Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600

Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 9 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

MODULE 9: EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND RELIGION AND BELIEF SYSTEMS:

ITS FORMS AND FUNCTIONS AS INSTITUTIONS

I. OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module, the learner will be able to:
a) Differentiate functions of education as it affects the lives of the people in the society;
b) Discuss the functions of religion in a society and for an individual;
c) Differentiate the perspectives in understanding the concept of health

II. DISCUSSION
A. Education
➢ The school is one of the universal symbols for education. It is a place where learners of varied
ages, backgrounds and needs are brought together to learn.
➢ Education is a process of acquiring and equipping people with knowledge and skills and
values that will allow him or her to actively participate in varied social tasks and activities.
➢ Education is also a systematic process of transmitting knowledge and skills that are necessary
in the performance of one’s roles in the society.
➢ Education can be formal, informal and non-formal.

Formal Education is: Informal Education is: Non-formal Education is:

a. An institutional activity a. Life-long process a. Flexible

b. Chronologically b. Individual learns from daily b. Life, environment and

graded structure experiences learner-oriented

c. Uniform c. Individual learns from c. Diversified in content and

exposure to the environment method
d. Subject-oriented
at home, at work, at play,
d. Built on learner
e. Full time etc.
participation
f. Leads to certificates,
e. Mobilizes local resources
diplomas, degrees
f. Enriches human and
environmental potential

B. Religion and Belief Systems

Animism: derived from the Latin word anima meaning breath or soul and German animismus.
The belief of Animism is probably one of man’s oldest beliefs, with its origin most likely dating to
the Paleolithic age.

From its earliest beginnings it was a religious belief that a soul or spirit existed in every object, even
if it was inanimate. In a future state this soul or spirit would exist as part of an immaterial soul. The
spirit, therefore, was thought to be universal. The animist is someone who believe or pertain to the
doctrine of animism.

Origins: There has been sharp divisions of thought as to the original concept of animism held by
primitive peoples. A British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in his “Primitive Culture” (1871)
defined it “as a general belief in spiritual beings and considered it ‘a minimum definition of
religion.'” He stated all religions from the simplest to the most complex shared some sort of
animistic belief. According to him primitive peoples, defined as those without a written tradition,
believed the spirits or souls caused life in human beings. They pictured these souls as vapors or
 Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 9 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

shadows going from one body to another. The souls not only passed between human beings but
into, plants, animals and inanimate objects as well.

Tylor the Animist

Tylor was an animist. He reasoned primitive man arrived at his animistic belief to help him explain
the causes of sleep, dreams, and death. There naturally aroused a need to distinguish between
an individual who was awake and one who was asleep, or an individual who lived and one who
did not. Also there was a need to give a reason for the pictures some saw when they slept. The
spirits were the early man’s explanations. Tylor was criticized by another British anthropologist
Robert Ranulph Marett (1866-1943).

Robert Ranulph Marett (1866-1943)

He was convinced that primitive man had not developed the intellectual to form even such
simplistic explanations as Tylor proposed. Marett suggested early religion was more emotional
and intuitional in origin. He theorized that early man recognized some inanimate objects
because they had some particular characteristic or behaved in some unusual way which
mysteriously made them seem alive. He believed early man treated all animate objects as having
a life and will of their own. But they never distinguished the soul as separate from the body, and
could enter or leave the body. Marett conceded early man possessed the belief of animism. But
it developed from the idea that some objects seemed to be alive like man.

Examples

➢ It is insignificant how men and women gained the belief that a spirit or soul resides in all
objects. It is historically evident that they did. Trees and plants were worshiped as totems
or because of their usefulness and beauty.
➢ In many cultures certain trees and plants have been feared. In some ancient cultures
“trees were generally regarded as maternal deities or forest spirits. To be respected even
when their lives were sacrificed for human use (pagan woodcutters never felled a tree
without first begging its forgiveness).
➢ Female tree spirits live on in myth and folklore as dryads. It was the Greek version of the
tree-worshiping druid priestesses.”
➢ Plants and trees have been considered sacred by themselves because, as some have
thought, they are home to certain spirits.
➢ Both the soma plant of India and the coca shrub of Peru are worshiped for the intoxicating
properties of the products made from them. Field crops, thought to harbor spirits of
infertility, has been honored by ancient tribesmen and peasants throughout Europe.
Traces of these cults can still be found.
➢ The above describes nature worshipers among which many occultists are numbered. They
view life as being in everything, and everything, even man, supporting life. Life is sacred —
all life.
➢ “One of the foremost characteristics of Neo-Paganism (or occultism) is the return to the
ancient idea that there is no distinction between the spiritual and material, sacred and
secular.” Everything is still one as it was to primitive man.
➢ Also Buddhism share the idea of an anima in every object.

Animism has a new meaning. Its origin is the publications of Irving Hallowell an anthropologist.

❖ It is a religious word which is the opposite of science. In some old cultures the word was also
used as the anima of animals.

The term theism, first introduced by Ralph Cudworth (1617-1688), derives from the Greek word theos
meaning “god”. It refers to any belief system that incorporates the existence of a deity. A deity is a
supernatural being thought of as holy, divine or sacred. Though they take a variety of forms, deities are
 Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 9 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

often expressed as taking human form. They are usually immortal, and are commonly assumed to have
personalities, consciousness and intellects comparable (albeit superior) to those of humans.

