Religion and Culture Intertwined - Article Example

Jeffrey Madderra Gauno Religion 3300 April 7, Religion and Culture Intertwined Religion is a part of culture. It is, in fact, a cultural universal because religious institutions are evident in all societies. Culture, on the other hand, is a set of rules, behaviors and practices within a group of people. These rules, behaviors and practices are also shaped by its elements, like religion, because culture is socially transmitted, and hence, it is dynamic. Like language, religious practices can vary through time, as they reflect the needs of the people, may it be on the intellectual level or spiritual level. Culture, as in arts, politics, economics, and gender norms, also change to reflect the needs of the people. Not only that, religion as a unit of culture greatly affects those other units since religion is a very powerful force. In fact, religion is the major force in major changes in humanity, as faith usually guides most people’s decisions (Neihardt, 2000), like in politics and economy, even if they say it’s completely logical. Thus, one cannot say that religion is separate, or bigger than culture; no one can either say that culture is independent and greater than religion. They are both interrelated and they both affect each other, as demonstrated in this paper. Culture is generally defined as a total of learned, socially transmitted behavior. A society also means a large group of people living in the same territory, independent of other people and having a common culture. Sometimes, societies resist ideas that seem to be threatening to their own values. It’s impossible for societies to be all the same, but there are cultural universals that help societies interact with each other. These universal are modified means to meet the basic need for food, shelter, clothing and reproduction. Examples of cultural universals are marriage, laws, sexual restrictions, folklore, dancing, etc. These actions are understood in almost all kinds of societies, although they are expressed in a variety of ways. Religion is also a cultural universal. 86% of the world population belongs to a certain religion. Religion has been found long ago, over 100,000 years, as soon as civilization started, to provide explanations about origin, purpose and deaths of humans. Religion is a “societal glue”. It gives a society ultimate values that make up a social system that hold the people together and integrate people as well. The integrative function of religion is especially apparent in preindustrial societies. In these societies, relationships, harvesting of crops, leadership are all governed by religious laws. For example, crops would be blessed by God, sacrificing is done to please the Gods so that the harvest would be plentiful (Neihardt, 2000). These activities rule people’s behavior too, making religion a veritable aspect of culture. This is very evident in Native American culture. Their society was preindustrial. Although it was preindustrial, their culture was quite developed. They have integrated social structures at the time and they also have sophisticated technology. When discussing Native Americans, people have this notion that they are savages. This is untrue; the whole notion developed because the history books were written by the European conquistadors who had that opinion. Native Americans inhabited the Americas before the Europeans came and colonized it. There were various tribes scattered across America and these tribes have specialties that help them in their activities, like hunting and farming (Neihardt, 2000). They are very diverse. Native American religions bind them together, and although they have many different tribes, their religions are quite similar. The common aspect is dualism. They have one God for their creation story, which is the Creator; and they have different gods per tribe. This creator guides them on how to live their lives, teaches how to behave according to their culture, etc. Other characters in their religion are the deities. These are spirits that control the weather, interact with human beings and sometimes inhabit the underworld or afterlife. These deities are the ones being made sacrifices to when the people need favorable weather or harvest. The Sioux, which includes the Lakota and Dakota Indians have Wakan-Tanka as their God. The Native Americans, even if they have different Gods, for them, the Holy Land is everywhere (Brown, 1970). The behavior and of the Native American is heavily influenced by religion. Coming of age rites and hunting behavior are very interconnected. Life events are usually marked by performing a religious ritual. For example, a boy who becomes a man would try and kill a bull to prove to the Gods that he is man enough and capable of killing a huge animal like a bull, implying that he can sustain a family. Hunting is a very important element in a life of a Native American because it is marks a milestone in a man’s life (Brown, 1970). A girl who experiences her first menstrual flow would also be performing ritual to celebrate the fact that she can produce children (Brown, 1970). It is known that the Native Americans have a strong affinity for animals. They believe that animals and humans share the same ancestry (Brown, 1970), hence the respect that they give animals. This is also closely tied to religion. Native Americans have to pray for their deities when they are to hunt, so they receive the blessings of their animal gods. When hunting, they use their deities as guides, and they learn from the animal. For example, if their god is a wolf, they must learn from the wolf and follow its example when hunting. Sometimes, their lives revolve on an animal god. This is the case of the Oglala Sioux, the ones who are killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre (Brown, 1970). Their religion is centered on the buffalo. Their culture was heavily influenced by how they revered the buffalo, they have ceremonies for the buffalo, and their language even has special holy words for the buffalo. Shamans are powerful people in a Native American society (Neihardt, 2000). They dictate the actions and behavior of the people. They also interpret God’s messages. Sometimes, they are more important than the leaders of the tribe, and maybe they are the leaders of the tribe that they are sometimes called the priest-kings. They keep the social order as well as the spiritual order. They are also capable of communicating with the Gods and the people in the afterlife. They are also healers; they cure with their herbs as well as their connections with the spirits. They don’t just cure physical ailments, they also cure spiritual ailments too Not everyone can be a priest-doctor. The shamans get to be shamans by succession; they get to be chosen by the older shamans. Sometimes, the shamans work together in groups but other cultures only have one shaman. The shamans can be of either sex too. Native American Art is influenced by everyday life. Wall paintings often depict everyday life of the people. Their mythologies are also told by pictures sometimes. Their jewelry also tells of the people’s status in the society and their role (Neihardt, 2000). Sometimes, the art is metaphoric in nature. When art becomes more complex, it shows that the society is more complex and more powerful. Most of the time, artifacts and other works of art that exist in a typical Native American society are religious items and are used in religious rituals. For example, an obsidian blade; Obsidian is stronger than steel and sharper as well, they are used for sacrificial killings. The stone is very important in the Native American culture. They make it into rings (social status indicator), masks (ceremonial objects), and weapons (for hunting and pleasing the Gods). There are also sculptures in a Native American society, and they are not decorative. They are usually deities and they are used in religious rituals and other important celebrations (Neihardt, 2003). Architecture in their culture was also hugely influenced by religion. The pyramids, which are considered to be architectural artifacts, are for religious celebrations. They are made for the Gods and made human sacrifices there. The pyramids also had many shrines for specific deities. Sometimes, a specific god has its own pyramid. Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon of Teotihuacan, a city of Aztecs, are the most important pyramids in Native American culture. It is located above a cave. According to the lore, this is the place where the men become Gods. The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon were used together especially in ceremonial burial. It is connected to the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, where sacrifices are made. The main avenue of the Teotihuacan is even called The Avenue of the Dead. In some cultures, sex is important when they are making human sacrifices. To appease some Gods, some societies choose a young, female virgin. Other societies, though, sacrifice the prisoners that they took home as trophies from their battles. The bottom line is, the sacrifices are dependent on the kind of Gods that they are being sacrificed to. Death in a Native American society means that the dead person is coming back to where he comes from (Brown, 1970). The caves are important for the belief of afterlife in Native American culture. They believe that the cave is the entrance to afterlife. This is especially true for the Tewans. When a Tewa dies, the relative dresses up the corpse and the moccasins are reversed. They believe that everything in this life is reversed in the afterlife. Personal possessions and clothes of the dead are also put under his pillow, so that he will be happy and will not miss home. Four days after the burial is considered crucial because it is said that the dead is still roaming around, and might take a family member for company in the afterlife (Brown, 1970). After four days, a releasing rite is performed where all of the possessions of the dead are ceremoniously broken or “killed”. This is done by their shaman. Smoking tobacco and taking peyote are usual activities by the people. They are depicted well in their paintings and drawings. These activities are also religious by nature. These drugs, before they were abused for their extremely pleasurably effects, were used ceremoniously by the Native Americans. For the Native Americans, drugs like the peyote are only to be used when they need to contact people in the other worlds and dimensions. These are mainly used by the shamans to communicate with the Gods and also to see signs from the Gods. Smoking tobacco, especially for the Cahokia, is common place. The smoking ceremony is special. It is when the spirits of the pipe mingle with the spirits of the humans so that they well be more agreeable to each other (Neihardt, 2000). All these Native American culture pertaining to the importance of religion was changed by the arrival of Europeans. The Europeans, namely the Spaniards came to the Americas to search for gold, in order to finance their upcoming “holy war” against the Turks. Because of the association with religion, gold became a sacred commodity. So they explored and they eventually reached the Americas, they sent armies to colonize the place, and Cortes eventually conquered the Aztecs. The Pope, naming the Spanish King The Most Catholic Majesty, expanded the rights of the Spanish monarchs to reign over the new world. But the Spanish must convert the Natives to Roman Catholicism in order to return the favor. The missionaries were Dominicans and Franciscans and the strategy they employed was to civilize, Christianize and utilize. This is a huge misconception, civilizing the natives. To say civilize, that means the other party is barbaric and acting without social organization. This is a biased term, for the Spanish actually just wanted to make the Native Americans live in cities so that they can be overseen. They also wanted to make the Natives have the Spanish lifestyle, make them look Spanish. To achieve that, the natives must first convert to Christianism. Then the conquistadors would use the Native American labor for their own good and let them search for the gold they originally came for (Brown, 1970). The downfall of the established religious practices of the Native Americans started here, when the Europeans came (Neihardt, 2000). It is true, though, that religion is the one that establishes the organization in their societies. Without religion, their societies would fail as their beliefs guide them on what to do, what to believe in and how to behave. As religion is a way to explain things, the Natives would depend on it to justify their existence which is normal in every society. That’s the main purpose of religion. The most remarkable thing here is that religion shapes the society. It shapes the people to its core. Even the smallest details, like the jewelry in their bodies, have a religious significance. The layout of their towns, the placement of the pyramids, they are strategically placed so that there would be efficient religious rituals. This is evident in Teotihuacan. The layout of their city is such that the pyramids and temples would be interconnected to be effective in doing human sacrifices, to appease the Gods more. This affects the life and culture of the people themselves. Their belief in Gods also affects the way their lives are lead, as how the Sioux are. Their major deity was the buffalo. Their life was centered on buffalo hunting, as they believe in the powers of the buffalo and subsequently, they followed the buffalo where they roamed, making them nomadic people. The role of the people in the social strata is also influenced by religion. In the Native American culture, sex is not an issue but age is. The most powerful person in the society, the shaman, is usually the oldest and the wisest. This is responsibility in society is defined by religion too. Practices in death are also religious in nature as they believe in the afterlife and they believe that spirits exist. This roots back to their stories of creation where all life came from one place and therefore, we are all the same. This also influences their attitude towards nature and animals. Basically, the culture and behavior of the Native Americans can be explained by their beliefs (Brown, 1970). Their actions are all rooted to their purposes and history and their respect to their ancestors. Ironically, it was also religion, Christianism that led them to lose their prior beliefs and faith. It was also that religion that made them lose their identity as native Americans and made them slaves. Works Cited: Brown, Dee. Bury my heart at wounded knee. Baltimore: Holt, 1970. Print. Neihardt, John. Black elk speaks. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. Print. Read More