Deck 10: Religion and Belief Systems

Question 1

The term "evangelical" is associated with all of the following except:

A) association with liberal social views.
B) literal or near-literal interpretation of the Bible.
C) belief in a personal relationship with Jesus.
D) use of daily prayer.

Answer 1

association with liberal social views.

Question 2

The study of cross-cultural diversity in religious beliefs, practices, and meanings is called:

A) comparative religion.
B) religious relativity.
C) cultural relativism.
D) historical religion.

Answer 2

comparative religion.

Question 3

The early inclusive view of religion as a belief in spiritual beings was proposed by:

A) Franz Boas.
B) Max Weber.
C) Edward Tylor.
D) Clifford Geertz.

Answer 3

Edward Tylor.

Question 4

Animism is the belief:

A) that ancestors control our daily lives and predict the future.
B) that religion can only be found in nature.
C) that everything is imbued with a spirit/spirits.
D) in many gods.

Question 5

Which anthropologist argues that religion is a "system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations…."

A) Max Weber
B) Clifford Geertz
C) Edward Tylor
D) Emile Durkheim

Question 6

All of the following are part of Clifford Geertz's well-known definition of religion except:

A) spiritual beings.
B) symbols.
C) moods and motivation.
D) an aura of factuality.

Question 7

Ritual is best defined as:

A) repetitious symbolic behaviors.
B) practices that invoke supernatural beings.
C) universal stereotyped behaviors.
D) the belief in spiritual beings.

Question 8

What is the primary difference between a synchronic and a diachronic approach?

A) One focuses on Western religions, and the other is more global and cross-cultural.
B) One focuses on practices in a less stratified society, and the other focuses on state religions.
C) One focuses on the here-and-now, and the other takes a longer view of change over time.
D) One looks at religion as a system, and the other looks at religion as a practice.

Question 9

If an ethnographer were to do a study of changes that have occurred in the practices of Buddhism over the last 100 years, it would be what type of study?

A) Relativistic
B) Assimilative
C) Synchronic
D) Diachronic

Question 10

According to the text, a religious specialist who speaks through the supernatural being is best defined as a:

A) sorcerer.
B) spirit medium.
C) witch.
D) healer and trancer.

Question 11

What is num?

A) A specialized shaman who contacts the supernatural directly
B) A healing life-force associated with the San
C) A ritual practice associated with Taoism
D) An ancestral spirit-force that appears in the Ghost Dance

Question 12

Nomadic San believed that the root cause of all illness and disease was:

A) contagion by outside forces.
B) poor moral actions.
C) rituals that were performed incorrectly.
D) the actions of their two gods.

Question 13

Which is not a common step in traditional San healing and curing rituals?

A) Generalized use of hallucinogenic plants
B) Laying on of hands
C) Drumming and dancing
D) Collective focus on the victim

Question 14

Today the sedentary San primarily practice traditional healing techniques for:

A) ancestor spirits.
B) tourists.
C) elderly relatives.
D) heads of state.

Question 15

An ongoing process of fusion and change is called:

A) syncretism.
B) evolution.
C) cultural relativism.
D) assimilation.

Question 16

Which of the following factors has most changed San lives today?

A) Education
B) Religion
C) Kinship
D) Sedentism

Question 17

Which of the following is not a traditional religious system associated with Imperial China?

A) Buddhism
B) Confucianism
C) Taoism
D) Christianity

Question 18

During the Imperial Era of China, what was the primary role of ghosts?

A) They continued to advocate for their own living descendants.
B) They worked to encourage people to practice Confucianism.
C) They were used in healing ceremonies and for prophecy.
D) They were not recognized during the Imperial Era except as children's ideas.

Question 19

During the Hungry Ghost festival, Chinese families of the Imperial Era:

A) fed ancestors regardless of their kinship.
B) invited ancestors of different families to dine together.
C) drove ghosts away to the sounds of firecrackers.
D) hid from ghosts inside their houses and chanted prayers to keep them away.

Question 20

During what historical period was China most anti-religion?

A) Post-Mao Zedong Era
B) Cultural Revolution
C) Imperial Era
D) Reservation Era

Question 21

During the Imperial Era:

A) people tended to use diverse religious practices to meet their needs.
B) all religions were outlawed and only practiced in secret within families.
C) people only practiced ancestor worship and there were no religious philosophies.
D) most Chinese had no religion and did not practice any types of religious rituals.

Question 22

All of the following religions were legally allowed to operate in the People's Republic of China with restrictions except:

A) Falun Gong.
B) Christianity.
C) Islam.
D) Buddhism.

Question 23

Which of the following is not characteristic of most messianic movements?

A) Prophetic leadership
B) Promises of a better future
C) Normally short-lived experience
D) Appearance during a time of cultural stability

Question 24

The Ghost Dance originated among the:

A) Iroquois.
B) Lakota.
C) Kwakiutl.
D) Navajo.

Question 25

Which of the following did Handsome Lake advocate?

A) Adoption of new technology
B) Eradication of the old beliefs and traditions
C) End of religion
D) Complete assimilation into White culture

Question 26

Tlakaelel was associated with all of the following except:

A) worship of Mother Earth.
B) indigenous cultural practices.
C) focus on ancestral ghosts.
D) prophecy.

Question 27

During the 1890s, a revitalization movement developed within Native American society that claimed to empower individuals to withstand bullets. This was called the:

A) Ghost Dance.
B) Sun Dance.
C) Ritual Lodge Movement.
D) Wounded Knee Movement.

Question 28

The dominant religion in Indonesia is:

A) Daoism.
B) Islam.
C) Hinduism.
D) Christianity.

Question 29

The Gayo are considered:

A) Muslim.
B) Buddhist.
C) Christian.
D) Atheist.

Question 30

All Christians are evangelicals.

Question 31

Religion is best defined with an inclusive definition.

Question 32

Animism is found only in the religions of state societies.

Question 33

All rites of passage are cross cultural.

Question 34

Shamans are originally from South America.

Question 35

The San are undergoing a revival in their religious practices because of growing tourism.

Question 36

The San practice a laying-on of hands in order to transmit the belief in a monotheistic god.

Question 37

Syncretism is always a conscious attempt to create a more satisfying culture.

Question 38

Confucianism is no longer practiced in China.

Question 39

Ghosts were seen as troubling figures by most Chinese during the Imperial Era.

Question 40

A messianic movement is a type of revitalization movement.

Question 41

Christianity began as a state religion and not a revitalization movement.

Question 42

The Ghost Dance is a revitalization movement found among the Iroquois.

Question 43

Islam varies as it is practiced across different cultures.

Question 44

Gayo is a type of Christianity.

Question 45

Contrast a synchronic approach to religion with a diachronic one. How do these approaches differ ?

Question 46

How is a shaman different from a priest?

Question 47

What is a revitalization movement?

Question 48

How does the Iroquois religion of Handsome Lake meet the criteria of a revitalization movement?

Question 49

Using what you have learned in this chapter, define religion and give examples.

Question 50

Describe a traditional San healing ceremony. How has this changed recently?

Question 51

Compare and contrast two different types of revitalization movements. How do these examples illustrate an attempt "to construct a more satisfying culture"?