Answer ONE of the following questions Assignment

Answer ONE of the following questions - Assignment Example The following paper consists of authentic journal articles and books which highlight differing perspectives on religion. Where some of the theorists and historians believed that the society was stabilized with the help of the existence of religion. On the contrary others emphasize that conflicts with in society is due to the surfacing of the concept of religion. The latter, believes that it does not stabilize society rather it instils hatred in the heart of believers in directly that becomes the reason for the conflict eventually, within a society. In the sands of time, lies the supporting evidence which suggests that religion has always attracted the west as a form intuition that has provided solace to those who are lost and oppressed. Western historians have always pinpointed that religion that can act as a source for revival for those who are in trouble or are in search of hope, and seemingly the religious institutions have never failed to provide hope and courage in the face of d ifficulties. Nevertheless, Steve Bruce argues that modernization and surfacing individualism has re-shaped the concept of religion altogether. The religious beliefs and practices, as well as the standing and position of religion have been altered in the western society (Bruce, 1996). Bruce mentions that in the Middle Ages, religion was straightforward that taught if a certain act was not followed than the hell awaits the individual. Moreover, religion was explained to the masses in Latin which everyone was not aware of, those who professed religion would deliver sermons in the church in Latin and individuals were expected to listen to it and act morally. Saints exerted power for women to get rid of their husbands, while other Saints possessed the power to fight the evil and save the crops and the men. Church back then set the state laws decided among the priests. Therefore, it can be put in to words by saying that back then religion and cult were parallels (Bruce, 1996). However, th e new age of religion surfaced with the entrance of Martin Luther. With his arrival church was changed by introducing different languages. Individuals could now understand what was delivered as sermon in the church, Hymns were sung in folk melodies, and an individualistic approach to God was developed. This approach took a new turn and meaning. People did what they felt was right not what was told to them was right. This introduction of individualism brought with it differing sects, church denominations became secondary, new religions in its wake raised heads. Thus, Bruce emphasizes that freedom in religion is what one could refer to as cult, which will further define religion in the 21st century (Bruce, 1996). Nevertheless, Marx’s Conflict Theory emphasizes the view that in order to control the society there are certain classes that develop tools. These classes have developed the lust to stay in power and in control of those under them. Therefore, in order to maintain the po sition and status quo, tools such as values, norms, and religion are manufactured; including ideology and coercion ideology in order to maintain their position. To Marx religion served as the one of those tools of the Elite class, he emphasized that religion was an ideology that indirectly or directly justified the control and rule of the upper-class. Therefore, it will not be wrong in saying that for Marx the conflict was between the classes and the rat race of staying ahead was the focal point

Cargo Cult Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cargo Cult - Essay Example Even though cargo cults continue to be discovered, they ceased to exist as a phenomena â€Å"as soon as anthropologists figured out how to explain† it (Dalton 2000:345), however, they can be seen as a successful (in certain aspects) revitalization movement for the indigenous population, who often needed to vent out their frustration with the new way of life under the colonizers. Cargo cults, as the specific millenarian movements in the Melanesian region are called, were not studied very closely before the twentieth century; after F. E. Williams published The Vailala Madness and the Destruction of Native Ceremonies in the Gulf District in 1923, interest as well as publication on them have increased (Long 1974:403). Usually, a cargo cult is formed when some member of the tribe has a dream (a myth-dream) whereby the rest of the tribe is instructed to follow certain orders, which can include touching things or ritualistic destruction objects, or not going to their garden to work, or dance around open altars (Stephen 1997:1) or even baptism and insistence on giving up local culture in favor of the European (Long 1974:410); what is more, as Worsley notes, there is also the â€Å"cultivation of large gardens and the building of stores, sheds, jetties and landing-grounds for the reception of good which will never come† (Dalton 2000:358). According to the native rituals and social norms of the Melanesians, anyone who could give a lot of material gifts to others was automatically someone to be respected and looked up to. With the arrival of colonials, who brought with them many material products, the natives saw their material wealth and automatically assumed that the colonizers were respectable people. As, on the converse side, the person who could take gifts but could not give anything comparable in return was frowned upon according to the same norms, therefore, the Melanesian, based on their own cultural norms, lost respect in their own eyes. The product s that the colonials brought with them were things that the natives wanted, but which the natives, in their lack of exposure to technology, had no idea how to produce even though they had been seeing them delivered to piers and landing strips. Certain cargo cults were formed, whereby certain mythological stories were exchanged to make sense of just why nothing that arrived was for them but for the colonizers. As per this explanation, the ancestors of the natives were busy making things for their descendants, both within the volcanoes that the locals worshipped, and living amongst the lands of the colonizers, disguised as white men. These ancestors were sending all the cargo that they had accumulated and manufactured to the locals, however, the white colonizers, entrusted with the transport of the cargo, were robbing the natives by changing the labels of the cargo to steal it and claim it as their own (Long 1974: 409). It can be argued that the irrational rituals were created in a bi d to get the wealth of the colonials (Lindstorm 2000:296). Clearly, this shows a sense of resentment on the part of the natives who felt not only threatened by the colonization but also used and abused. As Burridge puts it, the natives have their own rituals and ways for proving â€Å"their integrity as men. But faced with a white man, the moment passes them by. They feel themselves children of sin†