Representing Group Rituals: Their Embeddedness and the Vulnerability of Fanatic Members to Extreme Behaviors

In Harvey Whitehouse’s book (2021), he argues that humans are ritual animals, and that rituals can be the glue shaping group bonds. Whitehouse argues further that rituals are embedded in our routines and have become habitual. In this article, I add the idea of embodiment and social representations a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Putra, Idhamsyah Eka (Author)
Format: Electronic Review
Language:English
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Published: Equinox Publ. 2022
In: Journal for the cognitive science of religion
Year: 2020, Volume: 8, Issue: 2, Pages: 122-128
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Ritual / Group / Embodiment / Religion / Fundamentalism / Representation (Sociology)
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AE Psychology of religion
AG Religious life; material religion
Further subjects:B Book review
B Religous Fundamentalism
B Rituals
B Social Representations
B Embodiment
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Summary:In Harvey Whitehouse’s book (2021), he argues that humans are ritual animals, and that rituals can be the glue shaping group bonds. Whitehouse argues further that rituals are embedded in our routines and have become habitual. In this article, I add the idea of embodiment and social representations as a supplement to Whitehouse’s studies of rituals, group identities, and their interactions in society. In my view, these ideas may answer the following questions: 1) why people still practice group rituals, even though they are not attached to the group; 2) why people are ready to die defending their group even though they are not active in the community and rarely practice group rituals; and 3) why people are so fanatical about their religion that they are ready to die defending it, and how to alleviate such fanaticism.
ISSN:2049-7563
Reference:Kritik in "The Ritual Animal (2022)"
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the cognitive science of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/jcsr.22038