1. Discuss Mary Douglas's idea, particularly how the idea of ​​clean versus dirty is paramount in her theoretical perspective. According to Mary Douglas, purity or clean versus dirty or impure represent the limitations of a society and are a manifestation of society's fears. Douglas examined the use of blood as a means of purification and as a source of contamination that must then be purified in the Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as in various African groups. Douglas emphasizes the symbolic meaning of purification rituals and how they manifest through ritual and daily practice. Essentially, Douglas argues that the concept of purity strengthens the structure of a society. Douglas considers the practice of ritual sacrifice as an example of purity determining the “boundaries” of a community. For example, the Dinka tribe, a group predominantly found in South Sudan, is known to slaughter a beast lengthwise and in the sexual organs in order to thwart an act of incest. If this beast were cut right down the middle, it would mean a truce, and various other circumstances lead to the use of trampling or suffocation (Summary of Chapter 7: "External Limits"). Ritual sacrifice was used to establish what is acceptable and what is not, and to maintain a balance in society, as in the case of incest sacrifice. Likewise, ritual sacrifice is used to signify major changes in the community, such as a truce with another group. Ritual sacrifice is used to codify the values ​​and boundaries of a group. As ritual sacrifice is used to define the boundaries of society, the concept of purity imposes the rules of society at the individual level. The use of blood in the Bible is a great example of this. Blood can be either a cleaning detergent or a polluting contaminant. For example, the blood of a murder victim stains and defiles the earth, as described in the Book of Numbers. For this land to be purified, the blood of the murderer must be shed (Hanson, 2007). This is another example of purity being used primarily as a set of laws. The concept of what is impure or dirty is what, in part, maintains the values ​​and rules of a society. As Douglas says in Purity and Danger, “Dirt is essentially disorder. Absolute filth does not exist: it exists in the eye of the beholder… Filth offends order.