Theorizing Religious Traditions from the Point of View of How They Disappear

Abstract

What does it mean for a new religion to arise or take hold among a group of people? What does it mean for a religious tradition to endure? Th ese are questions that are quite commonly addressed, at least implicitly, in the study of religion. Less frequently asked is the question of what it means for a religious tradition to come to an end. Th is article addresses this question, paying particular attention to the ways people actively dismantle a religious tradition that previously shaped their lives. I also consider what studying the process of religious disappearance can teach us about what it means for a tradition to arise and endure, arguing that a grasp on processes of religious dissolution is necessary for a fully rounded approach to the study of religious change. Th roughout the article, I illustrate my arguments with material from the study of Christianity, Judaism and indigenous religious traditions, particularly from Oceania.

Cosmology and Crisis in Oksapmin, Papua New Guinea

“…Take Robbins’ own statement regarding the erosion of indigenous Urapmin religion as a result of conversion to Christianity. In support of his discontinuity argument, he states that ‘as the Urapmin tell it, fairly soon after their contact with Westerners, this ancestral religion was completely gone , and nothing I saw during my two years of fieldwork during the early 1990s contradicted this view’ (:5, my emphasis). However, in some of his writings can be found passages that may cause us to doubt this claim.…”

“…The characterization of indigenous religion and cosmology within many of these studies is something that, first, is broken away from and that then diminishes or disappears completely. This leads to articles such as Robbins’ piece entitled ‘How Do Religions End?’ (Robbins ). But my case study shows that converts to Christianity, Pentecostalist or otherwise, do not always or necessarily leave the past totally behind or condemn it but may instead construct a variety of new religions and cosmologies out of Christianity and their existing cosmologies.…”

“…Furthermore, once converted, ‘the Christian cosmos, with God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus as its key figures, [are] the only effective cosmological frame of reference’ (Robbins :112). In the final instance, ancestral religion may completely disappear (Robbins :5), even though remaining components may persist, albeit diabolized through ‘a flexible language of satanic influence that is very sensitive to local social concerns’ (:127).…”

Dayak Kaharingan di tengah perubahan sosial ekologi dan praktik perpindahan agama di pedesaan Kalimantan Tengah

“…Kaharingan secara sosial akan dilihat sejauh mereka menggelar ritual-ritualnya yang mahal, bukan dari kepercayaannya. Maka pada titik ini yang dilakukan bukan mengikuti saran dari majelis Kaharingan untuk mengubah skala ritual Kaharingan menjadi kecil (replacement), namun menanggalkan praktik lama untuk sepenuhnya menggunakan praktik baru (displacement) (Robbins, 2014). Si Samun dari Desa Samatuan misalnya mengikuti rombongan keluarga lain yang dibaptis menjadi Kristen Protestan di gereja desa pada tahun 2011.…”

Reimagining Oceania through Critical Junctures—Introduction

“…Lindstrom ), work on Christianity and millennialism (e.g. Robbins ) and the transformations through colonialism, neo‐liberalism and mining capitalism. Here, we just point out these well‐known strands of important scholarship without offering specific references since the most relevant for our conceptual proposition for studying change are worked through in the text.…”