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The anthropology of religion has interested me since I was introduced to the subject at San Jose State University in 2011. I have put together a free recommended reading list featuring some of my favorite books on religion, ritual, myth, symbolism, and culture. I hope it provides a useful starting point for anyone interested in…
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Jeremy Holtom has written a fascinating essay in The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible relating to Mohandas K. Gandhi’s view of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Holtom begins his article by quoting Martin Luther King Jr. and his reverence for Gandhi. King states, “Just with a little love and understanding and…
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Christianity and Jainism Two religious traditions that are rarely compared are Christianity and Jainism. In this post, I will not speculate or argue that one tradition directly influenced the other. While there is no clear historical evidence that Jesus was directly influenced by Jain teachings, and Mahavira lived centuries before the emergence of Christianity, I…
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In a previous post, I examined learning and symbols in video games and gaming communities. This can be a fascinating aspect of culture to examine, and I would like to explore a few different angles of this topic in this post. The anthropologist Helen Thornham, in her book Ethnographies of the Videogame, argued that, “Games…
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For this post I would like to examine the concept of phenomenology as it relates to video games. Phenomenology is defined as “the study of ‘phenomena’: appearances of things, or things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we experience things, thus the meanings things have in our experience” (Smith, n.d.). One way…
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Liz Bucar’s book titled Stealing My Religion: Not Just Any Cultural Appropriation presents three case studies of religious appropriation. Bucar examines how different aspects of religious traditions and customs are appropriated by others and the ramifications of these actions. The three examples given are the hijab, pilgrimage, and yoga. This post examines the concepts and…
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Assumptions about a person’s religious background can be prompted by societal trends and religious data. However, these assumptions still warrant further investigation. Some of these assumptions are based on broader societal trends, at least in the United States. A Pew Research Center report found that 43 percent of Hispanic adults identify as Catholic. Catholics remain…
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Charitable Choices: Religion, Race, and Poverty in the Post-Welfare Era by John P. Bartkowski and Helen A. Regis is an interesting ethnographic study of faith-based poverty relief in the South. The work draws upon interviews and analysis of faith-based groups in Mississippi. This post will analyze aspects of the book with a comparative lens for…
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Can video games help children—or even adults—learn? This is an interesting question because I work as an educator and have seen children learn from technology. At the same time, I have also seen students become distracted by it. I have learned from video games myself, and I would like to explore this topic. This post…
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Jan Assmann (2006), in his work Religion and Cultural Memory, explores the concept of invisible religion as advanced by Thomas Luckmann. For simplicity’s sake, it is crucial to explore the definitions of invisible and visible religion that Luckmann uses. Invisible religion refers to the higher and invisible religion that determines the relationship between the individual,…
Triggered to Thinking 