Carmen Zaldívar

Chapter 2
This chapter discusses the history of the word religion and the responsibility of
anthropologists and sociologists to be accurate when naming certain terms.
First, the use of certain terms and their meaning change over time. Therefore, what used
to be known as religion is very different from what we understand now. For this reason,
it is questionable whether religion should be an object of study today.
The chapter then describes a series of examples to argue that the term "religion" is not
as universal as it seems. For this reason, instead of taking certain assumptions for
granted, as if they were generally understood, they should be explained and
contextualized. In some cases, due to cultural, linguistic or historical differences, two
terms that are different are considered the same. Moreover, these confusions, carried
over to this day, give rise to misunderstandings. I believe that the best example to
understand this statement is the one given in the case of the Arab. The term "din" is
translated as “religion”. However, according to Islam, this word is understood as a debt
that has to be paid. It is within a framework of social rules as well as obligations that are
not only towards God but also towards men. Therefore, it is very confusing to assume
that “religion” and “din” describe the same thing.
For all these reasons, it is essential that when translating, we should not assumed that
meanings are universal, but that they must be framed in a context. Scholars have to keep
in mind that translation causes a lot of meaning to be lost. Native etymology gives us
precise information and allows us to know a concept better. When studying this method,
it is better than establishing mere correspondences between identities, since it is difficult
to find synonyms between different cultures.
In conclusion, scholars who study religion have the obligation to establish technicalities
in the same way that chemists or astronomers do. In this way, despite cultural
misunderstandings, we will be able to talk about the same thing.