Jiang Xueqin examines two case studies that highlight the power of religion.
In his book “The Wayfinders,” the Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis looks at the animistic cosmology and the shamanistic rituals of the Barasana people of the Amazon. In his book “The Forest People,” the British anthropologist Colin Turnbull observes the religion permeates every aspect of the life of the Pygmies.
For religious people, their collective faith is more real than reality itself, and is the source of all that is good in the world.
Jiang Xueqin argues that throughout most of human history religion is the fundamental basis of who we are. This idea is illustrated in Paleolithic cave paintings as well as the pillars of Gobekli Tepe.
