REL 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Orality, Ethnic Religion, Pejorative
Document Summary
Two pitfalls occur when examining indigenous religions: pejorative vs romantic perspective. Pejorative means negative approach with negative bias. In general this bias exists when examining indigenous religions. Romantic perspective this idea that the indigenous group has preserved a purity and connection to the cosmos . Both of these perspectives assume that the groups do not change. Religion: non-falsifiable realities over time: transcendence which is an entirely dimension and reality. It, whatever that is, has been there since the beginning of time. This is not the case for all indigenous group. They didn"t just appear there, they migrated there. Regardless of who you meet and how ludicrous the propositions of those religions may sound, it has in some way changed you. Due to this, many indigenous religions are not what they were before contact with the outside world but this in no way makes them less authentic.