Chapter 6

CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INSTITUTION

RELIGION AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

RELIGION
According to Anthropologists, Religion is “a set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices, pertaining to
supernatural beings and forces. Such as beliefs may vary within a culture as well as among societies,
and they may change over time” (Ember, Ember, and Peregrine, 2010)
Religion is a social institution that answers questions and explains the seemingly inexplicable.
Religion provides explanations for why things happen and demystifies the ideas of birth and death.
Religions belief in a single deity in a single deity is monotheistic. Those that encompass many deities
are polytheistic.

Religious and Non-Religious Phenomena

Spiritual and Natural World

 Religions are different in terms of perspective and practices.

 Religion can be found in all human societies which, makes it cultural universal.

Religion during the Ancient Periods

Early societies (Egyptians, Greeks, and Sumerians used religious symbols and practiced ritualistic
ceremonies, which made religion one of the central parts of the development of human societies.
Evidences:
 Cave wall carvings – evidence of the earliest record on the existence of the religion that
dates to 60,000 years ago
  Religion and mythology of ancient Greece

Religion affects us and our way of thinking in the existing world. It serves as a pattern for the
actions we take in day-to-day existence. Religion is seen not only as a social belief but also as social
institution that continues to develop overtime. Sociologists study religion while considering diverse
societal factors such as gender, age, race, and education, that also tap other social institutions and
the concept of social change.

RELIGIOUS PATTERNS

Animism
Animism refers to the belief in innumerable spiritual beings concerned with human affairs and
capable of helping or harming human interests.
Belief that the natural world, as a whole or in parts, has soul and spirit.
 As a whole = World Spirit, Mother Earth, Gaia.
 In parts = rocks, trees, springs, and animals.
Natural phenomena and environmental destructions are understood as repercussions of the
interaction between humans and spirits.
In animism, Spirits can be in either good or bad form which can make interactions and
influences on human in various ways and forms.
 Bad Spirits = negative energies, possessions, demotic disturbances and cases of insanity.
 Good Spirits = attributes that aid humans in acquiring their needs and addressing the issues.
Importance of animism in the Study of Culture and Religion
Animism denotes not a single creed or doctrine but a view of the world consistent with a certain
range of religious beliefs and practices, many of which may survive in more complex and hierarchical
religions.

Monotheism
Monotheism refers to the belief in the existence of one god, or in the oneness of God; as such, it is
distinguished from polytheism, the belief t=from the existence of many gods, and from atheism, the
belief that there is no god. Monotheism characterizes the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam, and elements of the belief are discernible in numerous other religions.

Polytheism
Polytheism is belief in or worship of, multiple gods or divinities. The word comes from the
Greek words poly+theoi , literally “many gods”. Most ancient religions were polytheistic, holding to
pantheons of traditional deities, often accumulated over centuries of cultural interchange and
experience. Present-day polytheistic religions include Hinduism, Sinto, some forms of Wicca, Vodum
and Asatru.
Polytheists divide their world up into a variety of domains and assign gods to each: a god of
the sea, a god of the sun and so forth. In their efforts to cover their bases, polytheists end up with
conflicting gods. A god of war and a god of peace, a god of virginity and a god of fertility, a god of
creation and a god of destructions.

INSTITUTIONALIZED RELIGION
Also called “Organized Religion”, is a religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically
arranged and formally established.

Characteristics of Institutionalized Religion

1. Wide-scale religious clout - The number of individuals affiliated with this religious
institution is immense that it crosses political and international borders and cuts across social
status.
2. Hierarchical leadership and membership - Followers of this type of faith system are
relegated to socio-political posts within the system, which provides ranking and status. This
implies that access to the divine may not be given to every member but is a privilege of a
select few. The decisions for the welfare of the religious group are also made by those who
hold power while members are expected to follow them.
3. Codified Rituals - Processes of interacting with the divine and with fellow members are
guided by written rules and regulations that have the power of the law, such that a member’s
inability to comply results in the imposition of sanctions.

Organized religion seems to have gained prevalence since the Neolithic era with the rise of
wide-scale civilization and agriculture. As the societies grow more complex, the systems of
worshiping the divine became more structured. The declaration of a country’s official religion is
premier example of how a religion is institutionalized.

Most of the world subscribes to one of the following religions:

Christianity: The most widespread world religion, Christianity was derived from Judaism. It
is based on the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the redeemer of mankind. There are
many different Christian denominations.
Islam: Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims believe that the true word of God was
revealed to the prophet Muhammad around 570 A.D. God in Islam is the same god as the Christian
and Judiac deity.
Judaism: Judaism is a monotheistic religion that predates Christianity, built on the belief that
the Israelites are the “chosen people” of God.
Hinduism: Hinduism is the oldest major world religion, dominant in India. Hindus do not
worship single person or deity but rather are guided by a set of ancient cultural beliefs. They believe
in the principle of karma, which is the wisdom or health of one’s eternal soul. Karma can be
strengthened with god acts and harmed by bad acts. Hindus believe that karma plays a role in
reincarnation, a cycle of continuous rebirth through which, ideally, the soul can achieve spiritual
perfection. The state of a person’s karma determines in what form he or she will reborn.
Buddhism: Buddhists, most of whom live in Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma follow
the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, a spiritual teacher of the sixth century B.C.E. Buddhism, like
Hinduism, does not feature any single all-powerful deity but teaches that by eschewing materialism,
one can transcend the “illusion” of life and achieve enlightenment.

