Religion: Dictionary definition: system of belief in, worship of a supernatural power of god, system of faith and worship; human recognition of superhuman controlling power and esp. of a personal God entitled to obedience, effect of this on conduct.
This is the worship system emerging from The Chosen, their level of worship of Zoot developing to hero/cult status…”Praise Zoot!’
Religion
~ Is the human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine.
Religion is commonly regarded as consisting of a person’s relation to God or to gods or spirits. Worship is probably the most basic element of religion, but moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions are generally also fundamental elements of the religious life as practiced by believers and worshipers.
The history of mankind has shown the pervasive influences of religion, and thus the study of religion, involving the attempt to understand its significance, its origins, and its myriad forms, has become increasingly important in modern times. Broadly speaking, the study of religion comprehends two aspects:
1) assembling information and
2) interpreting systematically the material gathered in order to elicit its meaning.
The 19th century saw the rise of the study of religion in the modern sense, however, rarely has there been unanimity among scholars about the nature of the subject. This is partly because assumptions about the revealed nature of the Christian (or other) religion or assumptions about the falsity of religion become entangled with questions concerning the historical and other facts of religion. Thus, the subject has, throughout its history, contained elements of controversy.
Nature and significance
An acceptable definition of religion itself is difficult to attain. Attempts have been made to find an essential ingredient in all religions (eg, spiritual, experience; the contrast between the sacred and the profane; belief in gods or in God), so that an “essence” of religion can be described. The gods play a very subsidiary role, for example, in most phases of Buddhism. A more promising method would seem to be that of exhibiting aspects of religion that are typical of religions, though they may not be universal. The occurrence of the rituals of worship is typical, but there are cases, however, in which such rituals are not central.
The fact that there is dispute over the possibility of finding an essence of religion means that there is likewise a problem about speaking of the study of religion or of religions. In practice, a religion is a particular system, or a set of systems, in which doctrines, myths, rituals, sentiments, institutions, and other similar elements are interconnected. Thus, in order to understand a given belief that occurs in such a system, it is necessary to look at its particular context–that is, other beliefs held in the system, rituals, and other aspects.
Even if an record of types of belief and practices can be gathered–so as to provide a typical profile of what counts as religion–the lack of a tight definition means that there will always be a number of cases about which it is difficult to decide.
Furthermore, some ideologies, such as Soviet Marxism, Maoism, and Fascism, may have analogies to religion. Though there is no consensus on this point among scholars, it is not unreasonable to hold that the boundary between traditional religions and modern ideologies represents one part of the religious field to be studied.
Neutrality and subjectivity in the study of religion
Subjectivity in the study of religion
Religion can be said to be subjective in at least two senses. First, the practice of religion involves inner experiences and sentiments, such as feelings of a God guiding the life of the devotee. Here religion involves subjectivity in the sense of individual experience. Religion may also be thought to be subjective because the criteria by which its truth is decided are obscure and hard to come by, so that there is no obvious “objective” test in the way in which there is for a large range of speculative claims in the physical world.
The follower of a faith is no doubt authoritative as to his/her own experience, but is not necessarily so in regard to the communal significance of the rites and institutions in which he/she participates. Thus, the matter of coming to understand the inner side of a religion involves a rationale between participant observation and interpersonal relationships with such followers of the other faith.
Basic aims and methods
Religions, being complex, have different aspects or dimensions. Thus, the major world religions typically possess doctrines, myths, ethical and social teachings, rituals, social institutions, and inner experiences and sentiments. These dimensions lie behind the creation of buildings, art, music, and other such extensions of basic beliefs and attitudes. But not all religions are like Christianity and Buddhism, for example, in possessing institutions such as the church and the sangha (Buddhist monastic order), which exist across national and cultural boundaries. In opposition to such institutionalised religions, tribal religion, for example, is not usually separately established but in effect is the religious side of communal life (or way of life) and is not treated as distinct from other things that go on in the community.
How does this fit to The Tribe???
In the Tribal instance, Zoot is now being held as the Divine being and his notion of Power and Chaos is being acted out and maintained by The Chosen, as led by The Guardian.
Life was fairly normal for Martin (Zoot) until the virus came to the fore, he was jealous of his older brother (Bray) who seemed to have everything he didn’t, a popular boy in school, captain of the football team, popular girl wanting him. Eventually Martin got a bit fed up, cracked under the pressure and so a new persona Zoot – “Power & Chaos” was created by Martin.
When the virus wiped out all the adults he used his theory of ‘force’ and power to manipulate the chaotic situation in society and try to rule the land with his followers – The Locos.
After he died it was left up to Ebony to maintain this ‘power and chaos’. She was a strong girl, and manipulative too. She was trying to take out vengeance on the Mall Rats for killing Zoot.
“Be a victim of your fear or make it work for you”, The Guardian (having been a school mate of Martin and often picked on by him prior to the virus) had learnt this philosophy from Zoot. Therefore, now he wanted power and the way to get the power himself is by making others fear him…and so this is how Zoot’s system/doctrine is carried on today…and the Religion of Zoot is borne!!!