How Religion Relates to the Cultures - Case Study Example

Religion and Culture This is a study about religion and how it relates to the cultures of a given society. More specifically, it will answer the main study question, "how does religion shape as well as reflect the culture of the society it forms part?" the study will give a comprehensive look at this to portray a more vivid view of the same. Conceptually, culture is a complex topic. it is especially hard to define it. Based on this, many of academic disciplines have attempted to come up with their own definitions; for instance, sociology, anthropology, and philosophy alongside other social sciences. Despite the fact that there are many definitions, nobody can claim to have made a successful definition of this. It is seen to vary with the numerous societies and the social scientists trying to define it. One of the scholars who made a trial at defining culture is Havilland, William who said that it constitutes beliefs, values as well as perception of the globe which lie behind the behavior of people and which the same behavior reflects. Pohlong, in his book continues to argue that culture is determined by how complex a community is. That culture is not just a total of traits but the formation of an interlinked pattern. In this case, thus, culture depends on the arts which are highly connected to economic and religious values, and that as an insight of science, culture may reverse a given religious belief. (pohlong, 2004 pp1-5) It is speculated that early religion may have originated from Mesopotamia. In Mesopotamia, the early time painters of caves made paintings of animals on cave-walls, which have been interpreted as a sign of belief in animism magic. By drawing the animal, it was a belief that the animals painted would appear. In the same line of argument, if the animal was painted as speared, this meant success would be guaranteed in hunting. Neanderthal men used to burry their dead together with objects, so that these could be applied in their afterlife. Before mankind came in cities or even city-states, gods structures (like temples) were the order of the day in the landscape. In the ancient Mesopotamia, the way nature worked was divine forces determined. Thus, the numerous gods as well as goddesses with the inclusion of the four creator gods; the Abzu and Taimats forces who had originated from the waters primordial fracas, brought about by the four creator gods. the four gods in the descending order of their powers were An- sky-god, Enlil- who permitted raging storms or acted in giving man a hand, Nin- Khursag- goddess of Earth and lastly, Enki- the god of water as well as wisdom patron. These gods of Mesopotamia did not act on their own, but rather consulted with a 50- god assembly. These gods were the ones who bound persons together in their various social groups plus the provision of their survival means. In this spirit, Sumerians came up with festivals and stories to harness as well as make an explanation to help their habitats. (Gill N.S, 2010) To reflect the ancient Egyptian religion, most historians garner a collection of creatures which bore human bodies and animal heads. The culture of ancient Egypt has left countless materials like these figures portrayed in paintings as well as sculptures of two or three dimensions. The deities have associations and identities alike, which dominate the religious texts of Egypt in the nations recorded history. These form part of sophisticated and very complex religious beliefs. Based on these findings, it is thus a complex issue to determine a deity as a one thing god and another something elses god. However, putting that aside, of the complexity of deities there was a deep and divine concept which came about in the early phases of early Egyptian civilization. This developed further in to many doctrines on which, the early Egyptian religion would be reflected on for approximately three millenniums. (Shafer, et al 1991 p7) The various divisions of cultural and social life had a great impact on the growth of mythology in Greece as well as religion. The life of the Greek people was highly dependent upon religion as illustrated by the literature and the art of Greece. However, religion in Greece was to a great extent different from other peoples systems with regards to belief and that impacted on culture, Christianity and Judaism. This is since mythology in Greece gives no core information or even teaching which correspond to the new or the old testaments of the bible. Usually, there are differing versions relating to the same story, even if these variations are not in conflict with each other, they have proven hard to reconcile. The various Greek gods as well as goddesses often bring about confusion and contradict themselves. For example, Zeus was a god of justice and at the same time supervised the wrongdoers punishment. This majestic god was involved in numerous love affairs as well as seductions, though. The deities of Greece applied in many purposes, which differed with those of other religions in the west. None of the Greek gods represented