The Concept Of Religion And Culture

This paper has presented a definition of religion, as well as an examination of its parts to determine if the definition is adequate to apply appropriately. Secondly, this paper has examined several practices and experiences common to both major religions of the worlds, as well as indigenous religions. Lastly, the key critical issues of the study of religions and reasons for their consideration have been identified and discussed.

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Culture can be defined as the behaviours and belief characteristics of a particular social, ethnic,

Throughout the years, various anthropologists have developed definitions for religion. Emilie Durkheim was one of the first and many sociologists who studied the structure of religion and tried to define its’ function. Durkheim stated that “a religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden -- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." Durkheim describes religion as the embodiment of society’s highest goals and ideals. He states that religion acts as a cohesive social force. It is real in that it exists in people’s minds and impels them to heed societal dictates, but what is perceived as external to society, like God, is a projection and reflection of society (Segal, The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, 2006, p.5)

Eastman, Roger (1999). The Ways of Religion An Introduction to the Major Traditions, 3rd edition. New York, Oxford University Press. Print

Western scholars of religion have attempted to define the term religion for a long time. Often times, these definitions are too narrow and are based on the individual’s own background and

Culture is defined as “The ideas, attitudes, customs, beliefs, values and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society that are passed on from generation to generation” (Brentnall, A., n.d.).

The only way in which Christianity and other religions exist is in concrete, definite cultural environment. We receive, live, express and transmit our faith through culture. Culture is a reality which is difficult to define because it covers everything in human life. We can look at culture as the worldview guiding our lives. Such a worldview gradually developed from millions of agreement among members of our society through the long period of time. Our leaders have taken it upon themselves to make us aware of the standards of judgment and of conduct, which have to guide us in relating with other people. Together with other members, they have conditioned us in many ways, mostly unconscious, to accept as

The Hofstede Centre (n.d.) defines culture as the “collective mental programming of the human mind which distinguishes one group of people from another.” Chipulu, Ojiako, Gardiner, Williams, Mota, Maguire, Shou, Stamai, and Marshall (2014), note that “culture can be at once tangible and observable; latent and unobservable; or even an abstraction altogether” (p. 367). Culture therefore has many dimensions. Some aspects of culture can be observed by analyzing symbols, ceremonies, dress, and other aspects. On the other hand, some aspects are not observable from the outside, but have to be experienced. Looking only from the outside gives us only a glimpse into the culture values. A large part of culture is the unwritten rules of how things are done. This part of culture is not necessarily observable to an outsider. To fully understand the cultural values of an organization, you need to be inside the organization with access to those with years of work experiences.

Fundamental beliefs surrounding the very idea of culture separate the cross-cultural and sociocultural approach, which may seem to suggest incompatibility. Sociocultural psychological understanding of culture is that it employs a “mutually constitutive” or “cyclic model”. (Eom & Kim, 2014) The idea of culture in the sociocultural model is that culture influences people on a

Religion not only serves as a form of cultural identity to one’s life, and a sense of comfort to many people, while others just do not have a need for religion. Cultural identity is very powerful and is considered very important to its people. Culture is ever changing and everyone is born into a specific culture that is considered very valuable to that individual (cultural identity). Culture tends to be pluralistic and defines the way its people live, die, and was born. A culture is also entitled to practice its beliefs, values, morals, and rituals because all cultures should be given equal opportunity and attention. By analyzing this from an anthropological approach, one aims to be culturally relative and not ethnocentric. Ethnocentrism is

Culture is described as the symbols that individuals, groups and societies use to make decision of daily life and to assure their values. Culture is a model of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal combination, which has worked well enough to think correctly and, so to instruct to new comers as the valid way to observe, consider and feel in relation to these problems. Culture consists of manner, mind-set, values, rituals, religious belief, law (written and unwritten), arts, ideas, custom, belief, ceremonies, social institutions, myths and legends, individual identity and behavior. Cultural pattern classifies are used to describe the dominant beliefs and values. Culture has been called the way of life for an entire society. It is a group or community living together and sharing a set of norms. Culture and society are coexistent. One does not or cannot exist without the other. Culture and society may have some common elements but the two are not the same; they are not identical.

- Religion as meaning and cultural order (the notion of culture is broader than "belief" is evident in the sociological and anthropological approaches to religion);

Islam is a religion practiced by billions of people worldwide; with this, many cultures have embraced the faith; which is difficult at times to make the comparison and differentiate between what’s culture and religion. An example of this is marriage, as previous stated, Islam speaks against arranged marriages that are force. Arrange marriages is a common practice in many cultures which strives till’ this day. It’s a marriage that is much easier for families to commit to because many marry within the family or a family that is close in friendship.

Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1962) identify over 150 scientific definitions of the concept of culture. Indeed, many authors have tried to define culture and this is why there are so many definitions and that a unique one is hard to find. First of all, Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) assume that culture is a suite of patterns, implicit and explicit, “of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts” (p.47). Later, Hofstede adds that culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede, 1991, p.51). This definition is the most widely accepted one amongst practitioners. For Winthrop (1991), culture is the distinctive models of thoughts, actions and values that composed members of a society or a social group. In other words,