Deck 7: Ritual

Question 1

What is the definition of the following term:
-commemorative ritual:

Answer 1

The ritual "remembering" of a religiously significant event, thus the celebration or reenactment of a legendary or historical event deemed central to a religion.

Question 2

What is the definition of the following term:
-effective ritual:

Answer 2

Religious rituals performed in the hopes that the actions actually change reality and do so with a kind of supernatural power.

Question 3

What is the definition of the following term:
-kami:

Answer 3

A god of Shinto, the native religion of Japan.

Question 4

What is the definition of the following term:
-liturgy:

Question 5

What is the definition of the following term:
-mimetic ritual:

Question 6

What is the definition of the following term:
-orthopraxis:

Question 7

What is the definition of the following term:
-petitionary prayer:

Question 8

What is the definition of the following term:
-puja:

Question 9

What is the definition of the following term:
-rites of passage:

Question 10

What is the definition of the following term:
-ritual:

Question 11

What is the definition of the following term:
-sacrament:

Question 12

What is the definition of the following term:
-salat:

Question 13

What is the definition of the following term:
-seasonal ritual:

Question 14

What is the definition of the following term:
-transformative ritual:

Question 15

What is the definition of the following term:
-worship:

Question 16

In regards to beliefs, orthodoxy means "straight doctrine." In regards to ritual, orthopraxis means

A) "straight living."
B) "straight practice."
C) "straight teaching."
D) "straight teeth."

Question 17

Ritual, most generally, is

A) any belief or attitude one has about God or gods.
B) any activity associate with religion.
C) words or actions with specified form, repeated for specific occasions.
D) words or actions that cannot be changed because they are prescribed by God.

Question 18

An example of a major rite of passage is

A) giving offerings to nature spirits to pass through their land safely.
B) the ritual initiation of a boy that may often include blood-letting to be counted as a man.
C) the ritual performed by a priest or minister as he enters into specific parts of the temple that others may not enter.
D) all of the above.

Question 19

According to our text, a ritual can become superstition when

A) it loses its dependence on Ultimate Being and seems to have effective power in itself.
B) one prays to God and believes that God will actually respond.
C) it takes on more than one form, as when Easter is both commemorative and seasonal.
D) It is a trick question because all religious ritual is superstitious.

Question 20

Commemorative rituals in religion

A) are like birthday celebrations.
B) recall and celebrate important events in the history of a religion and its founder.
C) might reenact important acts in the religion's past.
D) all of the above

Question 21

Katchina spirits are associated with which religion?

A) Native American religion
B) Wicca
C) Baha'i
D) Zoroastrianism

Question 22

Christmas and the Buddhist Oban festival are examples of

A) commemorative ritual.
B) effective ritual.
C) worship ritual.
D) Really, they are just traditions and not rituals at all.

Question 23

The author claims that effective ritual is similar to

A) music.
B) strength.
C) magic.
D) military conquest.

Question 24

Some effective rituals, such as the dances found in Native religions (e.g., Aborigines of Australia or Native Americans) are examples of

A) imitative ritual.
B) rituals updated for the modern world.
C) dogmatic rituals.
D) superstition.

Question 25

The textbook suggests that sacrifice rituals (e.g., sacrifices for sin once performed in Judaism) are meant to be

A) commemorative rituals.
B) rites of passage.
C) worship.
D) effective ritual.

Question 26

Meditation is called a "transformative religious ritual" because

A) it is an activity done with a standard regular form.
B) it is an activity that changes the person who performs the ritual.
C) it connects the person with some aspect of Ultimate Being.
D) All of the above

Question 27

According to the author, rituals are

A) relatively easy to understand once we know all the kinds of ritual.
B) often quite complex, with one ritual having several different functions.
C) evident ways of manipulating people into social conformity.
D) not really very important in religion generally.

Question 28

Ritual worship is most consistent with a

A) monistic notion of Ultimate Being.
B) theistic notion of Ultimate Being.
C) denial of any notion of Ultimate Being.
D) fear of the unknown.

Question 29

According to our text, prayer

A) is very much like a form of worship.
B) is more like a form of effective magic.
C) is essentially a personally transformative ritual, like meditation.
D) could be worship, magic, or transformation.

