Culture and the Evolutionary Process: Impact on Religion - Essay Example

Human nature is such that it always refuses to learn from the past mistakes that it had committed. Since the discovery of America, the orientation of the nation towards a Christianity culture is irrefutable. As syncretism came into the picture, it left legacies that have changed the mindset of people radically. People, who believed that no other God or religion is present apart from Christianity, have started believing and respecting other person’s beliefs. They have changed not to a complete aesthetic way but have restrained themselves from being too judgmental over others’ beliefs.

The changes have been so effective that people have started accepting all religions and cultures like Hinduism, Buddhism etc. All it has resulted in is giving an ambiguous picture of the protocols of each religion that was instantiated at the inception of those religions. Conflict of interests is one aspect that has stood out as an important side product of cultural syncretism. (Boyd & Richerson 1985) The differences in cultural patterns have given both a positive as well as a negative impact on how those conflicts are approached for solving.

An example of conflicts could be the status of women during the periods of war as they played both the roles of hostilities as well as decision-makers. While it gave women a feel of strength and power, it also took away their freedom and cultural traits. (Juang 2008) The resistances shown towards the Western culture in India and China were even more eclectic. As the resistance of the countries drew strength from its core traditional people, the Western people gained in roads in syncing their culture with the host.

The social and economic status of the people changed dramatically as a result of it. One of the major legacies was the ethnic difference that crept inside the people of India. A sense of oppression blew into the minds of the minor group –the Muslims and a revolt within the struggle against the West started in the Indian communities. Free trade policies adopted by the West changed the manner of Chinese and increased their resistance towards sustaining their culture and beliefs. References Boyd, R.

, and Richerson, P., (1985), Culture and the Evolutionary Process, Chicago: Un. Of Chicago Press Juang, R. (2008). Africa and the Americas: culture, politics, and history: a multidisciplinary encyclopedia. Los Angeles: ABC-CLIO.