The Cultural Clash of a Wedding between a Catholic Priest and a Female Buddhist - Essay Example

Culture plays an important role in every society especially when it comes to religion and gender roles. This aspect has had a major impact on how various people from cultural backgrounds and different gender go about their duties within the society. Ingram states that some cultures and religious doctrines are to a certain degree non-conforming therefore, a major cultural clash can occur in the event of the interaction of the two religious setups that may profess extreme doctrines (6). This is especially so when it involves the incorporation of gender as each religious doctrine associate men and women with specific gender roles.

The main aim of this essay is to discuss two distinct cultures and identify the cultural clash that may arise when a wedding between a female Buddhist and Catholic father take place. Religious and cultural doctrines under the Roman Catholic Church Believed to be the earliest Christian Church, the Catholic Church like any other Christian Church, believes in creation and life after death. The church practices a number of doctrines that place women at a certain level within the society. Worshipping I the dioceses and parishes, the Catholic hopefuls, men and women included, partake of the mass and to a certain degree, confine their religious teachings within the Bible.

The worshippers believe in trinity and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and they confirm this by baptism and partaking of the Holy Sacrament. Most worshippers believe in religious symbols of Jesus and Mary as a way of connecting to God. When it comes to gender and sexuality issues, the Catholic Church is especially restrictive to women holding positions of power like the papacy and fatherhood. In addition, men who have devoted their lives to Christ ought not to marry (Ingram 22). Religious and cultural doctrines in Buddhism Unlike their Christian counterparts, the Buddhists believe in the Three Jewels, often referred to as the Three Refugees.

The Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, and the Four Reminders, talk about human life and the essence of his existence although some of the details contained therein may significantly differ with Christian beliefs (Ingram 24). When it comes to gender roles, there is perception that women ought to be equal to men although there are certain discrepancies. The monks and nuns ordain the nuns while only the monks ordain themselves. According to the Buddhist philosophy, enlightenment of a person can elevate their social status irrespective of their gender, a perception that has infiltrated several Buddhist cultures through western modernization (Ingram 36).

The clash between the Roman Catholic and the Buddhist culture Although there are some elements of resemblance between the Buddhist and Catholic belief systems, significant inconsistencies surface across the across the cultural divide of the two cultures. According to Ingram, certain similarities do exist especially pertaining to the exclusive importance accorded to life without due regard to the specific gender. These include the right to life, refraining from sexual misconduct, practice of high morals, and the belief in a supernatural being, which has spiritual reign over all that inhabit the earth (26).

However, there are notable differences between the two cultures that may lead to a scenario of a cultural clash, in case circumstances force the two cultures to interact (Ingram 32). The major one being that generally, Buddhists are polytheists while the Christian Catholics are monotheists. While Christians follow one Almighty God, most Buddhists have specific gods for certain incidences of life, for example the god of life, the god of marriage, and the god of the skies. Christians do believe in the good old story of creation of mankind and life after death while to the Buddhists, it is a bit twisted in that they do not regard the story of creation while at the same time ignoring what happens after life on earth as