When I tell people here that Culture is the antecedent of religion they don't believe me: how do the get here

Question

To get here you have to navigate to Society & Culture > Religion & Spirituality. That is because Culture is the antecedent of religion. If you are born in Pakistan, you are Moslem. If you are born in India you are Hindu. Christian are born into Christian countries. It is not very complicated. Watch for the "Yes....but Jesus said," answers.

Answer 1

There is some truth in what you say, but it is so much more complicated than that. In India alone, there are Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and others, as well as Hindus. Many people would turn your formulation around, and say that India, for example, has the culture it does because it is primarily Hindu. And certainly a nation like Iran, Libya or Indonesia take much of its culture from its Muslim identity. It's not easy to sort out causes and effects.

Answer 2

I disagree. What about atheists or agnostics? "Culture" is too broad a concept to compare so directly to religion. There was the "counter-culture" of the 60s and we now also talk of the "office culture". Certainly, there is no "office religion", consequently, 'antecedent' is too strong a term.

Also consider the possibility that religion is the antecedent of culture. For example, Jewish people in the US are often associated with certain foods, like smoked salmon, rye bread, and bagels, while much of this association is because many American Jews are from Eastern European cultures.

Finally, the US is a pluralistic society and has its own culture, unique from that of the UK or France. However, the US does not have a national religion, and is not moving towards one. Indians are not all Hindus--many are Christians, Muslims, and other religions.

Answer 3

To a large extent you are correct, though there are exceptions to those rules. While India is largely Hindu (80%), there are significant minorities of Muslims and Christians. The same is true in Christian countries in South America.

What is interesting to see is that in places that practice true religious freedom you see greater variety, even though historically that place may have been one particular thing in the past.

Others like Christopher Dawson, John Paul II and the present pope would argue that culture is the antecedent of religion. They look at Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Israel as examples where their literature, art, and the like are all influenced by religion. The same could be said of other cultures as well.

I think it's a little bit of both. Religion influences culture, while culture also influences religion. It's a symbiotic relationship.

Answer 4

Helenist pagans exist. and that i do no longer think of that the theory of God between the "Peoples of the e book" would be going away each time quickly. Greece become a place that have been given rolled over in a number of wars. Judaism/Christianity/Islam are extra dispersed interior the international, and function a much broader inhabitants base. observe that methodical destruction of the Jewish peoples become insuffiicient to "get all of them." Christianity and Islam boast even extra beneficial numbers. Many Greek rites and rituals have been secretive and misplaced. this custom is way less extensive with the present "Abrahamic" faiths. little or no of Greek mythology and non secular prepare become written. there have been some texts, yet this pales while in comparison with the written works (holy, inspiratioanl, contemplative, and interpretational) works that we discover between the important religions that have survived to the tips age. Nah, that's unlike faith is a "section" that society "grows" out of. that's a mindframe by making use of which persons view the international. as long as human beings exist, concepts on how actuality is commonly used will perform, even ones in step with beings that no-one can fairly pin down.

Answer 5

Sorry, but you are wrong!
You do not have to navigate to Society & Culture > Religion & Spirituality to get here!
I am in the general section, and I am viewing questions from ALL the different sections.
Jesus said!
lol

Answer 6

that is a very good observation.

Culture is actually an important factor in the sread of Christianity from biblical times. The church didn´t defeat cultures but incorporated them and made them whole. Soon the Church encompassed Greece, inheriting the use of logic in religion (theology), then Rome, inheriting the hiearchical structure....

In the Americas, the immage of "Our Lady of Guadalupe" is also a good example. The Indigenous of Mexico already worshipped a veiled godess, "the Lady Sanke" who trampled on the snake. It was the Virgin Mary whom they adopted as the same godess, unmasked, as though they worhipped her in anticipation. The immage also uses very clear Indigenous symbolism, which revealed to them that the Lady is pregnant, and her future son is, in their concept, the center of all existence.

So successful religious conversions incorporated cultures, and made them whole.

Today, the Church is truly universal. In Mexico we read the same scriptures every day as they do in America, China, Hungary, the same religious mentality and view of life can be recognised in each culture, with different variations.

It was a lack of cultural understanding that lead to the schizm with the Orthodox Church. Back then translators were not as available as today, suspicions grew, agreements were signed without proper translation,even clothing was very different.. untill an event finally happened that started the schizm.

The rise of Christian missionary groups in America can be criticised in their lack of understanding of the cultures in which they work, imposing a Western materialistic and individualistic view of life.

Answer 7

Yes, but Jesus said, don't believe what read on the internet. I'm pretty sure that was in Luke somewhere. And Moses said, Thou shalt not believeth what you readeth in Yahoo! Answers. Jesus was a lot stricter than Moses, except about eating pork.

Answer 8

You are not of a certain religion just because of your birth place, there are christians in Pakistan, and India as well as Muslims in almost every country of the world. (even your "Christian" countries.

Answer 9

It's the other way around, religion sets the basis for mores, morality, and conscience. How we interact with others stems from our religious beliefs (politics). What we believe of others and ourselves is culture. The grouping of certain beliefs is society.

Answer 10

Wrong , no culture has ever given birth to a christian. It is God that gives birth to christians through Jesus. All glory & honor is His. Amen!