1. Which of the following is NOT correct?
a. Karl Marx suggested that religion was a tool used for the oppression of lower classes.
b. Emile Durkheim argued that religion enables people to see themselves as part of a larger group.
c. Max Weber claimed that religion supported the rise of certain economic systems.
d. Anthony Wallace argued that the primary form of religion was animatism.
e. Sir James Frazer argued that there are distinctions in magic.
2. While forms of religion may vary, they all are founded upon a belief:
a. in one major deity.
b. that there is life after death.
c. in the supernatural.
d. in reincarnation.
e. that there is good and evil in the world.
3. When we claim that religion as a belief in the supernatural is universal, we mean that:
a. every person in the world believes in some type of supernatural.
b. every person in the world believes in good and evil.
c. individuals believe in the supernatural, but not all cultures contain a belief in the supernatural.
d. all cultures contain a belief in the supernatural, but not all individuals believe in it.
e. religion has existed throughout history in non-scientific societies and that it served as the precursor to science.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
4. In Florida, Sultaana Freeman faced legal challenges related to her religion because she:
a. chose to wear a veil over her face for her driver’s license picture.
b. sacrificed animals in her practice of religion.
c. solicited young children outside of a daycare to join in an ecclesiastical cult.
d. said a prayer in her fourth-grade classroom before she took a test.
e. wore religious jewelry to a sporting event.
5. The performance of certain magical rites in order to harm someone else is called:
a. revitalization.
b. sorcery.
c. contagious magic.
d. imitative magic.
e. witchcraft.
6. Which statement is true about the distinction between imitative and contagious magic?
a. Contagious magic is the belief that being around a magician will cause the victim harm.
b. Contagious magic is the notion that an object having been in contact with a person retains a magical
connection to that person.
c. Imitative magic involves doing harm to a person by performing magic on his finger nail clippings.
d. Imitative magic involves such things as voodoo dolls and is found all over the world.
e. Both imitative and contagious magic were early forms of religion that are no longer found today.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
7. Both religion and magic:
a. are nonrational systems of supernatural belief.
b. dealwithone’sspiritualrelationshipwithdeities.
c. are group, rather than individual, activities.
d. are susceptible to scientific verification.
e. are practiced irregularly and not at set times.
8. Religion differs from magic in all of the following ways EXCEPT:
a. religion deals with major issues of human existence, while magic is directed toward specific aims.
b. religion uses prayer and sacrifices to appeal to supernatural powers, while magic believes that it can control
circumstances through its own efforts.
c. religion tends to be practiced at irregular times, while magic has a set timetable for practice.
d. religion uses officially-recognized functionaries such as priests, while magic may not have officially-recognized
leaders.
e. religion tends to be group activity, while magic tends to be an individual activity.
9. Which of the following is an example of something that would be used for imitative magic?
a. Hair
b. Nail clippings
c. Voodoo doll
d. Teeth
e. A dirty handkerchief
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
10. Sorcery, involving the use of potions and medicines, is a(n):
a. inborn capacity to harm others.
b. involuntary capacity to harm others.
c. often unconscious capacity to harm others.
d. deliberate attempt to bring about harm through the use of supernatural powers.
e. modern-day movement associated with Wicca and covens.
11. Which of the following does NOT describe witchcraft as it is defined by anthropology?
a. It is always viewed negatively.
b. It can harm through evil thoughts.
c. It relies only on psychic power to harm people.
d. It leaves no visible evidence of its existence.
e. It is believed to be deliberate and intentional.
12. Which statement is true about the belief system called Wicca?
a. Wiccans are found mostly in urban areas.
b. Wiccans use their powers for evil purposes.
c. In North America, Wiccans are comprised of mostly men.
d. Wiccans emphasize sexuality as part of their cult.
e. Wicca is both matriarchal and patriarchal in its form and structure.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
13. Wicca, as practiced in North American cities, has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:
a. it has a matriarchal character.
b. it emphasizes fertility.
c. it is divided into groups called covenants.
d. it involves visualizations and chants.
e. it is a growing movement today.
