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Article by Chris on Religion at Aeon (Patreon)

Published:
2021-11-22 12:44:16
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Hi everyone,

Wasn't sure the best place to post this (and sorry if you are getting a notification!) but I thought some of you might be interested in the article I mentioned at the end of the recent mini-episode on my research interests. It's about the role of ritual in religion and how focusing on belief can be misleading. Lots of examples from Japanese religious context, for any Japanophiles.

It's a few years old now but I stand by all of it! They also got a professional voice actor to make an audio version which is attached to the article if you just hate reading.

Hope some of you enjoy!

Brene Brown recording tomorrow...

- Chris

Files

Can religion be based on ritual practice without belief? | Aeon Essays

Since the dawn of anthropology, sociology and psychology, religion has been an object of fascination. Founding figures such as Sigmund Freud, Émile Durkheim and Max Weber all attempted to dissect it, taxonomise it, and explore its psychological and social functions.

Comments

MaxPlan

it's great to have more content

cv lCalm

Thank you linking your article. Curious if the guru phenomenon extracts or fuses?

MaxPlan

Pretty interesting article, personally coming from the Richard Dawkins view of religion, I had not given this much thought, but it makes sense. Is there any scientific work that studies the "benefits" of each system? Richard Dawkins was good for me to reason my way out of "western religion" and he proposed that the world would be better without religion, I still think this way if we are talking about "western" style religion, but it is just a hunch I have. Is there any research on what would be better for the world? Probably too broad of a question and probably requires assumptions about values?

YellowDreams

Well written thanks for sharing Chris

Noj

This is dredged up some old memories of Rene Girard. Do you have any thoughts on him and his whole conception of the formation of religion revolving around sacrificial violence? I am personally quite skeptical of grand explanatory theories of everything, especially when they apply to religious phenomenon and society at large. He isn't quite a guru, but he has many followers who definitely are (Peter Thiel is one, but not really a Guru), I don't know if you have ever poked your head into the Girardosphere, but it can get pretty weird.

Tom Allison

Wow. I‘ve dabbled in numerous academic branches and I have to say in terms of well-written, lay-approachable, but still rigorous, and grappling with tremendous definitional problems while still remaining sound and comprehensible, this is some of the best writing I have come across. Very impressive. Also, a great read in terms of getting a feel for a subtle aspect of another culture - in this case the role of the supernatural in Japanese culture. You mention at some point that China and Hong Kong rate lowest in surveys on religious belief (or was it affiliation?). Is there any way to get at the “cognitive architecture” aspect of this? Presumably the Chinese case where overt religiosity has been explicitly suppressed (or do I assume too much?) would make an excellent case study for what components of religion are unavoidable - is superstition and belief in supernatural entities still as prevalent in China as elsewhere despite a the punishment of any recognizable religious organization by public authorities? (I must admit, I have not studied the state of such matters in China at all, so my comments are coming from a very broad, half-informed picture of the status of organized religious affiliation there).