One of the greatest questions in modern humanities is the relationship between religion and culture. It’s difficult, but very tempting to fully uncover all aspects of their interactions.
One of the most important things a researcher must consider when trying to answer this question is determining the correlation between these two concepts. Does one depend on the other? The whole set of beliefs can be divided into two groups depending on which answer is chosen. The opinion of the first group boils down to the fact that religion is a product of man, it grows entirely out of his life. It is very common to hear that “religion was created by an underdeveloped ancient man to explain something inexplicable.” You’re right, having these guidelines might help reassure people. Although, this is only one of the functionsi t performs. Religion has a number of other uses in society– it’s not just a means to explain the world. After centuries, millennia of passing time since the days of “ancient man” … religion is still relevant for someone who has not been afraid to explore their spirituality lately. They even try to control nature. In today’s world, more and more people are aware of what they believe. They will not put the blame for everything on God when we don’t understand it. Instead, they use their faith to keep moving forward. And in their faith, God is still an important figure but not someone they turn to when they need an answer.However, the idea that culture came before religion is still quite the popular opinion.
Opponents of this theory believe culture is “rooted in the soil of faith”, according to Robert N. Bellah and his colleagues. They argue that culture ultimately starts from a more deep rooted part of religion.In this case, a different logic is operated: the basis of any culture is a certain worldview position that grows out of religion and is supported by it. In other words, specificity is what drives the economy, culture, development of nature etc. All areas of life are governed and determined by religion. It is no coincidence that views on religion have changed so little throughout the course of history. Such understanding not only reveals numerous confirmations of it in cultural history, but also helps to explain the general relevance and importance of religion to people regardless of their time or country. In this light, it is easy to see that the need for religion does not weaken with the progress of human civilization and as such religion cannot be made dependent on civilized development. Quite the opposite, in a world that is constantly changing, humanity can find renewed hope in religion. Civilizational changes do not always lead to religious changes but you cannot deny how vulnerable human beings can be to new beliefs. Religion has been a major factor in culture; religion is the foundation, which is why people are proud of the achievements of culture. It’s because they’re initially shown by religion. There are various points of view one can take on the relationship between religion and culture. We are not here to discuss those, rather we want to look at something else. With the topic of religion, it’s difficult to escape its involvement in human life. In this section, we will investigate some aspects of how religion has impacted culture today in various forms.
Culture in its truest sense, acts as a way to improve not only the world but also oneself. Art is culture at its most pure, and can bring many benefits to those who take to viewing or consuming them. Culture invites a person to use knowledge, experience, methods, mechanisms and institutions. It does this by instilling a sense of what is “correct” in order to get closer to an ideal. You’ll find various interpretations of ideals in any culture, each claiming to be the one and only genuine version. For example, in moral culture the ideal is conscience, in artistic culture it’s beauty and so on. Science even sometimes dreams of discovering an objective truth – so there are lots of different concepts for this. There is a struggle in many cultures between these ideals: Authorities disregard the law of conscience, and scientific truth veers away from the truth discovered by aesthetics.
The variety of a person, the inconsistency of his desires, or views is reflected in the variability that is found in worlds of culture. Cultural diversity is more than just an interesting quirk, it’s an essential aspect of validity in culture. How we manifest our thoughts and needs is always changing, which means human needs never run out. But even with the same limitations, culture would still not be able to satisfy the human need for the Absolute and Eternal if religion did not exist.
Religion is often evaluated in a cultural context and in terms of its moral values or the effects on art or production. Although it is generally easier to distinguish between religion and science, religion and art, and religion and politics, in recent centuries the view that has come to predominate is one that confuses ethics with religion – this is the legacy of the Enlightenment. Religion often implies morals one needs to follow and would commonly be implemented in these cases.
There are many sides to religion, from an outside perspective and from the inside. The external side is apparent and can be observed by anyone, but for those who also believe in it spiritually, there is also a deeper level that becomes available with living according to spiritual and moral principles.
Religion is set up to provide a meeting with the divine and everything related to it.
The concept of culture is similar to that of religion in many aspects. Both concepts speak of the need to strive for perfection and spirituality, or perhaps the positive developments that a person may have undergone throughout their life. But the question is worth asking – what is this really going to provide? From a socio-cultural point of view, the answer is easy – it will ultimately satisfy needs. A highly developed society cannot live off other people’s exploitation and misery. That’s why, when it comes to the meaning of life and broader issues that transcend our mortal existence, religion is an essential element in helping us find meaningful guidance.