Introduction

The Universal Human Condition
-precariousness of life
-inevitability of death
-adversity

Prehistory of Religion
-Neanderthal burial rituals
-rise of agriculture
         --emphasis on cycles of nature

Utility of Religion
-an explanation for and solution to human adversity
-explains the unexplainable
-demonstrates cause-effect relationship

Three Approaches to Religious Behavior
-psychological
         --Spiro, Malinowski
-sociological
         --Durkheim, Radcliffe-Brown
-anthropological
         --Tylor

Social Structure and Religious Practice
-Wallace
-Howell

Article: Religion by Clifford Geertz

Anthropological Study of Religion
-feedback relationship with intellectual and moral climate

The "Other" or "Primitive"
-an implied comparison
-"removed" somehow from modern realities
-detached approach allows study of taboo subjects
-implications

Influential Intellectual Developments
-historicism as the sovereign science of man
-positivist reaction: split
         --psychological approach
         --sociological approach
-concern with ideational factors

Historical Developments in the Anthropological Study of Religion
-evolutionists
-anti-evolutionists
-functionalism and structuralism
-semantic study of religion
-"Primitive Thought" Approaches
         --pre and post WWII
-Symbolic Systems

A Mature Theory
-mutual confirmation of religion
-limits of narrowly defined approaches
-an integrated approach in one conceptual system
-yet to be discovered

Article: Why We Became Religious and The Evolution of the Spirit World by Marvin Harris

What is Religious Belief?
-causal associations
         --"superstitious" responses
-animism
         --world shared with spiritual beings
         --concept of soul
         --universal basis of all religious thought

Evolution of the Spirit World
-universality of spirit types
-ancestor worship
         --band and village societies
         --highly structured/specialized societies

Article: Religious Perspectives in Anthropology by Dorothy Lee

Religion is Universal
-many variations
-embedded within worldview in "primitive" societies
         --approach to nature
         --view of the universe
         --the role of human beings in the world

Religion Permeates Material Culture
-agriculture
-hunting
-health measures
-arts and crafts

Communion with the Unknowable in Nature
-spirit
-power
-ultimate reality
-supreme being
-personal worth

Human Experience of Communion
-humility, respect, fear
-recognition of spiritual worth
-engenders a certain kind of behavior toward the world

Western Approach
-a presupposed separation
-humans outside nature

Other Approaches
-communion with nature is presupposed
-integration of lifestyle with religious views and practices
-humans as a part of nature
         --Wintu woman's story
         --Navajo agriculture
         --Hopi art
         --Tikopia canoe repair

Animistic Attitude Toward Nature and Humans
-Ruth Benedict
         --reverence, respect, humility
         --intimate belongingness
-democratic
-varying conceptions of human agency
-permeates everyday life and activities
-immediate personal relatedness to the divine

Article: Non-Overlapping Magisteria by Stephen Jay Gould

Scientific Creationism
-doctrinal conflict
-Protestant fundamentalists

"Standard" Position
-no inherent conflict between science and religion
-Jesuit priests

NOMA
-lack of conflict comes from lack of overlap
-domains of expertise/legitimate authority
         --science: fact and theory of empirical universe

Puzzling Papal Statements
-Pope John Paul II 1996
         --defense of evolutionary theory
         --assertion of compatibility of the theory with Catholic doctrine
         --defense of NOMA
         --was there a perceived conflict?

-Pope Pius XII 1950
         --Humani Generis
         --defense of NOMA
         --suggested doubt

NOMA Domains
-complex
-magisteria bumping into one another
-some questions involve multiple domains

Pope John Paul II 1996 Reread
-reaffirms NOMA concept
-declares evolution compatible and true

The NOMA Concept
-respectful concordant
-mutual humility
-creates space for open discourse between magisteria

Article: Darwin's Rib by Robert S. Root-Bernstein

Investigating Skeletal Differences
-measurements
-reason
-role in evolution

Sexual Dimorphism
-student's conjecture

Religious Freedom and Science
-scientific method
-no blind acceptance/active skepticism
-logic and observation
-compelling evidence
-admission of unknowns

Approaching the Theory of Evolution
-divergent evolution
-convergent evolution

Bones of Contention
-rib count
-Biblical/Sunday school influence

Evidence and Reason
-Biblical text: What, exactly does it say?
-evolutionary theory of inheritance
         --Lamarckian evolution
         --gendered and non-gendered traits

Thinking Like a Scientist
-recognize assumptions
-evidence
-critical reasoning and skepticism

Challenge of Teaching Evolution
-student presuppositions
-survey statistics
-lack of scientific background
-resistance in the community

A Scientist
-takes nothing for granted
-can't generalize away the anomalies and exceptions that arise -is open

Article: Anthropologists Versus Missionaries: The Influence of Presupposition by Claude E. Stipe

Negative Attitude Toward Missionaries
-general attitude of anthropologists
-little "systematic indoctrination"
-missionaries as "enemies"
        --agents of culture change

Textual Influence
-brief and subtle coverage in most anthropological textbooks
-criticism in ethnographies
-insights from Keesing's 1976 Cultural Anthropology text
-examples
-unexplainable bias

Anthropological Presuppositions
-organic unity concept
-hypocritical stance

Culture Change
-can come from within
-isn't inherently "bad"
-cultures are fluid
-no passive victims

Meaninglessness of Religious Beliefs
-general agnostic, atheistic intellectual approach
-anthropologist's conversion experience
-personal bias against Christianity

Negative Anthropological Attitude
-isn't unanimous
-involves the anthropological position
-Salamone's insights
-needs to be understood and addressed