ABSTRACT
This chapter emphasizes the central and multifaceted role of religious beliefs and practices in everyday life. It first centers on how popular Catholicism differs from formal Catholicism, and how it expresses popular aspirations and sentiments by focusing on three examples: the Virgin Mary, the Devil, and All Saints and All Souls Day. The chapter then turns to the spread of Protestantism, underscoring how and why this religious conversion is taking place so rapidly, and what might be some cultural and social consequences. The focus subsequently shifts to the enduring and significant presence of African-derived religious beliefs and practices in Brazil and the Caribbean. The controversy surrounding the origins and functions of Mesoamerican civil-religious hierarchies is discussed next. The final section takes readers to southern Brooklyn to understand and appreciate the relevance of vodou among Haitians in New York City. (Shamanism is discussed in conjunction with health and healing practices in Chapter 8.)
As a system of beliefs and ritualized behaviors centered on supernatural beings and forces above and beyond nature and humankind, religion is key in understanding cultural differences. It is partly through religious beliefs and practices that members of social groups attempt to grapple with and make sense of the world, particularly during seemingly senseless or arbitrary events.