Question 30

Some religious people, and even the traditions of some religions themselves, resist the use of ritual because it

A) can seem to become a way that humans try to control God.
B) usually is not as important as being a good person.
C) usually is not as important as feeling peace of mind.
D) all of the above

Question 31

The author claims that religious rituals in general contribute to religious life by

A) making religion a lot easier to do.
B) giving people a sense of wonder and excitement.
C) giving people confidence in their relation to Ultimate Being and helping them form recognizable communities.
D) setting people free from worrying about whether they have orthodox beliefs.

Question 32

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Commemorative

A) A ritual that asks favors of God or gods.
B) A ritual that causes changes in nature, ourselves or even God, and may work like magic.
C) A ritual that enacts a hoped-for relationship between humans and spirits.
D) A ritual that primarily changes the internal or spiritual state of the participant.
E) A ritual that recalls and celebrates a major event in a religion's history.

Question 33

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Effective

A) A ritual that asks favors of God or gods.
B) A ritual that causes changes in nature, ourselves or even God, and may work like magic.
C) A ritual that enacts a hoped-for relationship between humans and spirits.
D) A ritual that primarily changes the internal or spiritual state of the participant.
E) A ritual that recalls and celebrates a major event in a religion's history.

Question 34

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Mimetic

A) A ritual that asks favors of God or gods.
B) A ritual that causes changes in nature, ourselves or even God, and may work like magic.
C) A ritual that enacts a hoped-for relationship between humans and spirits.
D) A ritual that primarily changes the internal or spiritual state of the participant.
E) A ritual that recalls and celebrates a major event in a religion's history.

Question 35

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Petitionary

A) A ritual that asks favors of God or gods.
B) A ritual that causes changes in nature, ourselves or even God, and may work like magic.
C) A ritual that enacts a hoped-for relationship between humans and spirits.
D) A ritual that primarily changes the internal or spiritual state of the participant.
E) A ritual that recalls and celebrates a major event in a religion's history.

Question 36

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Transformative

A) A ritual that asks favors of God or gods.
B) A ritual that causes changes in nature, ourselves or even God, and may work like magic.
C) A ritual that enacts a hoped-for relationship between humans and spirits.
D) A ritual that primarily changes the internal or spiritual state of the participant.
E) A ritual that recalls and celebrates a major event in a religion's history.

Question 37

According to the author, the term "ritual" always refers to religious activity.

Question 38

For a ritual to be considered religious, it must be performed in a group setting.

Question 39

Celebrating the birthday of the Buddha is an example of a commemorative ritual.

Question 40

All commemorative rituals focus on the founder of the religion.

Question 41

Not all commemorative rituals are attached to annual holidays.

Question 42

The author argues that prayer and meditation are essentially the same kind of ritual.

Question 43

Guru Nanak declared that his followers no longer had to participate in the pilgrimage to Mecca, effectively breaking his new religion away from Islam.

Question 44

Hinduism includes worship rituals.

Question 45

Earliest versions of Buddhism and Daoism do not include worship.

Question 46

According to the author, rituals can potentially become dead and repetitious.

Question 47

According to the author, if people are devoted to the rituals of their religion, they will be less likely to find deep religious experiences and more likely to neglect morality.

Question 48

Explain the difference between "orthodoxy" and "orthopraxis" as applied to some religion you know. Evaluate, in your own opinion, which is most important.

Question 49

Use the example of prayer ritual as noted in the textbook and consider how it might be seen as effective ritual or as worship. Explain the difference.

Question 50

Describe some rite of passage that you have participated in, observed, or just know about (or have done some research on) and explain the importance that ritual has for members of the religion. How is the individual in the ritual transformed? What difference does it make to membership in the religion if a person has not yet been through this ritual? Generally evaluate the importance of the rite of passage for religious life.

Question 51

Note how Christmas and Martin Luther King Day are similar holidays (if you do not know what these holidays are, look them up or ask somebody). Also note why one is (let's presume) religious and the other is not. Explore a little what difference it makes to treat one of these days as a genuinely religious holiday and the other not. That is, what difference does it make in attitude or behavior?

Question 52

Choose a major ritual (not something peripheral, but something central, such as salat in Islam, the Eucharist in Christianity, or meditation in Buddhism) and describe the ritual and its function in the religion. Now imagine that someone who claims to be a member of the religion ignores or refuses to participate, even though they have the opportunity. Would that person still be a full member of the religion? This is not a question of moral judgment, but an analysis of the importance of the role of ritual.