pay his or her respects to Buddha. The Protestant typically has a worship service with a
sermon as a vital part of their ritual.^52
In their strictest form,“Rituals are actions repeated in regular and predictable ways,
which create order in the otherwise random process of time.”^53 By engaging in rituals,
members not only recall and reaffirm important beliefs but also feel spiritually con-
nected to their religion, develop a sense of identity by increasing social bonds with
those who share their rituals, and sense that their life has meaning and structure.
Rituals, like so many aspects of culture, are not instinctive, so in order to endure,
they must be passed from one generation to the next.
The most common of all rituals are rites of passage that mark key stages in the
human cycle of life.“Rites of passage are social occasions marking the transition of
members of the group from one important life stage to the next. Birth, puberty, mar-
riage, and death are transition points that are important in many different cultures.”^54
There are thousands of rituals dealing with the sacred that bring families and the reli-
gious community together at the same time they teach important lessons. There are
rituals dealing with space (Muslims turning toward Mecca when they pray) and others
that call attention to important events (Christian baptisms, Jews marking the impor-
tance of Passover, the Hindu young boy engaging in the Upanayanam ceremonial rite
of entering manhood).
Rituals can be indirect as well as direct. A good example of an indirect ritual is the
Japanese tea ceremony. At first glance, it would appear that the tea ceremony is sim-
ply the preparation and drinking of tea, but the importance of the ritual to those who
engage in that activity is far greater:
Every detailed act, every move and
position, embodies humility, restraint,
and awareness. This framing of ordi-
nary action in order to reveal some
deeper significance—in this example
the values are related to the Zen Bud-
dhist idea of immanence of the abso-
lute in the ordinary—is a common
element of ritual behavior.^55Ethics
You will recall that the main purpose of this section of the book is to demonstrate
that there are many similarities in how the major worldviews approach religious prac-
tices and theology. The study of ethics is yet another example of how all these reli-
gions include proper behavior as part of their overall“message”to their adherents.
Not only do they all examine the topic of ethics, but the guidelines they set forth
also have a number of principles in common. In general, they are all admonishing
their members to develop the ability to distinguish right from wrong. The admoni-
tions regarding correct behavior are so much alike that Smith notes that they“pretty
much tell a cross-cultural story.”^56 From warnings to avoid murder, thieving, lying,
and adultery to stressing the virtues of“humility, charity, and veracity,”^57 a similar
basic core of moral guidelines is found in all cultures. According to Coogan, whatCONSIDER THIS
All religious traditions examine the topic of ethics and present
their members with very specific advice on how to live in an ethi-
cal manner. Why do you believe that ethics and religion are
linked?116 CHAPTER 4•Worldview: Cultural Explanations of Life and Death
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