RELIGST 2M03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Guardians Of Time, Ilisos, Funeral Director
5 Aug 2020
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Document Summary
The dead do matter: bodies matter, they are always much more than they seem. The dead also inspire: the dead are political agents (necro-politics): the historically forgotten and despised dead exert themselves today. How death imitates life: cultural influences on conceptions of death and dying. Conception of death: hinduism- circular pattern of life and death. Humans are reborn multiple times: christianity- one death, soul lives eternity in a heavenly realm. For some we will be brought back when christ returns. Judaism- one death, soul remains in a state of purgatory until the return of the messiah: buddhism: cycles of rebirth, but the dead and the living co-exist. Dead need to be appeased: native cultures: living and dead co-exist. Every country and culture imparts its own values and practices. How is death anxiety manifested: avoidance, death-defying activities, religious cosmologies. Mourning is a culturally specific event: specific clothing, private expressions, drinking, dancing, etc.
