Question 1

Who felt that religion helps people resolve their inner conflicts and attain maturity?

Accepted Answer

Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, believed that religion played a significant role in helping individuals resolve their inner conflicts and attain maturity. His concept of the collective unconscious and archetypes showed that religion can serve as a form of therapy to help individuals find meaning in their lives and move towards self-realization.

Question 2

How do Alice Kehoe and Dody Giletti explain the observation that, cross-culturally, women are more often believed to be possessed than are men?

Accepted Answer

Alice Kehoe and Dody Giletti suggest that women are more often believed to be possessed than men due to nutritional deficiencies, which can lead to symptoms that might be interpreted as possession.

Question 3

What type of religious ritual did Erika Bourguignon find present in 90 percent of the world's societies?

Accepted Answer

Erika Bourguignon found that an altered state of consciousness was present in 90 percent of the world's societies as a religious ritual.

Question 4

Most social scientists today do not accept Freud's interpretation of the origins of religion; however, they agree with his idea that __________.

Accepted Answer

Most social scientists today do not accept Freud's interpretation of the origins of religion, but they agree with his idea that events in infancy have long-lasting effects on beliefs and practices in adult life.

Question 5

In nearly all cultures that believe in gods, the gods are believed to have __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In nearly all cultures that believe in...

Question 6

Beliefs about what is, or is not, a supernatural occurrence __________.

Accepted Answer

Beliefs about supernatural occurrences can vary within a society over time due to factors such as changing cultural norms or scientific discoveries. While there may be certain beliefs and practices that are consistent across cultures, there is still variability and diversity in the ways in which different societies conceptualize the supernatural.

Question 7

What do the Zuni believe happens to people after they die?

Accepted Answer

The Zuni believe that after death, people join their ancestors in a village at the bottom of a lake. This belief reflects their cultural views on the afterlife and the continuation of community and family ties beyond death.

Question 8

When people are said to be anthropomorphizing the gods, they are __________.

Accepted Answer

Anthropomorphizing means attributing human characteristics or motivations to non-human entities, in this case, the gods.

Question 9

What signs have archaeologists uncovered that suggest religious belief dates back to nearly 60,000 years ago?

Accepted Answer

Archaeologists have unearthed grave goods - objects such as tools, jewelry, and ritual items - in burials that suggest the deceased had religious beliefs and practices. These burials date back nearly 60,000 years, indicating that religious belief has been an important aspect of human culture for tens of thousands of years prior to the development of written texts or temple ruins. There is no evidence of ancient songs specifically relating to religious belief from this far back in history.

Question 10

Into which two broad categories do anthropologists classify supernatural beings?

Accepted Answer

Anthropologists classify supernatural beings into two broad categories based on their origin: human or nonhuman. This classification helps in understanding the nature and characteristics of these beings in various cultures.

Question 11

The presumed victims of bewitchment in the Salem witchcraft scare had symptoms consistent with __________.

Accepted Answer

The symptoms experienced by the victims were similar to those associated with ergot poisoning, which can occur when consuming contaminated grains. Ergot fungus produces a toxin that can cause hallucinations, convulsions, and other symptoms that were observed in the Salem witchcraft scare.

Question 12

Why does Marvin Harris suggest that the Hindu belief in the sacred cow is adaptive?

Accepted Answer

Marvin Harris argues that the Hindu belief in the sacred cow is adaptive because cows are a valuable resource in India. They can be used for plowing, transportation, and their milk and dung can be used for fuel and fertilizer. In a region with limited resources, it would be economically unwise to kill and eat cows rather than using them for these purposes. This belief therefore allows for the preservation of an important resource, and contributes to the survival of the society.

Question 13

Beatrice Whiting suggests that sorcery or witchcraft will be found in societies that __________.

Accepted Answer

Beatrice Whiting suggests that sorcery or witchcraft will be found in societies that lack procedures or authorities to deal with crime. This is because in societies without effective law enforcement, people may turn to supernatural explanations for misfortune or wrongdoing.

Question 14

What are the two largest world religions?

Accepted Answer

Christianity and Islam are currently the two largest world religions, with Christianity having approximately 2.4 billion followers and Islam having approximately 1.9 billion followers.

Question 15

Why are anthropologists interested in religion?

Accepted Answer

Anthropologists are interested in understanding why religion is a universal phenomenon, present in all societies, despite its significant variations. They study the various cultural and social functions served by religion and the different religious practices, beliefs and rituals that exist globally.

Question 16

Edward Tylor hypothesized that religion grew out of __________.

Accepted Answer

Edward Tylor theorized that religion originated from people's attempts to understand and explain dreams, trances, and the concept of death. He believed that early humans were unable to account for these phenomena using scientific reasoning and therefore turned to supernatural explanations, which eventually evolved into religious beliefs and practices.

Question 17

In the ranked society of Palau, the gods __________.

Accepted Answer

In Palauan society, the gods are associated with different clans and are ranked like the clans, indicating a hierarchical structure.

Question 18

Melford Spiro and Roy D'Andrade have suggested that the god-human relationship is a projection of the __________ relationship.

Accepted Answer

Melford Spiro and Roy D'Andrade propose that the relationship between gods and humans is a projection of the parent-child relationship. This theory suggests that humans understand their interactions with the divine in a similar way to how they understand interactions with their own parents, i.e., as a relationship of dependency, obedience, and protection.

Question 19

Freud believed that early humans lived in groups, each of which was dominated by a __________.

Accepted Answer

Freud theorized that early human societies were organized around a dominant male figure, often referred to as the "primal father," who monopolized sexual access to the women within the group. This idea is part of his broader theories on the development of human civilization and the Oedipus complex.

Question 20

Monotheistic religions generally have beliefs in __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Monotheistic religions generally have beliefs in __________.
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Quiz 14: Religion and Magic