supremacy in goodness, considering even Zeus. (Cunningham and Reich, 2009 pp32, 33) The roman religion relates highly to the many customs and rituals of religion, while later this gave way to the religion of Christianity which became the Rome’s state religion. There were various myths in Rome, which led to many deities. Later on, the concept of gods and goddesses set in the society of Romans. There were household cults and the belief by Romans was that various gods and goddesses had their own unique responsibilities. The religion of Rome was to a great deal dependent or influenced by the gods of Greece as well as goddesses. Besides the Greek influence, the Romans religion carried with it the various Latin tribes influence. Some of the names borrowed from Latin, have been retained in the roman religion and many deities from Greece have grown in popularity in Rome. The practices of religion by Romans were directly impacted by various religious beliefs of different cultures as the empire of Romans stretched outwards. The influences of religion by the foreign cultures became part of the culture of Romans and a system of assimilation emerged in this roman society. The Persian god Mithra was adopted and the goddess from Phoenicia penetrated into the roman religious system. The Christian cult later on took up the god Mithra. The religion of Romans also exhibited the worshipping of emperors. These were the likes of Emperor Julius Caesar who also was the first god to be rebelled against. (mapsofworld.com, 2008) In Islam, religion just forms part of the culture but not culture in entirety. in his book, Roy asks questions about the meaning of the term culture and whether it is larger than religion in then Islamic context. The idea of Islam and the Muslim culture, but if it refers to the religion of Islam, then it is not exhaustive. Various populations of Muslims do have commonalities like holidays and diets. These are basically tenets of beliefs and rituals, though they do not constitute culture by themselves. This is way beyond the religious rituals tenets as well as beliefs to particular ethnic or national cultures. Islam in this context forms a part of the whole, though it cannot be clearly distinguished. Thus, it is very hard to get a common ground for Islam as a culture outside the religious tenets. (Roy, 2004 p129) The expression Islam is taken to mean the submission to god and the holy book of Islam. Quran, says that the expression Islam means way of life. The followers of this religion are called Muslims. This religion is taken to be very old and those Arabs who later became Muslims used to worship many gods at first. There were at least 360 idols. it was prophet Mohammed who came to bring order, in accordance to the Islamic religion. Since Islam as religions is the Muslims way of life, thus, it affects their culture to a great deal. (mnsu.edu, 2009) Medieval Europe had religion as a very important factor in the society. More particularly, the Catholic Church was a major influence on the daily life and politics in Christendom. The European history of the middle ages was influenced by interactions amongst Christians, Muslims and Jews. Christianity also played a very big role in the philosophy of medieval Europe. The way of life of most of the people in medieval Europe had big variations in the middle ages and details about this may not be available for all the societies and in the various time periods of interest. More particularly, the religions in medieval Europe were the likes of paganism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. (Snell, M, 2010) Thus, in conclusion and after the study of various scenarios in the History of the world it can be seen that religion and culture go in tandem. Some of the cases considered are, the Islamic religion, Mesopotamia, Medieval Europe, and Egypt. This is to satisfy this fact in detail and with tangible examples in history. Therefore, it is clear that religion and culture intermarry in a way. Work Cited: Cunningham, L. S. and Reich, J. J. Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities. Cengage Learning, Edition 7, revised. (2009). pp32, 33. Gill N.S. Ancient Mesopotamia: Early Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. (2010). Retrieved 13 December 2010 http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/nemythology/a/mesopotamiarel.htm mapsofworld.com. Rome Religion. (2008). Retrieved 13 December 2010 http://www.mapsofworld.com/cities/italy/rome/religion.html. mnsu.edu. Religion of Islam. (2009). Retrieved 13 December 2010 http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/islam/history.html Pohlong, B. Culture and religion: a conceptual study. Mittal Publications. (2004). pp 1-5. Roy, O. Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. Edition 2, revised. (2004). p 129. Shafer, B.E.et al. Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice. Cornell University Press. Edition reprint, illustrated. (1991). p7. Snell, M. Life & Culture in Medieval Times. (2010). Retrieved 13 December 2010 http://historymedren.about.com/od/dailylifesociety/u/Life_and_Culture.htm Read More