Drunkenness in Indigenous Religious Rites

Abstract

Drunkenness, like other human activity, has to be viewed cross-culturally to be seen in the light of its meaning in any particular culture. In this article Dr. Eugene A. Nida suggests briefly that the motivations behind drunkenness in the United States do not necessarily apply in other societies, and particularly that drunkenness has a ritual, ecstatic function in many religious rites.