Invitation to World Religions

x Contents

Resistance Movements and Social Justice 51 GLOBAL SNAPSHOT: The World Turns to Standing Rock 54

Indigenous North American Religions and Non-Native Practitioners 55 INDIGENOUS NORTH AMERICAN RELIGIONS AS A WAY OF LIFE 55 Healing 56 Gender and Identity 57 Rites of Passage 58 Rites of Renewal and Rites of Purification 60 NORTH AMERICAN RELIGIONS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 61 CONCLUSION 62 3 Indigenous Religions of Africa 67 THE TEACHINGS OF INDIGENOUS AFRICAN RELIGIONS 71 Myths 71 Supernatural Beings: Gods and Spirits 72 VOICES: Interviews with Sammy Letoole and Festus Ogunbitan 73 Humanity and the Human Condition 77 THE HISTORY OF INDIGENOUS AFRICAN RELIGIONS 79 Religion in Early Civilizations and States 79 The Spread of Islam 81 Christianity and Colonialism 82 Reform and Resistance 83 GLOBAL SNAPSHOT: African Religions in the Americas 85 AFRICAN RELIGIONS AS A WAY OF LIFE 86 Communicating with the Spirit World 86 Using Supernatural Powers 89

Gender, Identity, and Life-Cycle Rituals 90 African Religions and the Natural World 95 AFRICAN RELIGIONS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 95 CONCLUSION 96 Hindu Beliefs about Divine Reality 103 The Individual and the Quest for Liberation 108 Three Paths to Liberation 110 Vedanta: The Predominant School of Hindu Philosophy 112 Yoga 114 The Individual and Society 114 PROPERTY OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 4 Hinduism 101 THE TEACHINGS OF HINDUISM 103