14. Wicca’spresentdaypopularityisassociatedwithallofthefollowingEXCEPT:
a. it has stimulated book sales on the subject of witchcraft.
b. it is evident in the teenage market.
c. it is associated with Satanism in urban areas.
d. it is considered a legitimate, official religion in the United States.
e. in 2007, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs recognized the pentacle as a Wiccan symbol.
15. All of the following are common functions of religion EXCEPT:
a. social control.
b. conflict resolution.
c. reinforcement of group solidarity.
d. rapid change function.
e. emotional function.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
16. Which of the following is currently the fastest growing specialty within applied anthropology?
a. Religious anthropology
b. Medical anthropology
c. Development anthropology
d. Fundamentalist anthropology
e. Contract anthropology
17. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Belief in the power of supernatural sanctions determines the level of conformity an individual has to socially-
prescribed behavior.
b. By providing an alternative power structure, religion often increases social hostility and conflict.
c. There is no correlation between social control and religious belief systems.
d. Only a few religious systems prescribe to purely ethical behavior.
e. For those who practice religion, there is a rather moderate increase in stress and frustration that sometimes
has an effect on society at large.
18. Separatist Christian churches in South Africa played a role in conflict resolution during apartheid because Black
South Africans:
a. gained real political power through their churches.
b. created an illusion of power by manipulating their own set of religious symbols and forming their own unique
churches.
c. gained real economic power through their churches.
d. expressed their resentment against the apartheid government in their religious activity.
e. created a social network that provided security and charity when they most needed it.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
19. Which of the following is NOT a reason that religion intensifies group solidarity?
a. People’ssharedreligiousbeliefs,practices,andritualsoftencreatepowerfulsocialbonds.
b. People share in the mysteries of their belief system.
c. People are separated by their beliefs from others who do not share the same ideas.
d. People who engage together in religion often likewise engage in other nonreligious activities.
e. People practice religion that mimics and copies the wider social structure of which they are a part.
20. Individuals benefit psychologically from religion because it:
a. helps explain the unexplainable.
b. gives them answers based upon scientific authority.
c. provides a rational and logical framework for giving meaning to events and experiences.
d. makes them feel as if their increased stress levels have a function in society.
e. answers all questions regarding their daily lives.
21. People perform religious rituals as:
a. a way of invoking supernatural beings to control those forces over which they feel they have no control.
b. a practice with as little emotion as possible, because they seldom really believe rituals are effective.
c. a way of demonstrating the strong control they have over their own lives.
d. a way to demonstrate social importance and validation for their lives.
e. a way to obtain political, social, and economic power.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
22. Marx argued that the working class:
a. would use religion to overthrow the owners of production.
b. understood the nature of their relationship with factory owners because of the lesson of religion.
c. was distracted by religion from the fact that they were being exploited by the ruling class.
d. used religion as a social mechanism to increase conflict between different economic subgroups.
e. would one day overtake the churches and change the nature of religion.
23. AnthonyWallaceusestheterm“cult”toreferto:
a. religious organizations that brainwash their members.
b. a form of religion having its own set of beliefs, rituals, and goals.
c. anti-social religious groups that often encourage their followers to commit mass suicide.
d. small-scale religious groups that are opposed to any form of control from the federal government.
e. groups that are considered deviant by mainline churches.
24. What type of religious organization has groups that perform rites for the community?
a. Ecclesiastic
b. Communal
c. Shamanistic
d. Individualistic
e. Congregational
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
25. What type of religious organization has full-time religious specialists?
a. Individualistic
b. Shamanistic
c. Communal
d. Ecclesiastic
e. Congregational
26. Which statement about shamanism is FALSE?
a. Shamans are full-time specialists.
b. Shamans are thought to have supernatural powers.
c. Shamans contact spirits while in an altered state of consciousness.
d. Shamans use their powers to heal and tell fortunes of their clients.
e. All contemporary societies operate at the shamanistic level.
