Geertz

"A system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."

If I were to put Geertz’s definition into my own words, I would say that religion is a way of life that rose out of an attempt to satisfy our curiosity about the world we life in.

When we discussed this in class we said that religion had two major parts to it, the spiritual and the cultural. Although I believe that Geertz’s defination is a pretty good summary of the culture of religion and where it comes from, it lacks the more complicated spiritual aspect of religion. However, I think it is okay that he left it out because the book that this quote was taken from is entitled “Religion as a Cultural System” so if all Geertz was trying to do was define religion in that context, he did a good job.

I believe that he is very right in saying that we make conceptions and clothe them in an aura of factuality. One of the most difficult things about organized religion is that it is a leap of faith. Religious people are expected to believe in things that we cannot see or prove to be true. I think it makes us all uncomfortable to face the fact that our beliefs are unsupported and we cannot really prove that there is a God, which is why so many people were so upset with the way that Geertz stated that phrase. I think religion is very abstract and personal and therefore, impossible for one person to try to define. This is why I can only read Geertz’s definition as a definition of religion as a cultural system, but not of religion itself.