It is a worldview that sees everything in the universe as warring against each other to become the "deity" or "king of the hill."
Wow, even the dictionaries of the world don't support this definition; it's certainly never one I've come across until I heard the idea that 'everything has a soul' could be possibly reinterpreted as 'and then goes to war with each other.'
The article is kind of (I'm making a vast understatement here) ridiculous. Yes, some animistic cultures are more warlike than others, the same goes for non-animist cultures as well.
But there are plenty of cultures where animism fosters intense pacifism, harmony and sustainability (the like of which we don't actually see in many non-Indigenous and non-Animist cultures at all); the Anutans of Anuta Island, many many different cultures in Indigenous Australia, the Shinto in Japan. That's just the tip of the iceberg.
Animism is, of itself, a neutral belief system; 'everything has a soul.' What that 'everything' consists of is open to interpretation, but overall, as it stands, 'everything has a soul' means nothing in terms of war or peace - because it depends on how we choose to engage in that belief. Even an animist surrounded by contradictory or conflicting land spirits need not be warring or trying to be 'king of the mountain.'
There are animist cultures that go to war. There are some that don't. That's true of any belief system; it comes down to the individual, more than it does the actual neutral belief system itself.
no subject
Wow, even the dictionaries of the world don't support this definition; it's certainly never one I've come across until I heard the idea that 'everything has a soul' could be possibly reinterpreted as 'and then goes to war with each other.'
The article is kind of (I'm making a vast understatement here) ridiculous. Yes, some animistic cultures are more warlike than others, the same goes for non-animist cultures as well.
But there are plenty of cultures where animism fosters intense pacifism, harmony and sustainability (the like of which we don't actually see in many non-Indigenous and non-Animist cultures at all); the Anutans of Anuta Island, many many different cultures in Indigenous Australia, the Shinto in Japan. That's just the tip of the iceberg.
Animism is, of itself, a neutral belief system; 'everything has a soul.' What that 'everything' consists of is open to interpretation, but overall, as it stands, 'everything has a soul' means nothing in terms of war or peace - because it depends on how we choose to engage in that belief. Even an animist surrounded by contradictory or conflicting land spirits need not be warring or trying to be 'king of the mountain.'
There are animist cultures that go to war. There are some that don't. That's true of any belief system; it comes down to the individual, more than it does the actual neutral belief system itself.
/ramble.