Chapter 12 Test Bank

KNOWLEDGE OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

1. The earliest anthropologist to compare religious and spiritual beliefs around the world was E. B. Tylor. For him the heart of religious beliefs was the belief in

a) spirits.

b) magic.

c) the sacred.

d) totems.

2. Stylized performances involving symbols that are associated with social, political, and religious activities are called

a) rituals.

b) magic.

c) ceremonies.

d) witchcraft.

3. The core of Anthony F. C. Wallace’s understanding of religion was belief in

a) supernatural things.

b) the afterlife.

c) Jesus.

d) God.

4. Geertz’s approach to religion is a style of analysis that looks at the underlying symbolic and cultural interconnections within a society; this is often referred to as

a) structural-functionalism.

b) neo-evolutionism.

c) symbolic anthropology.

d) the interpretive approach.

5. A key feature of religious beliefs and behavior is that they are rooted in

a) social behavior and social action.

b) phenomena.

c) historical documents.

d) dogma.

6. Which of the following is an example of American totemism?

a) the cross

b) money

c) beauty

d) sports team mascots

7. A voodoo doll is a good illustration of

a) magic that follows the law of contagion.

b) magic that follows the law of similarity.

c) animism.

d) totemism.

8. In some Pentecostal and charismatic Christian religions, adherents experience an ecstatic religious happening (often associated with shamanism), which is known as

a) praying.

b) speaking in tongues.

c) pilgrimage.

d) meditation.

9. Anthropologist George Gmelch studied which sport where he found that players used a lot of magic?

a) soccer

b) basketball

c) baseball

d) hockey

10. What is a life cycle ritual that marks a person’s or group of persons’ transition from one social state to another?

a) magic

b) animism

c) totemism

d) rite of passage

11. People who belong to conservative religious movements that advocate a return to traditional principles are called

a) believers.

b) practitioners.

c) faithful.

d) fundamentalists.

12. What do anthropologists call a person who belongs to a religious movement that advocates a return to traditional values?

a) an animist

b) a fundamentalist

c) an interpretivist

d) a monotheist

Fill in the Blank

13. ____________________ refers to the belief that inanimate objects such as trees, rocks, cliffs, hills, and rivers are animated by spiritual forces or beings.

Animism

14. ____________________ refers to any magical ritual that relies on supernatural powers to produce its outcome without working through a specific supernatural being such as a spirit, demon, or deity.

Sympathetic magic

15. ____________________ is a major world religion that is neither monotheistic nor polytheistic.

Buddhism

16. ____________________ is a symbolic system that is socially enacted through rituals and other aspects of social life.

Religion

17. ____________________ is the system of thought that associates particular social groups with specific animal or plant species.

Totemism

18. The religious leader who communicates the needs of the living with the spirit world, usually through some form of ritual trance or other altered state of consciousness, is called a ____________________.shaman

True/False

19. For early anthropologists, primitive religions were based on a fundamental error in thinking.

a) True

b) False

20. Beliefs get most of their power from being socially enacted repeatedly through rituals and other religious behaviors.

a) True

b) False

21. Most anthropologists currently see the traditional religions of small-scale tribal societies as “primitive,” based on simpleminded ideas not linked to reality.

a) True

b) False

22. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam became state religions, whose religious message and ritual supported the government of the state.

a) True

b) False

23. The prophet Mohammad had a Christian wife.

a) True

b) False

COMPREHENSION OF FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

24. A limitation of Wallace’s definition of religion is that it is

a) too flexible.

b) not ethnographically informed.

c) too static.

d) too variable.

25. Which of the following is not a common emblem in totemism?

a) meteorological features

b) places

c) plants

d) buildings

26. Which of the following would be of least interest to an anthropologist studying symbols in high-profile American funerals?

a) the music played

b) the location of the memorial

c) the order of the ceremony

d) the news coverage of the event

27. How have American churches responded to social change in the last forty years?

a) They have ignored it.

b) They have challenged it.

c) They have passively adapted.

d) They have asserted the separation between church and state.

28. Which of the following is not true about how anthropology interprets how and why somebody would become a suicide bomber?

a) The person is an evildoer.

b) The person is a member of a community with a particular model of and for reality.

c) There is a social support system that helps shape the person’s attitudes.

d) There is ideological support for viewing self-sacrifice as virtuous.

29. A common element among fundamentalists is a

a) desire to be violent.

b) disregard for the law and for science.

c) commitment to what they envision as a purer way of life.

d) superficial understanding of religious texts.

30. Which of the following is not a key feature of rituals?

a) They are repetitive.

b) They are stylized.

c) They hold special significance.

d) They are religious.

31. Which approach to religious beliefs and behaviors do the textbook authors feel is most effective at explaining why people engage in religious behaviors, especially behaviors that do not directly benefit the individual, such as the actions of Jonathan Daniels or Tom Coleman?

a) the idea that religion began with a belief in spirits

b) the notion that religion concerns beliefs and behaviors about the supernatural

c) the idea that religion is a system of symbols

d) the idea that religion is a system of social action

32. How did Clifford Geertz argue that religion could be best understood?

a) Religion is a system of symbols.

b) Religion is meant to maintain order in a community.

c) Religion is a response to political oppression.

d) Religion is a substitute for true happiness.

