This introductory
class addresses the question of why a very similar range of religious patterns
and practices appears in the great majority of human societies, past and
present. Whether in major world faiths or "primal" religions, people
tend to do the same things as part of religious behavior, regardless of the
scriptures or teachings specific to that particular culture. I would in a sense
be exploring the "building blocks" of religion, elements that are
found in all the major world religions, though often they are dismissed as folk
religion or superstition. To take an obvious example, the idea of making
pilgrimage to the tombs or shrines of holy men and women is well known in the
context of Christianity and Buddhism, but also appears in aspects of Islam and
Judaism, in which the practice is sometimes condemned as superstitious. Similar
"religious" elements also appear in secular or even anti-religious
societies, though usually stripped of any obviously spiritual component.
Generally, even the best
Religious Studies textbooks in this area use approaches that I believe are
misleading, or perhaps unbalanced. In order to make the complex material
comprehensible to a student audience, textbook writers usually present the
various religious traditions as discrete units, paying insufficient attention
to common themes and patterns. In addition, they commonly place too much
emphasis on texts and scriptures, rather than the actual lived experience of
the religions in question. Consciously or otherwise, this approach lends
support to the rather dated idea of "high" and "low"
religion. In this view, those people following the approved scriptural norms
are the correct practitioners of the religion, while out there in the wilds,
ordinary people are pursuing strange customs that derive from folk-custom, and
may represent survivals of older religions. Obviously, I am oversimplifying,
but the textbooks do reflect a strong prejudice towards the textual.
As we look around the world,
though, we see that certain themes occur in virtually all societies with any
notion of religion (which is basically all of them), and even those that are
not obviously religious use the same notions in secularized form.
This commonality
is not all a result of influences from one people to another, since the same
basic themes appear even in newly contacted societies never before in contact
with the great societies of either West or East. These ideas and practices can
be seen as the building blocks of religion, which emerge most powerfully in
primal faiths, but which remain as undercurrents in the great religions. In
discussing these vestigial presences, these underlying survivals, I use the
linguistic concept of "interference," the term for how one's original
speech affects speaking patterns when a person tries and use a new
language.
These kinds of interference exercise a powerful influence on religious practice, to the extent that major religions face significant problems when they try to exclude them altogether. Periodically through history, in all great religions, reformers seek to purge such fringe beliefs and practices, and demand a return to the sources of the religion, to the strict letter of the Bible, the Quran or the Vedas. Time and again, though, the underlying practices return, either within the mainstream religion itself, or else through the vehicle of new religious movements.
The concept of underlying
common themes in religion is not new. This is the core idea we find in Jung's
theory of archetypes, the images of the collective unconscious that appear
worldwide in dreams, myths and fairy stories. More recently, new theories about
the structure and workings of the brain have suggested that certain kinds of
religious behavior are "hard-wired" into the human mind, that
religious states are an aspect of evolutionary biology. Books and media
articles have explored ideas like The
Biology of Religious Experience, even The "God" Part of the
Brain. [1] These biologically determinist ideas
-"NeuroTheology" - are controversial because they seem to reduce
human spirituality to the interplay of neurons.
My approach, however, is
different from these varieties of "universalism." I am quite
comfortable with biological approaches to behavior - I have taught courses on
biocriminology, and my research on designer drugs means that I am reasonably
familiar with the world of neurochemistry. I would certainly incorporate some
of these recent findings about the biochemical bases of mood, trance,
exaltation,
and so on. But I believe that many of the common religious themes arise from
fairly obvious facts of human existence, and do not require any elaborate
knowledge of biology or biochemistry. Arguably, one of the best ways to trace
the "roots of religion" is to observe small children, with their
obsessive ritualism and powerful sense of taboo, their rich awareness of places
possessed of good or evil powers.
So what are these common
facts that apply to human beings in virtually all times and places? Students
will usually come up with their own list of "universals", so we can
then explore the religious themes that arise from them. This is a clear means
of introducing the reader to the basic structures of religion - the
substructures, if we prefer. In each case, I point to the themes common to all
of us as human beings, and indicate how they give rise to religious beliefs or
practices, illustrated from various societies and cultures past and present. We
might use a highly contemporary example - such as people arguing and trying to
bargain with computers or ATM machines - before moving on to some more formal
and overtly "religious" expression.
Throughout, we can use
examples from primal religions, but also stress how these same ideas run
through the "higher" faiths. To take an example, after discussing
building blocks like breath and speech, I would note how they are transform in
the "great" religions, how for instance breath becomes
sacralized as prana,
ruach, pneuma, and so on.
1.Natural Religion?