Typically, deities do not reveal themselves directly to humans, but make themselves known through
their effects in the world. They are thought to dwell mainly in otherworldly or holy places like Heaven,
Hell, the sky, the under-world, or in a supernatural plane or celestial sphere.

Due to the ubiquity of theistic traditions, Emile Durkheim saw the deities as an extension of human social
life. In line with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossini contends that when humans began living in
larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of enforcing morality. In small groups, morality
can be enforced by social forces like gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to enforce
morality using social forces in larger groups. He indicates that by including ever watchful gods and
spirits, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more
cooperative groups.

When only one deity is recognized, the faith tradition is called monotheism. Typically, monotheistic
traditions conceive of God as omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and active in governance and
organization of the world and the universe. The most prominent modern-day monotheistic religions
include Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

In contrast to monotheism, Deism is the belief that at least one deity exists and created the world, but
that the creator(s), though transcendent and supreme, does/do not alter the original plan for the
universe. Deism typically rejects supernatural events (prophecies, miracles and divine revelations)
prominent in organized religion. Instead, deism holds that religious beliefs must be founded on human
reason and observed features of the natural world, and that these sources reveal the existence of a
supreme being as creator.

Faith traditions involving more than one deity are called polytheistic. Hard polytheism recognizes
multiple gods as being distinct and separate beings. Examples include the Egyptian and Greek
religions, as well as certain schools of Hinduism. Soft polytheism views multiple gods as being connected
under the umbrella of a greater whole. Some forms of Hinduism like Smartism/Advaita Vedanta are
considered soft polytheistic traditions. Polytheism can also be subdivided according to how individual
deities are regarded: Henotheism is the belief that while only one deity is worshiped other deities may
exist and other people are justified in worshiping those other deities. Monolatrism refers to the belief
that there may be more than one deity, but that only one is worthy of being worshipped.

C. Health and its Determinants (as defined by World Health Organization /WHO)

Health According to World Health Organization:

Health refers to a state of complete physical, intellectual, emotional, behavioral, social and
spiritual well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

❑ Lifestyles – the living/behavioral pattern of a person or a group according to its interest,

activities, attitudes, values and principles.
❑ Environmental Factors – one’s belief system about health within the context of culture and
not necessarily biological/medical in nature.
❑ Biomedical Factors –one’s concept about physical health with the person or group relies
on the evidence of establish science.

Different practices and behavior of individuals/groups

in the Filipino context of environmental factor/cultural factors

 Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 9 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

❖ Bughat/Binat - is a Filipino belief about one’s illness that it will take relapse from previous
condition due to the failure of total rest; even taking a bath, doing household chores are
even prohibited.
❖ Buyag/Usog - is an illness which is largely due to the indignant misdemeanor of the person
towards animistic/supernatural elements.
❖ Amok – a mental related illness which attributed to the person being possessed by evil spirits.
❖ Kulam/Barang - an illness inflicted to one unsuspecting individual due to one’s sins through
voodoo or witchcraft.
❖ Lihi - a belief system among Filipino that one’s health can be vigorously attributed to the
providence of supernatural power.

Systems of Diagnosis, Prevention and Healing

❑ Western Medicine – refers to a system of diagnosis in which the medical doctors or other
healthcare professionals treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation or surgery.
❑ Oriental Medicine – a system of diagnosis and treatment by relying on the herbal and other
plants (at times are animal parts) which the liquid matter usually extracted from for healing.
❑ Traditional and Alternative Medicine – alternative medicine includes the more mainstream and
accepted forms of therapy, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, and Oriental practices while
the traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the
theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not,
used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or
treatment of physical and mental illness. Therefore, the difference is evident on the type of
approach.

Health as a Human Right

✓ The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Article 25: - articulates this right to adequate health:
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself
and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care…”
✓ Republic Act 7305 - This Act shall be known as the "Magna Carta of Public Health Workers."
✓ Republic Act 9502 - An act providing for cheaper and quality medicines, amending for the
purpose Republic Act No. 8293 or the intellectual property code, Republic Act No. 6675 or the
Generics Act of 1988
✓ Republic Act 8423 - "Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act (TAMA) of 1997" or An Act Creating
the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) to Accelerate the
Development of Traditional and Alternative
✓ Republic Act 11469 – An act declaring the existence of a National Emergency arising from the
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation and a national policy in connection therewith,
and authorizing the President of the Republic of the Philippines for a limited period and subject
to restrictions, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out the declared national policy
and for other purposes. This act shall be known and cited as “Bayanihan to Heal As One Act”.

III. ASSESSMENT
*Note: To be placed in the Assignment portion of your module and it will be published based on your
class schedule.
 Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 9 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

IV. ADDITIONAL REFERENCE/S

A Youtube video on: Science Says: Religion May Be Good for Your Health by Nicole Fisher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOj_HRLYbjM

V. REFERENCE(S)

Alejandria-Gonzalez, M.C. (2016). Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. Makati City, Philippines:
Diwa Learning Systems, Inc.
http://www.investoperdia.com/walkthrough/corporate-finance/1/finncial-institutions.aspx
https://www.senate.gov.ph/Bayanihan-to-Heal-as-One-Act-RA-11469.pdf
https://www.senate.gov.ph/ Magna-Carta-of-Public-Health-Workers-RA-7305.pdf
https://www.senate.gov.ph/RA-9502.pdf
https://www.senate.gov.ph/Traditional-and-Alternative-Medicine-Act-of-1997-RA-8423.pdf