33. The Pentecostal and charismatic Christian tradition of speaking in tongues is an example of what common religious practice?

a) ritual trance

b) polytheism

c) imitative magic

d) initiation ritual

34. Which of the following is not a characteristic of fundamentalists, according to the Fundamentalism Project at University of Chicago?

a) They are threatened by secularization.

b) They find meaning and purpose from political and military efforts to defend their beliefs.

c) They are only found in Western religions.

d) They define themselves in relation to what they are not: outsiders, modernizers, and moderates.

35. Which of the following is an example of imitative magic?

a) a voodoo doll

b) a rite of passage

c) the appearance of ghosts

d) the public reading of a sacred religious text

36. Which of the following is not a ritual?

a) tooth-brushing

b) taking communion

c) eating tacos every Tuesday

d) learning a new language

37. Which of the following is true of the dominant world religions?

a) They rely on fundamentalism.

b) They are monotheistic.

c) They embrace science.

d) They are not secular.

Fill in the Blank

38. Clifford Geertz proposed an interpretive approach to religion, arguing that religion was a system of ____________________.

symbols

39. The way a people conceptualizes the world provides a set of unquestioned assumptions about the world and how it works. Anthropologists call these conceptualizations a ____________________.

world view

40. A good illustration of a ____________________ is a funeral, wedding, graduation, or initiation, in which an individual or group of individuals change social position.

rite of passage

41. A key feature of ____________________ is the willingness to engage in direct political action to defend their ideas.

fundamentalist movements

True/False

42. Shamans usually act simultaneously as political leaders and healers in their communities.

a) True

b) False

43. Nearly all of the ancient societies in the Middle East and the Mediterranean were monotheistic.

a) True

b) False

44. Buddhism is neither monotheistic nor polytheistic.

a) True

b) False

45. Secular rituals that celebrate the state or nation, particular occupations, or other identities may achieve many of the same ends as religious rituals.

a) True

b) False

APPLICATION OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

46. Religious ideas are typically associated with beliefs about the supernatural, but what argument can be used to explain the beliefs and worldviews of physicists or geneticists, who may consider themselves nonbelievers?

a) Most religions are really no more than a particular world view.

b) It would be unfair to leave scientist out of the afterlife, even if they do not believe in it.

c) Nonbelievers may not have a religion, but deep down they must believe in something.

d) We don’t need to study physicists or geneticists because they are well educated and it would be better to learn from their experiences.

47. Which of the theories of totemism discussed in the text could help us understand the importance of mascots in American sports?

a) Mascots are not religious icons, so religious theories cannot help us understand them.

b) Mascots are symbols of the team and celebrate team identity.

c) Sports fans are so enthusiastic about their sports that they think that their mascots actually are spiritually connected with their teams.

d) Mascots are organized on vertical poles as well.

48. Which of the following is an example of magic, as defined by the textbook authors?

a) pulling a rabbit out of a hat

b) fortune-telling at the state fair

c) using a “lucky” bat in baseball to win the game

d) individuals’ abilities to walk on hot coals during initiation rites

49. If you were designing a study of secular worldviews in Europe, what would you be most likely to focus on?

a) the role of the Vatican in Italian politics

b) the emphasis on the scientific method in school curricula

c) the popularity of wine for toasting major lifecycle events

d) the continued tradition of holding funerals in churches and other houses of worship

Short Answer

50. Does Anthony F. C. Wallace’s definition of religion as beliefs and behaviors with respect to the supernatural cause us to abandon E. B. Tylor’s notion that the core of religion is the belief in spirits?

51. Why would baseball players be particularly prone to using various kinds of personal magic, while football player tend not to do so?

52. Most Americans associate the Arabic term jihad (which literally means “struggle”) with terrorists and suicide bombers, but for most Muslims the term jihad also refers to the personal struggle that good Muslims have following God’s will. How can these two conflicting meanings help us achieve a better understanding of what motivates the groups currently fighting to overthrow the Syrian government?

Essays

53. Religious rituals are powerful ways of creating the sense of belonging and being part of a special group. How are rituals enhanced by making them frequent events (such as a daily ritual), and how can the meaning of these rituals be made more powerful by having them be almost unique events (such as the pope’s visit to Brazil)?

54. Why do you think religious institutions have been historically associated with the arts? Why are the arts something that is good to “think” with?

55. If you were working with administrators at your school to encourage college students to feel more connected to the academic goals of your college or university, what kind of ritual might you propose that might enhance the feeling of belonging?

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS

Essays

56. Is symbolic analysis restricted to analysis of religious behavior, or can it also be used to explain most human phenomena? Explain your answer and give one example.

57. What ideas and theories discussed in this chapter can help us understand why people feel so strongly about their views on abortion, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty in America over the past forty years?

58. If religious beliefs and practices are as diverse as they have been presented in this chapter, what is the justification for calling all of them religious beliefs and practices?

59. How can we explain the rise of fundamentalism both in the Middle East and in the United States over the past four decades? In your answer identify the factors that are economic, political, and religious.