Culture and Religion

Every person is a member of one culture and one religion. Culture and religion had been used by each of us, and its perceptions and beliefs still influence our lives today. The article aims to explain and break down the concepts for a better understanding of culture and religion.

What is Culture?

Culture is the total of the beliefs, manners, norms, institutions, traditions of a group of people living in a particular geographical location. It has been popularly referred to as “the way of life” for groups of people.

What is Religion?

Religion is a personalized set of beliefs or a corporate system of beliefs and worship of a superhuman being. It can also be termed as a set of organized beliefs and practices which connect to a dominating force.

The concept of culture and religion has so far been for decades, as philosophers, thinkers, artists, scientists, religious leaders, anthropologists, etc have all aired their different views on the subject matter and all can be said to be correct.

Now the concept of culture and religion does not have a generally accepted answer. This is because we are all different and come from different places and have had different unique experiences so our viewpoints and paradigms cannot tally with others. 

In this article, we will be looking at the effects and the connections between the two of them; that is culture and religion.

How does Culture affect Religion?

There is a fundamental truth in sociology, and that is that your background largely determines what your culture will be. Take, for instance, if you were born in India, you will be a Hindu, in Europe, an agnostic, in Pakistan, a Muslim, and so on.

This geographical demarcation is powerful in the sense that wherever we find ourselves ultimately determines our religious inclinations. So, is it safe to say that religion is a subset of culture? Does cultural belief also influence religious bias?

There is no absolute answer to all these questions raised above. One thing to note however is that religion and culture are strongly interrelated and are indispensable from each other.

From the definitions given above, we see that both culture and religion are belief systems. This shows that just as our personalities and characters exist as influences to our behavior, culture and religion also act as subtle influences on everything we do as humans.

Culture affects religion in some basic ways, for example, many cultural tendencies are rooted in religious beliefs as ways to validate their claim, also religious practices have become intertwined with the day-to-day activities of common folk. This makes religion a kind of ‘culture’, something that is being done consistently and believed upon by a group of people.

As said before, there is no fine line dividing the two of them as they are both belief systems with different meanings and complexities attached to them. 

How does Religion Affect culture?

This subtopic is closely related to the one above, however, they do not mean it is the same thing.

We have stated severally that both culture and religion are belief systems. Now, if we take that to be true, then religious practices can help foster good principles in the life of societies and communities.

For instance, if the religion of a society forbids lying, it will be seen that the society at large will come to frown at the unacceptable behavior and a long-term practice will integrate this belief into their culture; their way of life.

This means that religious practices and beliefs when long practiced can be transformed into the culture of that society. 

Also, religious beliefs help shape values and norms that the society will uphold and take claim of. This will help to raise more upright individuals and upstanding citizens and these behaviors will no doubt be welcomed by the culture of the said community. 

Positive Benefits of Culture and Religion

Here we will be looking at the associated benefits of culture and religion in our contemporary society.

• Improved self-esteem  individuals that practice a religion
• Provision of support in all dimensions of life
• Gives rise to enhanced learning for children.
• Increases tolerance levels in individuals.
• Boosts association with other people
• Enhances wellbeing 
• Enriches our quality of life
• Has a positive effect on decision making
• Gives a meeting to the concept of living and life in general.

Negative Impacts of Religion and Culture.

As is everything that has a good side, culture and religion also portray a bad side.

• Creates an avenue for hypocritical living
• Restrains individuality, emotions, and thoughts.
• Blinds the perception and realities of certain truths and principles
• Enslaves people to one-sided ideologies

Factors that can Affect Religion and Culture

numerous factors can affect both culture and religion but only two will be listed here which are

• Individualistic impressions of religion in mindset
• Religious sentiments that startup reliefs in individuals.

Conclusion

The concepts of culture and religion are vast and only small detail was revealed here, Culture and religion are interwoven and intersect throughout our lifespans and both play major roles in our journeys on this world.