Culture and religion have always been closely interlinked subjects since the very beginning of human history. It can be often observed by analyzing different religious and cultural values that they are deeply integrated with each other. Many communities around the world build their lifestyles according to the dominant religion in their region. These people tend to form their views based on complicated topics such as the meaning of life, death, birth, and marriage.
Moreover, many also build their views on representatives of other cultures and religions using their own ones. Therefore, there is indisputable evidence that religion forms one’s culture and, as a result, their habits, traditions, and even views on followers of other religious teachings and cultures. This can be seen by looking at the three main religions present on Earth today – Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
Christianity originated around two thousand years ago in modern-day Israel, with Jerusalem considered to be its cradle. It remains the world’s largest religion, with around 2.3 billion followers worldwide (Hacket & McClendon, 2017). By looking at the history of the countries practicing this religion, their cultures are developed under the heavy influence of the church. European art is the key evidence of how religion can influence an entire culture.
Many renaissance artists based their works on biblical plots, such as da Vinci’s The Last Supper (1495-98), depicting the last meeting of Jesus Christ and his apostles. This shows that Christian people of the past formed their culture, views, and traditions based on their religion (Pasipoularides, 2019). Furthermore, even modern-day Christians tend to mix the religion and culture of their life. For instance, whenever a new president gets elected in the U.S.A., they swear on the Bible during the inauguration process. In addition, many Christians follow biblical rules by attending services and controlling their diets during the periods of Lent. Therefore, even today, Christianity influences the cultural behavior of its followers, forming their traditions and habits.
The Muslim faith is even further integrated into the lives of its followers. This religion is one the youngest among the three. Islam is the youngest of the three religions, originating at the beginning of the 7th century CE. It is based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, which is seen as the only true version of the revelation of God by its followers. Even though followers of the Muslim faith tend to separate Islam from the Islamic culture, it is almost certain that one cannot exist without the other. Islamic culture, just like its European counterpart, consists of its own literature and art (Islam, 2019).
Moreover, many Muslims form their perception of other religions based on the principles of their own. This is particularly true in the Muslim-majority countries where people believe that disciples of other religions will not be allowed into heaven and that covering others is their religious duty (Sardar et al., 2019). Overall, it can be seen that the Muslim faith also has an enormous impact on its followers, forming their lifestyles, tradition, and deception of other religions.
Buddhism, unlike the other two religions, is not an Abrahamic religion. Its teachings and concepts are completely different from the other two. There are around half a billion Buddhists around the globe who practice different variations of this religion. It is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, who is believed to be the first man who broke out of the Samsara. Despite its enormous difference from the Abrahamic religions, Buddhism’s influence on the life of its followers is also gigantic.
The end goal of the religion is to end the cycle of rebirth and reach nirvana. Buddhism has a unique phenomenon called karma, which categorizes anything a person does during their lifetime into good and bad deeds. A Buddhist who dies with good karma is believed to achieve nirvana. The karmic system, therefore, is deeply integrated into the minds of those who follow it. It is believed by many Buddhists that any wrongdoing in their life may come later and have certain consequences in their life or after the next rebirth. Such a perception of karma formed the Buddhist culture their traditions and behavior.
In conclusion, it can be observed that religion and culture are two closely integrated topics. Religion always forms people’s perception of the world around them and, thus, creates a unique culture for every religious society. Most of the todays’ European traditions, festivals, and art would not exist without Christianity. The same way as most of the Muslim people would not be trying to live according to the Five Pillars of Islam if Islam was never created or had a different interpretation.
Buddhists would not try to keep their karma clean in order to break out of the Samsara. Therefore, it can be easily said that religion formed many cultures around the world. Throughout the history of humanity, religion was integrated into cultures of entire societies, and most of the things for religious people remain unchanged even today. The one cannot simply exist without the other.
References
Hackett, C., & McClendon, D. (2017). Christians remain world’s largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe. Pew Research Center.
Islam, M. H. (2019). Islam and civilization (Analysis study on the history of civilization in Islam). Al-Insyiroh: Jurnal Studi Keislaman, 5(1), pp. 22-39.
Pasipoularides, A. (2019). Emulating Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519): Convergence of science and art in biomedical research and practice. Cardiovascular Research., 115(14), e181-183. Web.
Sardar, Z., Serra, J., & Jordan, S. (2019)., Religion and culture. In Muslim societies in postnormal times: Foresights for trends, emerging issues and scenarios. (pp. 73-79). International Institute of Islamic Thought.