Training of observers in risk rituals of the Manasa sect of Hinduism and serpent handling sects of Appalachia

This study proposes to examine observer attitudes. Any ritual action that has the potential for injury or death, will be coined a religious risk ritual (RR). Observers will examine examples of video from the Manasa Hindu tradition in India and the Pentecostal and Holiness Serpent Handling traditions (SHS) of the southern Appalachian Mountain region of the United States. While training had no overall effect, study participants perceived the Manasa religious ritual as being more legitimate than the SHS religious ritual. Participants accepted of existence of a religious risk ritual cross-culturally but were biased against it in the southeastern United States.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Silver, Christopher

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hood, Ralph
• Ross, David; Lippy, Charles; Eskildsen, Stephen; Harman, William
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Serpents--Religious aspects
• Ritual
• Risk-taking (Psychology)--Religious aspects
• Manasā (Hindu deity)
• Hindu sects
• Snake cults (Holiness churches)--Appalachian Region, Southern

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Identifier

LB2369.2 .S548 2003

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2120