The Spiritual Anthropologist

Where Alcohol and Anthropology Meet

The Pseudoscience and Science of Astrology

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There might be something to astrology after all, but not in a mystical sense. I’ve been thinking about writing this article for a while, but I just wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested. Some people might even take it as a defense of astrology. I’m still not sure, but after reading Martin Rezny’s review of a season two episode of The Orville, I’ve decided to at least write a short version of it, though it does deserve being turned it into a full scholarly paper, and might do so one day.« Continue »

A Parasocial Relationship with God

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Two people, on Twitter, posed an interesting question about the ability to have a parasocial relationship with god. I think it’s quite possible. However, I want to go further and question whether or not peoples’ relationship with god is parasocial, even under the assumption that god is purely fictional. Please be aware that these are just some ideas that I wrote down quickly, in the few hours following the initial discussion on Twitter. I won’t guarantee that the argument makes sense. But feel free to leave a comment or two. « Continue »

Breaking the Spell: Unreasonable Views on the Nature of Religion

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Recently, I came across an article discussing Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. I have not focused on Daniel Dennett’s work, but I wanted to respond to the discussion in the article, and will be adding more to this discussion as I read through the book. One of the largest issues is that Dennett’s position seems to be that Dennett, or at least the author of the blog article, seems to view religious behavior as being indistinct from non-religious belief: “from the meme’s-eye-view, there’s no difference between a Muslim who prays five times a day because he truly believes in Allah and the truth of the Koran, and a Muslim who prays five times a day because that’s what Muslims do.” The second issue is the view that religion perpetuates itself because there is a belief that religion is good. « Continue »