Even in an advanced
post-industrial nation like the US, we can find a very large range of popular
practices and behaviors that resemble those of primal religions, as well as of
the underlying strata of other world religions. Though unexamined, popular
religiosity has much in it that is broadly "primal". In fact, such examples are
so abundant as to raise serious questions about the definition of the term
"religious". Is a belief in Santa Claus religious? Is UFO belief religious? If
you can "desecrate" a US flag, does that mean that it is a religious object?
Just what - if anything - is the difference between "superstition" and "real"
religion? Who decides?
Lots of seemingly "primal"
examples can be cited here, including the ubiquitous practice of throwing coins
in fountains or other convenient bodies of water. We also think of the
practices of visitors to the Vietnam Memorial, which is obviously seen as a
point of contact between living and dead. People reflect this belief by leaving
all manner of goods and objects for the dead. [2]
Another good example of
non-specific religiosity is the kind of popular shrine that appears at the site
of a great tragedy, at which people leave flowers, teddy bears and so on. Or we
might take the folklore surrounding such sites, the means by which urban
legends develop: September 11 produced a very rich crop of such outpourings -
including beliefs about omens, psychic linkages, and so on. The suggestion is
that regardless of their formal religious affiliation or belief, people share
common non-rational ideas about phenomena like violent death. Though these
responses are commonly listed under headings like "superstition", they are in
fact very close indeed to what in other societies would be formal religious
activities and myth-making. Certain forms of popular religiosity seem - to use
an unfashionable word - "natural", integral to human
nature.
2.Being Ourselves
We can then try to explain
what we have in common as human beings that explains these very broad
cross-cultural similarities. Most basic to human consciousness is the sense of
self: we exist, we are. This self-consciousness encourages a belief in an
absolute reality of self external to the body. That does not mean of course
that all societies have a belief in personal immortality, since they do not;
but the notion of a soul or souls separate from the vehicle of flesh and blood
is very common.
In addition, we are born and
we die. This core identity that we possess must have come from somewhere, some
other realm, and it must continue somewhere in some form. Intellectually, we
know that we will die, but it is literally impossible for us to imagine our own
non-existence. Even when we imagine our deaths, we do so in a form that
supposes we are consciously watching the proceedings, observing the mourners
leaving the graveside. If we imagine the grave, we see ourselves in some kind
of extended sleep. We know that our identity must continue somewhere, in some
form, giving rise to widespread ideas of an afterlife, perhaps in the form of
reincarnation, of varieties of heaven and hell.
Finally, humans are children
for a very long portion of their existence. Compared to other mammalian
species, we spend a large proportion of our lives in a state of utter physical
and psychological dependency on a larger and all-powerful figure or figures.
Observers have long suggested that this fact contributes mightily to our
willingness to hypothesize the existence of gods, angels, or superior figures,
sources of wisdom and guidance. In earlier societies - though less in the
modern world - the collective assemblage of ancestors and precursors serve this
function.
3.Body, Breath and Blood
Some of the "universals" arise from the
nature of the human body. From earliest times, people learned to associate the
fact of life with our physical characteristics. Most obviously, we bleed, and when we bleed, we lose strength and
vigor. We know that our continuing identity is
dependent on the survival of crucial parts of this organism, which we identify
with the basic forces of life. We also recall what hundreds of thousands
of Americans did in response to September 11: they gave blood. Further back in
history, we might think of the response to the Chicago crowd that witnessed the
death of John Dillinger, as passers by dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood,
to grasp a share of his power.
When we have identified blood as the
source of life and strength, we have prepared the way for many cultural
associations and activities, including the symbolism as red as a color of force
and power. Very early in human societies too, the connection between blood and
lunar cycles offered clear evidence of the linkage between the body and the
universe, macrocosm and microcosm. Survival of our
families or communities depends on dealing with the powerful forces of
sexuality, in which we transmit the life force no less than life
itself.
In addition to blood, the obvious
connection between breathing and life demonstrated the significance of air and
spirit. Human forces were linked to the natural world, and sickness was
connected with those outside powers. All humans fall sick, and we know that
spiritual forces can effect cures. Throughout modern history, the story of new
religious movements in the West is commonly the story of the quest
for spiritual
healing, a gift seemingly refused by the mainstream faiths. Potentially
"spiritual" concepts are also built in to the facts of our existence. We all eat to live: that is, we survive by eating other
things that have been living, plants or animals. The death of others gives us
life. This exchange demands reciprocity and exchange, perhaps through
sacrifice, but at least through gratitude to higher powers. Once again, new
religious movements have often been in the vanguard of struggles for new
attitudes to food and eating, expressing a "natural" concern excluded from
mainstream religion.
In this section, then, we see
the "universal" roots of religious or superstitious activities such as
sacrifice, blood taboos, exorcism, theories of possession, and
spiritual healing.
