Reflecting on Religion in Literature Essay -- Religion Anthropology

I am a sacred Studies major(ip) therefore, learning about godliness is a genuine affair of mine. In addition, from my first anthropology class, Introduction to Anthropology 103, learning about different cultures and pile who may or may not be different from myself became an interest. Anthropology of piety provides me with the best of both worlds. Not only do I move the opportunity to learn about different religious practices such(prenominal) as Tiwah among the Ngaju entirely how to anthropologically examine snake handlers in the Appalachians. One issue form concerning the definition of piety. The semester began with us using theorists and their theories to construct a definition of devotion. However, out-of-pocket to how convoluted religion is we changed our mind. In an attempt to synthesize the reverse make this semester, I wish to form some sort of definition of religion base on the ethnographies we have studied. In order to create such a definition, I wish to go throu gh the leash major books that we read and make a conclusion as to the authors recording of religion. In other words, in my own words, a conclusion on distributively authors take on religion. Afterwards, I wish to use all three to form an overall definition of religion based on the work we have d mavin throughout the semester. The three books that I am referring to ar Ann Schillers Small Sacrifices, Rane Willerslevs Soul Hunters, and Dennis Covingtons Salvation on Sand mess hall.Ann Schillers Small Sacrifices explores religious change among the Ngaju in Borneo, Indonesia. She elaborates on the Indonesian governments demand on the Ngaju to conform to one of the religions they deem acceptable. In conforming to Hinduism, however, the Ngaju lose their culture, eventually their identity,... ...the semester was how to define religion because it was so complex, but now I have come to understand that religion is better understood when we look at it from a hardly a(prenominal) good boo ks that shows the verities of religion. Therefore, at the end of this class I understand religion to be something that is difficult to define when expanded to include controversial systems of belief, but easy to understand when examined closely.Works CitedCovington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia. 15th ed. Cambridge, MA Da Capo, 2009. Print. Schiller, Anne. Small Sacrifices Religious Change and Cultural Identity among the Ngaju of Indonesia. brand-new York Oxford UP, 1997. Print. Willerslev, Rane. Soul Hunters Hunting, Animism, and Personhood among the Siberian Yukaghirs. Berkeley u.a. University of California, 2007. Print.