Types of Religious Groups

There are three group categories of religious organizations according to sociologists:

1. The church is a religious group integrated with society.

Example: The Roman Catholic Church is well integrated in the society in Spain.

2. The sect is a religious group that sets itself apart from society as a whole.
Example: The Amish of Pennsylvania are a classic sect. Though Christian, they choose to set
themselves apart from the rest of society by their lifestyle, which eschews many aspects of
modernity.

3. The cult is a religious group that is outside the standard cultural norms, typically centered on
a charismatic leader.
Example: The People’s Temple, a cult that emerged in the late 1970s, was led by a man named Jim
Jones. Jones started his cult in San Francisco, and then convinced several hundred followers to
move with him to Jonestown, Guyana. He claimed to be a god and insisted on strict loyalty. In 1978,
he and 913 of his followers committed mass suicide.
Separation of Church and State
The 1987 Philippine Constitution Article III Section 6 states that “The separation of Church
and state shall be inviolable”
Article III Section 5: No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and
worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be
required for the exercise of civil or political rights.
However, despite such provision, the religious cultures of the Filipinos have oftentimes
empowered the religious sectors to influence the political affairs of the country. In ancient Societies,
the church and state are synonymous as the leaders of the church are also the political elite which,
also referred to as Theocracy or the rule of divine.
Example: Japanese society believed that their emperor was the direct descendant of a god.
Ancient Egyptians and Sumerians regarded their pharaohs and kings as god-kings, as they
were believed to be earthly incarnations of the divine. As states developed into more complex
political units, the church is regarded as a separate entity from the state.

HEALTH
Heath is according to the World Health Organization (WHO)(1948) define as the state of
complete physical, mental and social well being.
Health Domains:
1. Physical Health - It refers to the way that your body functions. This is includes eating right,
getting regular exercise and being at your recommended body weight. It is also avoiding
vices, and being free of disease and sickness.
2. Psychological Health - It is the ability to recognize reality and cope with the demands of
every life.
3. Emotional Health - It is expressing your emotions in a positive and non-destructive way.
4. Social Health - It is the quality of your relationships with family, friends, teachers and
classmates and others the child is in contact with.
5. Spiritual Health - It refers to maintaining harmonious relationships with other living things
and having spiritual direction and purpose.

CULTURE – SPECIFIC SYNDROMES AND ILLNESSES

With the growing spread knowledge and learning across the globe. It is quite inevitable for
different cultures and nations to form their own terms for illnesses that occur specifically in their
regions. In the Philippines setting, many medical – related terms have been developed throughout
this country’s history.

a. Bughat (Ilonggo term) or Binat (Tagalog version) is the term used to refer to the ailments
(headache, chills, body pains, malaise, dizziness, muscle weakness, and in some it is
blindness)a mother experiences after giving birth or after having suffered abortion or
miscarriage if she did not follow certain rituals after childbirth.
 b. Usog is a Filipino superstition that attributes an illness to the greeting of a stranger. It is
believed that young children are vulnerable to usog. If after encountering a stranger, a child
develops a fever, the stranger is sought after and asked to touch lightly his or her saliva on
the child’s forehead, chest or abdomen. And if the stranger notices this he/she automatically
says “Pwerausog!”

System of Diagnosis, Prevention and Healing

1. Traditional Medicine – Complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) are often used
interchangeably with traditional medicine in some countries.
2. Herbal Medicine – includes herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations and finished herbal
products that contain as active ingredients parts of plants, or other plant materials, or
combinations of plant materials.
3. Traditional use of herbal medicines – traditional use of herbal medicines refers to the
long historical use of these medicines. Their use is well established and widely acknowledged
to be safe and effective, and may be accepted by national authorities.
4. Therapeutic activity – refers to the successful prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
physical and mental illness; improvement of symptoms of illness; as well as beneficial
alteration or regulation of the physical and mental status of the body.
5. Active ingredient – refer to ingredients of herbal medicines with therapeutic activity. In
herbal medicines where the active ingredients have been identified, the preparation of these
medicines should be standardized to contain a defined amount of the active ingredients, if
adequate analytical methods are available.

EXERCISES

Directions: Choose the answer from the terms inside the box below and write it in the space
provided.
__________ 1. A unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things.
__________ 2. A Filipino superstition that attributes an illness to the greeting of a stranger.
__________ 3. Belief in numerous spiritual beings concerned with human affairs and capable of
helping or harming human interests.
__________ 4. A belief in the existence of one god, or in the oneness of God; distinguished from
polytheism, the belief in the existence of many gods and from atheism, the belief
that there is no God.
__________ 5. Belief in or worship of, multiple gods or divinities.
__________ 6. It is a religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and
formally established.
__________ 7. It is the quality of your relationships with family, friends, teachers and classmates
and others the child is in contact with.
__________ 8. Is a monotheistic religion that predates Christianity, built on the belief that the
Israelites are the “chosen people” of God.
__________ 9. Is the oldest major world religion, dominant in India. Hindus do not worship single
person or deity but rather are guided by a set of ancient cultural beliefs.
_________ 10. Is the term used to refer to the ailments (headache, chills, body pains, malaise,
dizziness, muscle weakness, and in some it is blindness)a mother experiences after
giving birth or after having suffered abortion or miscarriage if she did not follow
certain rituals after childbirth.

Monotheism Religion Animism Usog

Polytheism Institutionalized religion Social Health Judaism

Buddhism Bughat

II – Make a chart showing the similarities and differences in the beliefs and practices found in;
(2 points each item)

Religion Similarities Differences

Buddhism
Hinduism
Judaism
Islam
Christianity