4. Altered States
We can experience altered states, which
we commonly identify with supernatural or spiritual realities. As recent work
on neurochemistry has reminded us, we are programmed to feel awe and
exaltation, and these feelings suggest the presence
of the special, dreadful and holy, qualities that are located in particular
persons, events, and places. We believe that
some people are intrinsically closer to the higher realms. We visit holy places
to seek the powers there, to draw from the merits of holy people. Likewise, we
seem to know dread as well as awe, and possess a powerful sense of the evil
inherent in places, to be shunned or tabooed. [3]
In insanity and personality disorders, we see other forms of
"alteration", which all too plausibly indicate the presence of new
and hostile spirits who have displaced the true owner of the body in
question.
Just as fundamental is the universal fact
of dreaming, which tells us of other states of
consciousness and reality beyond the everyday world. In dreams, the boundaries
of reality collapse: animals can speak, the dead walk. We see here confirmation
of higher and lower realms. In terms of primal religions, these facts sustain
the belief in the Otherworld, the Dreamtime, in shamanism. Depending
on the society,
there are many ways of knowing altered states of consciousness, including
fever, trance, drunkenness, or extreme stimulation. In such states, people
believe they see visions and defy time, defy the borders between life and
death.
When people try to convey the
truths they learn in these other states, they do it by the standard means that
humans try to make sense of the incomprehensible: they tell stories, make myths
and legends. As Andrew Greeley remarks, religion was "experience, symbol, story
(most symbols were inherently narrative) and community before it became creed,
rite and institution "
From this section, then, we
see the origin of such fundamental aspects of religious thought as holiness,
prophecy, and visionary experience.
5.Making Sense of the World
In our relations with the outside world,
we seem naturally to think and behave in ways that seem magical and even
primitive. I have already mentioned the trivial example of the computer
("Please don't wipe that data"), but time and again, we see examples of human
beings projecting our own realities. We think magically and analogically. We
tend to believe in rational order: that there is a proper order of things,
which if disturbed must be set right.
We also look for significance, and
(despite all evidences to the contrary) we find it. We believe in
correspondence, in special arrangements of order, which often depend on
numbers. Numerical correspondences again reflect the human body, for instance
the widespread beliefs concerning the numbers five and ten. To cite the
September 11 example again, it was chilling to glimpse the upsurge of legends
concerning the numerical significance of the event, all of which grew out of
the number eleven. The twin towers of the World Trade Center
physically resembled
this number; the individual figures in 9-11 add up to 11; the first aircraft to
hit the WTC was American Airlines Flight 11 from
Boston; and so on. People clearly felt that these correspondences were of
incalculable importance. [4]We
look for order, and often we find it in the natural world, the skies. Though
our climate and geography varies, we share some absolutely common external
realities, in the form of sun, moon and stars.
We believe in reciprocity, hence the
bargaining that so often marks our irrational processes. We assume that other
beings and things must operate and think and act in ways comprehensible to us -
in religious terms, we observe the principles of anthropomorphism and animism.
These processes are powerfully obvious from our treatment of animals. We observe and interact with animals, try to think
ourselves into their powers and attributes, and know that they must somehow
interact with the Otherworld in various ways. A nice example here would be the
miraculous intervention attributed to the dolphins that saved young Elian
Gonzalez from death in the Caribbean waters when his family was fleeing Cuba.
The story became a favorite with mural artists in Florida's Cuban
communities.
Similarly, we believe in rational agency.
We believe that things happen to us through the action of others, conscious or
otherwise. In many societies, this idea of cause and effect gives rise to
notions of witchcraft and all the attendant cures and protections.
Finally we can look at how
these "primal" themes were transformed by the impact of literacy, and
observe the shift to scripture- and clergy-based religions. The Old Testament
offers a lot of striking examples of this kind of transformation, as a highly
text-bound book seeks to convey the experiences of an oral and primal religion,
often with some jarring inconsistencies resulting from the interface. We can
also draw parallels with other major religions, especially Islam and
Buddhism.
TABLE
As a summary, then, these are the "building blocks" I have
been discussing.
1. We ARE. We exist. We are conscious of a distinct
identity.
2. We are born. This identity we possess must have come
from somewhere.
3. We are children. We spend a large proportion of our
lives as children in a state of utter physical and psychological dependency on
a larger figure or figures. (gods; God)
4. We die. We know we will die, but we cannot imagine our
own non-existence. We know that this identity must continue somewhere, in some
form. (afterlife; reincarnation)
5. We get sick in mind or body. We need to know the cause
of these conditions, and to seek help and healing. (exorcism;
possession)
6. We bleed. We know that our continuing identity is
dependent on the survival of crucial parts of this organism, which we identify
with the basic forces of life.
