Examine the influence of religion
on cultural order in 250 words
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Religion and culture seem like complex ideas to study from the perspective of International Relations. After all, scholars and philosophers have long debated the meaning of these terms and the impact they have had on our comprehension of the social world around us. So is it an impossibly complicated task to study religion and culture at the global level? Fortunately, the answer is ‘no’, for we can recognise and respect complexity without being confused about what we mean by each term
Religion and culture always exist in a close relation. Together with aesthetics and ethics, religion constitutes culture. As ethnicity becomes part of the related concepts, the relation with religion needs explanation. This article wants to emphasise that when studying religion, a study of culture is necessary. This statement is argued from three positions: (1) cultural migrations occurring worldwide, (2) religion as cultural identity marker causing the borders between culture and religion to blur and (3) the location of religion within culture causing religion to act as custodian of culture. This results in a situation where any signs of animosity towards culture are interpreted as opposition towards religion. All three arguments necessitate studying ethnicity when studying religion.
Studying religion is an ambiguous task. With some uncertainty as to what exactly constitutes religion (cf. Braun 2000:4; Schilderman 2014:176), there may be uncertainty as to what ought to be studied and how to study it. What is clear is where to search for forms of religion. Mulder (1985:35) indicates that studying religion implies religion as an expression of human culture. Religion is, thus, expressed and clothed in cultural guise. Comprehending religion then implies studying human culture. The reciprocal interaction between culture and religion must be recognised: religion is determined by culture, but religion also influences culture. The fate of religion and culture is, thus, interwoven.
The definition of what religion is, however, still remains outstanding. The problem with defining religion is according to Braun (2000:4) that there are too many meanings and the meanings are too indeterminate to be of value. The purpose of this conversation is however not to attempt a discussion on the problem of defining religion. James Cox (2010:3-7) provides direction on this matter by suggesting that studying the groups of definitions has more value than studying the definitions themselves. For the sake of this study, a sociological understanding as to what constitutes religion is followed.
When religion is studied as being part of the Cultural Sciences (cf. Figl 2003:36), requiring an anthropological approach,1 where culture refers to the totality of human existence in the world,2 it can easily happen that the concept of religion is absorbed in the concept of culture. Rosalind Hackett (2005:144) confirms the difficulty of indicating boundaries between religion and culture because of the fact that religion and anthropology share in many social and cultural theories.
The opposite relation between culture and religion is also possible: religion in opposition to culture (religion as anti-culture). Even when religion is part of culture, it is possible to differentiate religion from a worldview governing a cultural community. The conclusion Johann Figl (2003:36) comes to is that whatever the relation between culture and religion is, either absorbed or in opposition, it still remains identifiable what constitutes religion. There are many elements considered part of religion which are connected to cultural elements (i.e. politics, science, art and literature). Figl (2003:36) suggests that a Western understanding of religion is especially prone to understand religion as determined by culture. In the end, the intertwined relation of religion and culture cannot be denied or ignored (Figl 2003:37).
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Answer:
Examine the influence of religion on cultural order.
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