Western religions: history, beliefs, and practices

Indigenous Religion

In order to understand the term "indigenous religion," one must first understand the term "indigenous people." Obviously, "indigenous" does not refer only to people who have always lived in a particular spot, because modern knowledge about migration and evolution make it clear that no such group exists, even within Africa. Instead, the term "indigenous" refers to the people found in a society before encroachment by outsiders. Obviously, this term is relative, given that some parts of the world are only now being explored by outsiders, while other areas have been colonized and re-colonized by competing outside influences. However, one constant of indigenous religions is that they do not reflect an awareness of the entire world, in contrast to religions like Christianity or Judaism. Instead, they typically focus on rituals and explaining human activities and origination within the sub-context of the area. Therefore, indigenous religions can be expected to have a tremendous interaction with the actual circumstances of life in the area in question, which makes it virtually impossible for an outsider to truly understand the religion. To understand an indigenous religion, one must first understand the indigenous way-of-life, which cannot be done once one has an understanding of science and the world at large.