7. We dream. We know that there are other states of
consciousness and reality other than the everyday world.
(otherworld; dreamtime)
8. We can experience other altered states of consciousness,
through fever, trance, drunkenness, or extreme stimulation.
(trance; vision)
9. We tell stories. We use narrative to make sense of the
world around us (myth-making)
10. We project our own realities. We assume that other
beings and things must operate and think and act in ways comprehensible to us.
(anthropomorphism; animism)
11. We believe in rational agency. We believe that things
that happen to us occur through the action of others, conscious or
otherwise. (witchcraft)
12. We think magically and analogically.
(magic)
13. We tend to believe in rational order: that there is a
proper order of things, which if disturbed must be set right. We believe in
reciprocity. (sacrifice)
14. We eat. We survive by eating other things that have
been living. The death of others gives us life. This exchange demands
reciprocity and exchange.
15. We reproduce. Survival of our families or communities
depends on dealing with the powerful forces of sexuality, in which we transmit
the life force no less than life itself.
(fertility).
16. We feel awe. We recognize the presence of the special,
dreadful and holy, qualities that are located in particular persons, events,
and especially places
REFERENCES
Thomas B. Allen Offerings
at the Wall: Artifacts from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection Turner
Pub 1995
Matthew Alper The "God" Part
of the Brain Rogue Press, 2001
Sharon
Begley "Religion And The Brain" Newsweek May 7
2001
T. Patrick Burke The Major
Religions Blackwell 1995
Denise Lardner
Carmody, Ways
to the Center 5th edition Wadsworth 2001
Eugene G. D'Aquili, Andrew B.
Newberg The
Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience Fortress Press,
1999
Robert S. Ellwood Many
Peoples, Many Faiths 5th edition Prentice Hall, 1995
John L. Esposito, Todd
Thornton Lewis, Darrell J. Fasching, World Religions Today Oxford
University Press 2002
Kenneth E. Foote Shadowed
Ground: America's Places of Tragedy and Violence Univ of Texas Pr
1997
Joseph Giovannoli, Dan A. Wilson
(Editors), The Biology of Belief: How Our Biology Biases Our Beliefs and
Perceptions Rosetta Press 2001
Robert Lee Hotz, "Seeking the
Biology of Spirituality" Los Angeles Times April 26,
1998
Samuel E. Karff
et al Religions
of the World 3rd ed St. Martin's Press 1993
Gary E. Kessler
(Editor) Ways
Of Being Religious WCB/McGraw-Hill 1999
Edward T. Linenthal, Unfinished Bombing. New York: Oxford
University Press 2001
Theodore M. M.
Ludwig Sacred
Paths Prentice Hall 1996
Warren Matthews, World
Religions 3rd edn., Wadsworth, 1998
Stephanie Miles "Watching the Web: A
Myth Is as Good as a Milestone on Urban-Legend Sites" Wall Street
Journal Nov 29, 2001
Michael Molloy
Experiencing
the World's Religions
2nd
edition Mayfield Publishing 2002
Andrew Newberg et al, editors,
NeuroTheology:
Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious Experience University of California
Press, 2002
Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili, Vince Rause Why God Won't
Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief Ballantine Books
2002
William E. Paden Religious
Worlds 2nd ed.,
Beacon Press 1990
Huston Smith The World's
Religions Harper San Francisco
reprint edition 1992
Huston
Smith Forgotten Truth: The Common Vision of the World's Religions Harper
San Francisco Reprint edition 1993
Huston
Smith, Cleansing the Doors of Perception Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Putnam 2000
[1] Matthew Alper, The
"God" Part of the Brain Rogue Press, 2001; Sharon Begley,
"Religion And The Brain" Newsweek, May 7 2001; Eugene G.
D'Aquili, Andrew B. Newberg The Mystical Mind Fortress Press, 1999;
Joseph Giovannoli and Dan A. Wilson (Editors), The Biology of
Belief Rosetta
Press 2001; Robert Lee Hotz, "Seeking the Biology of
Spirituality" Los
Angeles Times April 26, 1998; Andrew Newberg, et al, editors,
NeuroTheology
University of California Press, 2002; Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili, Vince
Rause, Why God Won't Go Away Ballantine Books 2002; Huston
Smith, Cleansing
the Doors of Perception Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam
2000.
[2] Thomas B. Allen, Offerings at the Wall Turner
Publishing 1995
[3] Kenneth E. Foote Shadowed
Ground University of Texas Press 1997; Edward T.
Linenthal, Unfinished Bombing. Oxford University Press
2001.
[4] Stephanie Miles "Watching the Web: A Myth Is as
Good as a Milestone on Urban-Legend Sites" Wall Street Journal Nov
29, 2001