Editing Veneration of the dead (section)

==Overview==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2023}}
Ancestor reverence is not the same as the [[worship]] of a [[deity]] or deities. In some Afro-diasporic cultures, ancestors are seen as being able to intercede on behalf of the living, often as messengers between humans and God. As spirits who were once human themselves, they are seen as being better able to understand human needs than would a divine being. In other cultures, the purpose of ancestor veneration is not to ask for favors but to do one's filial duty. Some cultures believe that their ancestors actually need to be provided for by their descendants, and their practices include offerings of food and other provisions. Others do not believe that the ancestors are even aware of what their descendants do for them, but that the expression of [[filial piety]] is what is important.

Most cultures who practice ancestor veneration do not call it "ancestor worship". In English, the word ''worship'' usually but not always refers to the reverent love and [[Loyalty|devotion]] accorded a deity (god) or [[God]].<ref>{{citation |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/worship |title=worship |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=2015-11-03 |archive-date=2015-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118050021/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/worship |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/learner/worship |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003183312/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/learner/worship |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 3, 2015 |title=worship |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worship |title=worship |date=May 2023 |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Incorporated |access-date=2015-11-03 |archive-date=2015-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002180845/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worship |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in other cultures, this act of worship does not confer any belief that the departed ancestors have become some kind of deity. Rather, the act is a way to express filial duty, devotion and respect and look after ancestors in their afterlives as well as seek their guidance for their living descendants. In this regard, many cultures and religions have similar practices. Some may visit the graves of their parents or other ancestors, leave flowers and pray to them in order to honor and remember them, while also asking their ancestors to continue to look after them. However, this would not be considered as worshipping them since the term ''worship'' may not always convey such meaning in the exclusive and narrow context of certain Western European Christian traditions.

In that sense the phrase ''ancestor veneration'' may but from the limited perspective of certain Western European Christian traditions, convey a more accurate sense of what practitioners, such as the [[Chinese people|Chinese]] and other [[Buddhism|Buddhist-influenced]] and [[Confucianism|Confucian-influenced]] societies, as well as the African and European cultures see themselves as doing. This is consistent with the meaning of the word ''[[veneration]]'' in English, that is great respect or reverence caused by the dignity, wisdom, or dedication of a person.<ref>{{citation |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/venerate |title=venerate |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=2015-11-03 |archive-date=2015-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108081240/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/venerate |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/veneration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121121024700/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/veneration |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 21, 2012 |title=veneration |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veneration |title=veneration |date=19 April 2023 |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Incorporated |access-date=3 November 2015 |archive-date=18 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218021517/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veneration |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although there is no generally accepted theory concerning the origins of ancestor veneration, this social phenomenon appears in some form in all human cultures documented so far. David-Barrett and Carney claim that ancestor veneration might have served a group coordination role during [[human evolution]],<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The deification of historical figures and the emergence of priesthoods as a solution to a network coordination problem|journal = Religion, Brain & Behavior|date = 2015-08-14|issn = 2153-599X|pages = 307–317|issue = 4|doi = 10.1080/2153599X.2015.1063001|first1 = Tamás|last1 = Dávid-Barrett|first2 = James|last2 = Carney|volume = 6|s2cid = 146979343}}</ref> and thus it was the mechanism that led to religious representation fostering [[group cohesion]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Modes of Religiosity. A Cognitive Theory of Religious Transmission|last = Whitehouse|first = Harvey|publisher = Alta Mira Press|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-7591-0615-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Why minds create gods: Devotion, deception, death, and arational decision making|url = http://journals.cambridge.org/article_S0140525X04470174|journal = Behavioral and Brain Sciences|date = 2004-12-01|issn = 1469-1825|pages = 754–770|volume = 27|issue = 6|doi = 10.1017/S0140525X04470174|first1 = Scott|last1 = Atran|first2 = Ara|last2 = Norenzayan|s2cid = 145808393}}</ref>