Like Brad Hoh, I was also confused when I did not find an obvious reference to religion in Steve Milchen's article on Singing Neanderthals. I was able to find some connections, but I had not considered the interesting connections that Brad made. I like his idea of directly linking the "Hmmmmm" singing to our singing in church. Like the Neanderthals, it is an important part of the church service and connects the congregation as one voice.
I also liked the link between Neanderthal burial rituals with our funeral service. Rarely would people ever agree to accept our funeral traditions as rituals, but comparing it to the burial rites o Neanderthals they are quite similar. It just goes to show that even though society and history changes, religion is one of the few aspects of people's lives that persists in that the basic backbone of it does not change.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Neanderthals
I guess I enjoyed reading of the history of Neanderthals...although my mind was so caught up in the historical and anthropological points of view that I felt like I was missing the religious aspect of Steven Mithen's article on The Singing Neanderthals. For me, religion was not an obvious highlight of the article. I kept wondering when Mithen would relate the "Hmmmmm" phenomenon to religion so I could somehow relate it to class.
Yet, what I realized is that music was a form of religion for Neanderthals. They were never considered an established society, so they did not have a concrete religion. But, music acted as a religion for them in many ways, such as: it is often essential for survival especially in cases of misfortune, enables social bonding and provides mutual support (Mithen, 236). Religion for modern homo sapiens and for Neanderthals provides a sense of community. Mithen states that "group identity was promoted via communal music-making" (241). Music was a way of building relationships between people, therefore creating an opportunity for communal living. Also, parents used music when raising their children to ensure their development with communication. This could be compared to baptism: parents ensuring their children's salvation and raising them in a religious environment to establish their proper development.
I was also wondering if the instruments made to create the sounds could be considered either a type of religion or a ritual process. I would almost see the carving of bone, use of sticks, etc. has a ritual process to prepare for the religious ceremony.
Yet, what I realized is that music was a form of religion for Neanderthals. They were never considered an established society, so they did not have a concrete religion. But, music acted as a religion for them in many ways, such as: it is often essential for survival especially in cases of misfortune, enables social bonding and provides mutual support (Mithen, 236). Religion for modern homo sapiens and for Neanderthals provides a sense of community. Mithen states that "group identity was promoted via communal music-making" (241). Music was a way of building relationships between people, therefore creating an opportunity for communal living. Also, parents used music when raising their children to ensure their development with communication. This could be compared to baptism: parents ensuring their children's salvation and raising them in a religious environment to establish their proper development.
I was also wondering if the instruments made to create the sounds could be considered either a type of religion or a ritual process. I would almost see the carving of bone, use of sticks, etc. has a ritual process to prepare for the religious ceremony.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Reactions to Genesis and Why Do We Believe?
While reading an excerpt from Genesis, I realized how poetic it sounded. For example, Genesis does not bluntly state that God created the Earth. Rather, it uses sentences such as "let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear" (1:6). This allows readers to form a majestic, sacred image of creation and the creator. The sentence structure also gives insight into how powerful and kind God is; he is powerful in that he creates the whole world all by himself yet he is also graceful in how he goes about creation. Overall, how Genesis describes God's creation of the Earth is meant to show two things: (1) how much God loves his creation and (2) even though God grants humans control over their Earth, God has ultimate control of the universe and thus over the human race.
What I found in the NY Times article, Why Do We Believe? are many definitions that people give religion, such as calling religion "superstition" (Henig, 38) and a "belief in hope that is beyond reason" (Henig, 38). What's interesting is that Atran is an archaeologist which gives readers a sense of what sort of method he will use in his study of religion. From this standpoint, readers can expect that Atran will be using real objects such as artifacts, ruins, buildings, etc. to find a semblance of religion in them. The article also states that Atran uses Darwinian ideas in his approach. So now readers can also expect that he will try and find evolutionary meaning behind religion. A methodologist's approach is imperative to state in the beginning so readers are not going into an article blindly. Instead, they know what and what not to expect in how a specific article will deal with religion.
What I found in the NY Times article, Why Do We Believe? are many definitions that people give religion, such as calling religion "superstition" (Henig, 38) and a "belief in hope that is beyond reason" (Henig, 38). What's interesting is that Atran is an archaeologist which gives readers a sense of what sort of method he will use in his study of religion. From this standpoint, readers can expect that Atran will be using real objects such as artifacts, ruins, buildings, etc. to find a semblance of religion in them. The article also states that Atran uses Darwinian ideas in his approach. So now readers can also expect that he will try and find evolutionary meaning behind religion. A methodologist's approach is imperative to state in the beginning so readers are not going into an article blindly. Instead, they know what and what not to expect in how a specific article will deal with religion.
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