Title: Ordered universes : approaches to the anthropology of religion /
Authors: Klass, Morton, 1927-
Publisher: Westview Press,
Year: 1995
Subjects: Religion; Ethnology Religious aspects; Religions
Abstract: This innovative introduction to the anthropological study of religion challenges traditional categories and assumptions, arguing that too many of them reflect ethnocentric perspectives long discarded in contemporary anthropology. Instead, Klass explores the culturally universal institution of religion, working from operational, non-judgmental definitions that avoid the issue of whether a given belief is "true." Offering examples from the ethnographic literature, he explores values, witchcraft, shamans, ghosts, revitalization, and other topics. In the final chapters, he considers such issues as the emergence of new religious movements and leaders and the continuing ideological conflict between proponents of scientistic, fundamentalist, and post-rationalist systems of thought.
Contents: 1. At Play in the Sacred Grove -- 2. The Noisome Bog -- 3. The Definitional Daisy Chain -- 4. The Problem with Supernatural -- 5. An Operational Definition of Religion -- 6. The Value of Values -- 7. Assumptions, Beliefs, and Facts -- 8. Exploring Explanation: Why Do People Die? -- 9. Clerical Orders -- 10. What Kind of Shaman Would You Want? -- 11. Community and Conflict -- 12. On the Other Side of the Forest -- 13. The Incorporeal Dimension -- 14. Divining the Divine -- 15. Into the Land of Moriah -- 16. A Myth Is As Good -- 17. Wondrous Portals -- 18. When Worldviews Collide -- 19. The Modern Hosts of Heaven.