Posted
3/19/02 Anthropology of Religion
Writing
Assignment on the Hutterites
In
this class we have studied how different groups of people create and maintain
religions (systems of beliefs and practices that provide ultimate meaning for
their believers). We have also
looked at how religion fits with other aspects of a culture -- its geography,
economic activities and social organization, for example. What has your reading on the Hutterites added to your
knowledge of this study? What are
their religious beliefs and practices? How
does the way that thy live fit with their religion.
This paper is NOT meant to be a critique of the Hutterite way of life.
This
should take three good pages at least, is worth two writing assignment credits,
and is due at the beginning of class on April 11.
Second
Writing Assignment posted 1/22/02
DUE:
Beginning of class Tuesday, January 29
Siskind
argues in her introduction that “Myth and ritual give momentary expression to
these…experiences, to the interactions pushed out of everyday awareness by the
ongoing expectations and limits of social life. In myth and ritual one discovers the desires that the
Sharanahua fear, experiences not congruent with the security of Sharanahua
culture.” (p.23) And states that “to understand Sharanahua myths is to
understand Sharanahua meaning.” (p. 24)
For
Siskind myths are about making meaning, particularly around the issues of the
security a culture provides for its people, the “costs” of that security,
and the kinds of things that people can’t acknowledge openly without
threatening social relations.