How does one incorporate their ancestral culture into their life despite a conflict of religion?

Question

I am a Christian and I enjoy learning about my Indian culture and ancestry. I'm wondering how I can embrace my heritage and culture without denouncing my faith in Jesus Christ. There are many festivals and events that I would like to be apart of (just for the experience), but most of them are contrary to my Christian beliefs. So what is one to do?

By "Indian" I mean the country, India...as well as Bangladesh.

Answer 1

The early Christians of the Bible had this same problem.

God solved it by reminding them that all foods were now "clean to eat" even if they were devoted to some other god of some other religion or some other temple.

It wasn't the food that was the issue, it was the heart of the individual.

This concept can be taken up a level, but don't get all carried away. By taking it up a level, I am talking about going out and observing the culture and the festivals, but remaining secure in the belief that God and Jesus are the ones you believe and worship.

This does not mean taking part in things contrary to Christian teachings. Do not worship or pray to the gods or idols that may be worshipped or prayed to in that culture, for example. God said that no gods should be placed before Him. If you violate this you have sinned. Think of the rules and regulations of the other god or idol too. They probably have similar rules that you would be violating.

Do not participate in any rites and rituals that dedicate you to any other gods or entities. Again, there is only one God, and you know who that is. If you participate in a pledging ceremony of some sort, then your are either gulity of having gods other than the true God, or you are guilty of a lie. You have appeared to pledge, but "didn't really".

Those are some of the contradictory things to avoid.

Answer 2

I think you can "go through the motions" without holding it to your heart. I think it is fabulous when people want to investigate their ancestral culture. I am a Christian too and I am Norwegian. Most everything conflicts between the two. I went there to see my familys ancestral village in 2000. They had a celebration on the day of the summer solstice w/ bonfires and such. I knew this was a pagan ritual but I just "went through the motions" and didn't take it to heart.

Answer 3

In India and Bangladesh religion never prevented people from following their culture. Women in both countries wear saries mostly.People speak Bengali, Bihari and Sindhi as mother tongue,write a script that is similar to Devanagari,look down upon bigamy and divorce,like fish in food,tolerate other faiths,work hard and treat women as equals .
You are a part of this cultural unity.

Answer 4

View things on a cultural level and do not worry about the religious significance of the event...I am A Southerner in the US and everyone around me is Christian but I am not...I just join in to the events and do not worry about the significance of things like Christmas, Easter, etc...

Answer 5

I guess you are in the wrong Christian denomination, if it would be intolerant in your participation in your culture events, and heritage. Christianity should be tolerant and welcoming.
I was confirmed in the Christian faith, but I no longer consider myself a true Christian, but rather an Agnostic who believes in God. My husband's culture and upbringing was a mix between Muslim and Communist, and as time goes on, he seems to want to spend a bit of time on Muslim things. Probably I'll go to a mosque with him one day for a service. I don't really feel this is wrong, as they would welcome me as long as I observed the proper respectful protocol for women. It's not going to turn me into a Muslim. We were married in a dual Christian Muslim ceremony. I don't feel conflicted.
Your beliefs are personal and I would never advise you to do anything to violate them. It soulds like the festivals are mostly for fun and for social reasons. You can pray to God from anywhere. Just use your own words, prayers and thoughts, and be respectful when you are in any place of worship.
I hope it works out for you.

Answer 6

Are you referring to Indian or Native American culture? I don't have a problem with my ancestry and beliefs but that's because I'm a Celtic mutt and follow the reconstructed religion of my ancestors.

Answer 7

Are they cultural festivals, or religious festivals? A cultural festival with religious overtones is fine, but you probably feel uncomfortable with a festival celebrating a god you know isn't your God.

My wife and I are followers of Christ, and we love going to Indian festivals, we just don't bow down in any way to their gods.

Godspeed.

Answer 8

Let us put it this way, if you ever come to India or Bangladesh then you would find that there are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and so many other religious denominations practicing their own religious festivities, rituals, customs side-by-side their national or ethnical cultural rituals and festivities, without much problem.

However, there are a few countries where such tolerances are not visible. Take the example of India where Muslim rituals of slaughtering sacrificial animals (cow) are officially banned as well as publicly ridiculed. Similar sentiment goes for slaughtering pigs in any Muslim populated country, they are not allowed to do this act openly, and in some counties pork is banned.

Apart from such contentious issues, it is to be noted that if you truly believe that you need to dig out your ancestral culture for assimilating it in your lifestyle then you would get one after another smaller setbacks coming on your way, that is not necessarily laced by religious divisions, those you may either adapt with enthusiasm and zeal or may abhor them by saying that these are really uncultured traditions.

So, in my view it is the person or case-by-case how one can cope with the diversified culture of ancestors with the culture in which he/she has been brought up.

By the way, there are some major differences between Indian culture and Bangladeshi culture. Undivided Bengal was partitioned by the British rulers in 1905 into West Bengal under India with Calcutta-Kolkata as its capital who are having majority Bengali speaking Hindus, and Muslim populated Bangladesh where almost 98% of the population speaks Bengali (Bangla language), and we are an independent country. The culture of Indian Bengali speaking Hindus and Bangladeshi Bengali speaking Muslims are not 100% the same. Within India there are more than 17 recognized languages and wildly different cultures practiced from one corner to another.

Let us have specific items of your concern and see if we can address them case-by-case. Congratulations for coming out of ambiguity and glorifying my homeland Bangladesh in the USA.

The following may be of use to you:

The word culture has many different meanings. For some it refers to an appreciation of good literature, music, art, and food. However, for anthropologists and other behavioral scientists, culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns. Culture and society are not the same thing. While cultures are complexes of learned behavior patterns and perceptions, societies are groups of interacting organisms. People are not the only animals that have societies. Schools of fish, flocks of birds, and hives of bees are societies. In the case of humans, however, societies are groups of people who directly or indirectly interact with each other. People in human societies also generally perceive that their society is distinct from other societies in terms of shared traditions and expectations.

While human societies and cultures are not the same thing, they are inextricably connected because culture is created and transmitted to others in a society. Cultures are not the product of lone individuals. They are the continuously evolving products of people interacting with each other. Cultural patterns such as language and politics make no sense except in terms of the interaction of people. If you were the only human on earth, there would be no need for language or government.

Culture of Bangladesh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The culture of Bangladesh has a unique history, dating back more than 2500 years ago. The land, the rivers and the lives of the common people formed a rich heritage with marked differences from neighboring regions. It has evolved over the centuries, and encompasses the cultural diversity of several social groups of Bangladesh.

The culture of Bangladesh is composite, and over centuries has assimilated influences of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Islam. It is manifested in various forms, including music, dance and drama; art and craft; folklores and folktales; languages and literature, philosophy and religion, festivals and celebrations, as also in a distinct cuisine and culinary tradition.

Answer 9

I found my Indian friend who simply refused to go for 'Holi' celebrations because it was hindu, just plain sad. Shes a fundie, of course. Anyway, that really didnt answer your question. But its up to you, of course. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing.

Answer 10

Whichever one is more important to you.

I think that Jesus would understand and want you to learn about you heritage. If it is important to you then you should go for it, nothing is better than learning, especially if it's about yourself.