When I teach my anthropology of religion course the first order of business is to define and disrupt “religion” as a category. I begin by having students identify everything they consider to be “religion.” Our list grows and all the usual suspects make their appearance. After the list has been compiled, we then ask what [...]
Tags:Ake Hultkrantz·Andrew McKinnon·Buddhism·category of religion·concept of religion·definition of religion·Japan·Jason Josephson·Shinto·Wittgenstein
In religious studies and popular usage, the term “universal” is used to describe religions which are open to all and transcend ethnic, geographic, political, and cultural boundaries. Three religions are usually cited as universal: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Some newer religions, such as Mormonism and Bahá’í, would also qualify. But if we take a longer [...]
Tags:Bahai·Buddhism·Carmen Blacker·Christianity·Islam·Japan·Jason Josephson·Jomon·kami·Lori Meeks·Meiji period·miko·Mormon·neo-shamanism·premodern Japan·Robert Bellah·shamanic·shamanism·superstitition·The Catalpa Bow·Tokugawa·universal religion
When it comes to classic anthropology, Margaret Mead may garner the lionesses’ share of attention but Ruth Benedict remains the matriarch. Although Benedict today is dismissed by some as a quaint relic of the “culture and personality” school of anthropology, such demurrals underestimate the theoretical sophistication and continuing relevance of Benedict’s work.
Those who understand Patterns [...]
Tags:Apollo·Chrysanthemum and the Sword·culture and personality school·Dionysius·Dobu·Franz Boas·Great Plains·Japan·Kwakiutl·Margaret Mead·Native American·Nietzsche·nomads·particularism·Patterns of Culture·Plains culture area·psychoanalytic·Ruth Benedict·shamans·thick description·variation·vision quest·Zuni
Before there were materialist explanations of nature’s unpredictable fury, there were stories. These stories were not mere entertainment, but were attempts to make sense of that which was inexplicable. The world is of course an unpredictable place. We were powerfully reminded of this but one month ago, as an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan.
Modern Japanese [...]
Tags:Alan McMillan·Cascadia·causation·dwarfs·earthquake·Ian Hutchinson·Japan·Julie Cruikshank·Kwakiutl·materialist explanations·mountain dwarfs·Northwest Coast·Nuu-chah-nulth·Nuxalk·oral traditions·Salish·sea spirits·seismic events·stories·storytelling·subduction·supernatural explanations·tsunami
After recently watching “The Cove” and a Mad Men episode titled “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” — a clever allusion to Ruth Benedict’s justly famous cultural study of Japan, I decided it was time to bone up on Japanese religions. Japan is a multi-faceted nation and getting your head around its history, culture and people [...]
Tags:Buddhisms·cetaceans·chimp abuse·chimp colonies·chimp experimentation·chimp research·chimpanzees·Confucianism·dolphins·Japan·Japanese·Japanese religion·Mad Men·magic·National Institute of Health·primitive religion·Robert Bellah·Ruth Benedict·Shintoism·syncretism·Taoism·The Chrysanthemum and the Sword·The Cove·Tokugawa Religion
I just finished watching “The Cove” and am at a complete loss for words. If dolphins have souls, there is a very special place in hell for the murderers of Taiji, Japan.
You can donate to the cause and Ric O’Barry’s saintly work here. I just did.
Tags:cetaceans·dolphin slaughter·dolphins·Japan·mercury poisoning·murder·Ric O'Barry·Taiji·The Cove
