests
B)Curers
C)Palm readers
D)Astrologers
E)Mediums

Question 24

According to Malinowski, religion provides people with emotional comfort during times of stress or uncertainty.

Question 25

Voodoo dolls are used to perform contagious magic.

Question 26

Discuss the ways religion may act as a form of social control.Identify how political leaders mobilize communities and gain support for their policies.Consider the connections between religion and politics in states, both ancient and modern.

Question 27

The statement, __________, is not true.

A)"specific religious beliefs and practices vary cross-culturally"
B)"religion can be an instrument of societal change, even revolution"
C)"religion serves only to maintain social solidarity; it does not create or maintain social divisions"
D)"religion is a cultural universal"
E)"state religions are presided over by full-time specialists"

Question 28

Discuss whether or not religion is becoming more or less important in contemporary American society.If you believe that religion is becoming less important, discuss what is replacing it.

Question 29

Contrast ritual behavior with ordinary behavior.Give examples of religious and secular rituals, and identify the main differences between such kinds of ritual.

Question 30

The largest religion in the world, in terms of number of practitioners, is

A)Buddhism.
B)Islam.
C)Judaism.
D)Hinduism.
E)Christianity.

Question 31

Explain the universality of religion.

Question 32

Cargo cults are

A)an example of religion as a form of social control.
B)a type of revitalization movement in response to new contact with industrial societies.
C)based on the popular style of pants with many pockets.
D)religious organizations within the United States that meet in large warehouses.
E)rites of passage found among the Betsileo of Madagascar.
Essay Questions

Question 33

In Melanesia, mana was a sacred force that could reside in people, animals, plants, and objects.

Question 34

According to Tylor, religion evolved from polytheism to animism to monotheism.

Question 35

Define mana, and discuss the difference in the beliefs that surround mana in Melanesia and Polynesia.

Question 36

Sequences of words and actions used during rituals are

A)ritual scripts.
B)rites of passage.
C)taboos.
D)liturgical orders.
E)communitas.

Question 37

Define a rite of passage.Identify three phases that ordinarily constitute a rite of passage.Provide at least two different examples to illustrate your answer.

Question 38

In a rite of passage, people experiencing liminality together form a community of equals.

Question 39

By participating in a ritual, performers signal that they accept a common social and moral order.

Question 40

Witch hunts are an example of religion's function as

A)a revitalization movement.
B)shamanism.
C)a form of social control.
D)a mechanism to reduce fear and uncertainty.
E)a rite of passage.

Question 41

Magic, in the form of rituals, taboos, and sacred objects, is particularly evident in baseball.

Question 42

The cargo cults of Melanesia paved the way for the unified political action of indigenous communities.

Question 43

Belief in mana, or mana-like forces, is a primitive form of religion found only among tribal societies.

Question 44

Witch hunts are an example of how religion can be used to limit deviant social behavior by instilling strong motivations to behave in a certain manner.

Question 45

Religion can be a powerful means of controlling society.

Question 46

Shamans are full-time religious practitioners generally found in state-level societies.

Question 47

Full-time priests are often found in band-level foraging societies.

Question 48

During the liminal phase of a rite of passage, participants occupy ambiguous social positions.

Question 49

Totems are animals, plants, or geographical features from which members of a totemic group claim to be descended.

Question 50

Rites of passage involve three phases: separation, liminality, and totemism.

Question 51

The cargo cults of Melanesia predated the arrival of Europeans in the region.

Question 52

All rituals occur in sacred contexts.

Question 53

Communitas is the strong feeling of collective unity shared by individuals at the core of society, who define themselves in opposition to the society's liminal members.

Question 54

Religion is a cultural generality-that is, it is found in most, but not all, societies.