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In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
or
belief A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take i ...
associated with a particular
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
or
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, in which gaining converts is a primary objective and, therefore, are not limited in ethnic, national or racial scope.


Terminology

A number of alternative terms have been used instead of ''ethnic religion''. Another term that is often used is ''
folk religion In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
''. While ''ethnic religion'' and ''folk religion'' have overlapping uses, the latter term implies "the appropriation of religious beliefs and practices at a popular level." The term ''folk religion'' can therefore be used to speak of certain
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
religions, but can also refer to popular expressions of more multi-national and institutionalized religions such as
Folk Christianity In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
or
Folk Islam In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized rel ...
. In Western contexts, a variety of terms are also employed. In the United States and Canada a popular alternative term has been ''
nature religion A nature religion is a religious movement that believes nature and the natural world is an embodiment of divinity, sacredness or spiritual power. Beyer 1998. p. 11. Nature religions include indigenous religions practiced in various parts of th ...
''. Some neopagan movements, especially in Europe, have adopted ''ethnic religion'' as their preferred term, aligning themselves with
ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...
. This notably includes the
European Congress of Ethnic Religions The European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) is an organisation for cooperation among associations that promote the ethnic religions of Europe.Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...
'', with a capital P, has become an accepted term.


Usage

Ethnic religion are defined as religions which are related to a particular ethnic group, and often seen as a defining part of that ethnicity's culture, language, and customs.
Diasporic A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
groups often maintain ethnic religions as a means of maintaining a distinct ethnic identity such as the role of
African traditional religion The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral tradition, oral rather ...
and
African diaspora religions African diaspora religions are a number of related Pagan beliefs that developed in the Americas in various nations of the Caribbean, Latin America and the Southern United States. They derive from Pagan traditional African religions with some infl ...
among the
African diaspora in the Americas The African diaspora in the Americas refers to the people born in the Americas with partial, predominantly, or completely African ancestry. Many are descendants of persons enslaved in Africa and transferred to the Americas by Europeans, then fo ...
. Some ancient ethnic religions, such as those historically found in pre-modern Europe, have found new vitality in
neopaganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various Paganism, historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of No ...
. Moreover, non-ethnic religions, such as
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, have been known to assume ethnic traits to an extent that they serve a role as an important ethnic identity marker, a notable example of this is the Serbian "Saint-Savianism" of the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...
, and the religious and cultural heritage of
Syriac Christianity Syriac Christianity ( syr, ܡܫܝܚܝܘܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ / ''Mšiḥoyuṯo Suryoyto'' or ''Mšiḥāyūṯā Suryāytā'') is a distinctive branch of Eastern Christianity, whose formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expr ...
branch of the Assyrian people.


List of ethnic religions


See also

*
Animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...
*
Ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
*
Chinese ancestral worship Chinese ancestor veneration, also called Chinese ancestor worship, is an aspect of the Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deified ancestors and tutelary deities of people with the same surname or ...
*
Endogamy Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
*
Ethnoreligious group An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background. Furthermore, the term ethno-religious group, along with ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic groups, is a s ...
*
Gavari Gavari, also spelt Gavri, is a 40-day long festival celebrated in July and September of each year in the Mewar region of Rajasthan, India. The Gavari season Each year, ''bhopa'' shamans from Mewar's Bhil communities petition the Goddess t ...
*
National god A national god is a Tutelary deity, guardian divinity whose special concern is the safety and well-being of an ethnic group (''nation''), and of that group's leaders. This is contrasted with other guardian figures such as family gods responsible ...
*
Shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
*
Slava (tradition) Slava ( sr-Cyrl, Слава, lit=Glory, Celebration, ) is a tradition of the ritual of glorification of one's family's patron saint, found mainly among Serbian Orthodox Christians. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the saint's feast ...
*
Totemism A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or '' doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the w ...
*
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...


References

{{Religion topics Ethnology