religions in dialogue: the construction of an Indonesian minority religion

Abstract

Clifford Geertz (1966) proposes a definition of religion that transcends a conventional distinction between world religions and traditional religions. He regards religions as particular cultural solutions to universal problems of meaning. But problems of meaning are experienced by cultural actors only in the context of social systems. Thus, religions as cultural systems are impressed by the institutional conditions of their construction. This point is demonstrated here by an examination of developing religious consciousness among the Wana of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, in response to national religious policies, [anthropology of religion, primitive or traditional religions, Indonesia, Sulawesi or Celebes, Wana, ethnicity]