27. Shamans, among the Reindeer Tungus of Siberia:
a. can be either men or women.
b. can neither control spirits nor stop them from causing harm.
c. are distinct because they never serve as mediums for spirits.
d. use no special paraphernalia such as costumes or mirrors.
e. are full-time specialists.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
28. Rites of passage with stages of separation, transition, and incorporation are part of:
a. ecclesiastical cults.
b. shamanistic cults.
c. communal cults.
d. individualistic cults.
e. congregational cults.
29. Rites of solidarity are directed toward the welfare of:
a. the entire community.
b. individual members of the community.
c. thegroup’sshaman.
d. thegroup’sleader.
e. the family as a unit.
30. The Kikuyu initiation ritual:
a. involvesnophysicaloperationotherthanthescarringofwomenandmen’selbows.
b. does not involve the separation of the initiates from their former status.
c. involves the incorporation of the initiate back into the society as a whole.
d. is held every 20 years in order to initiate one generation at a time.
e. occurs on evenings in which there is a full moon.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
31. The predominant mode of religious organization practiced among food collectors is:
a. ecclesiastical cults.
b. shamanistic cults.
c. communal cults.
d. individualistic cults.
e. congregational cults.
32. Ecclesiastical cults are found most commonly among:
a. tribal societies.
b. state societies.
c. foraging societies.
d. chiefdom societies.
e. dictatorships.
33. Which statement about religion in the United States is true?
a. Liberals are more religious than conservatives.
b. People under 40 are more religious than people over 40.
c. Blacks are more religious than Whites.
d. New Englanders are more religious than Southerners.
e. Urban dwellers are more religious than rural dwellers.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
34. Which statement about religion in the U.S. is true?
a. Evangelical Protestants are the largest single denomination.
b. The fastest-growing groups are Catholics from Mexico.
c. Approximately 24 percent of all U.S. residents are Jewish.
d. Men are more likely than women to describe themselves as religious.
e. ThesmallestdenominationintheUnitedStatesisJehovah’sWitnesses.
35. Which statement about religion in the United States is FALSE?
a. The U.S. places a high value on organized religion.
b. A higher percentage of U.S. population is affiliated with a religious organization than Western European
countries.
c. Church membership in the U.S. has grown steadily over the last 200 years.
d. About 60 percent of Americans claim that religion plays an important role in their lives.
e. Membership in religious organizations in the U.S. has declined slightly over the last 15 years.
36. Which statement about religion in the United States is true?
a. About 10 percent of the population claims active church membership.
b. People in the U.S. are less religiously active than Italians and Frenchmen.
c. Religion is more important to liberals and Democrats than to conservatives and Republicans.
d. Large numbers of Americans know little about religion, even their own.
e. Asians are the subgroup for whom religion is most important.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems
37. Which of the following is NOT a major religious trend in the world today?
a. People are blending elements of more than one religion.
b. There is an increase in Christian church membership in developing countries.
c. There is a vast growth of cyber-churches
d. There is a rise of Islamic religious nationalism.
e. There is a decline of Christian church membership in Europe.
38. In an ecclesiastical cult, the laypersons are responsible for:
a. performing periodic rituals.
b. performing weekly rituals.
c. supporting the church through their labor and money.
d. engagingina“visionquest.”
e. serving as the leader on a rotational basis.
39. Which of the following is FALSE about liberation theology, which developed during the 1970s and 1980s in South
America?
a. It is an activist form of Catholicism.
b. It has led to many deaths but very little substantial change in society.
c. It merged theology with an activism for social justice for the poor.
d. It led many priests and nuns to lose their lives in political conflict.
e. It is a militant form of religion.
Chapter14—BeliefSystems