The Relationship Between Religion and Community - Essay Sample

Introduction

Religion is a scenario of demonstrating faithful piety to a recognized ultimate deity or reality. In other words, it is the service of adoration to God or other supernatural powers. Religion involves devotion or commitment to religious observance or faith. In other societies, religion is perceived as the personal set or established systems of religious beliefs, attitudes, and practices. A community, on the other hand, refers to the group of people existing in a specific place following certain customs or habits which may include religion. In most cases, religion is attached to the beliefs in supernatural beings such as God or gods; it also relates to morality which refers to what is wrong or right. In some instances, community and religion can be used to mean the same thing. Religion can be used to classify people so they can be treated differently. For instance, believers in some religious denominations may have been treated inappropriately in the past by the majority. Therefore, in some other instances, the government may decide to provide help to followers of the above religions. The government often perceive the followers of a given religion as a community, therefore, to them, religious believers exist in a community. The paper discusses the relationship between the religion and the community and the effects that globalization has on this relationship.

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Religion and Cultural Root

Every society across the world has a dominant culture that has strong religious roots. For instance, Canada had an overriding Judeo-Christian ethos before the rise of secularism; however, the advent of the charter in the year 1982 facilitated the secularization of Canadian communities (Richman 22). In secular societies, communities often tend to move away from religious practices and adopt the social practices that are not attached to the supernatural beings. Religion is a basic part of human dignity; to many people, it is more than a lifestyle choice. In the communities, religion forms a deeper part of what the people are. Religion has a closer link with the community as it dictates the moral virtues that are essential in the coexistence of every human being. In other words, the relationship between religion and the community can be best perceived in societal practices. Every community wants to ensure a moral society where people live in harmony; religion is therefore important for communities who want to achieve the highest level of morality. Religious communities often promote ethical and law-abiding behaviors in their adherents (Richman 31). In most cases, religious advocates attempt to respect the authority and obey the laws formulated in a community. Therefore, within the members of the community, religion fosters moral self-government.

Religion and community often exist in a close relationship. Together with the ethics and aesthetics, religion constitutes culture which is the major determinant of the community. In most cases, as ethnicity become part of the related concepts, its relationship with religion requires an explanation. While studying religion, the examination of communal practices is essential. Religion can be used as a communal or cultural identity (Richman 29). The position of the religion within the communal culture makes it acts as the custodian of the values that are essential to every community. The above scenario often results in a situation where any sign of acrimony towards culture is construed as opposition towards the religion. Therefore, while studying religion, understanding of the communal practices and ethnical backgrounds is important. While discussing processes and terms in religious studies religion and culture constantly appear as the major concepts. In most cases, anthropology, religion, culture, reconciliation, and ethnography often become central issues while trying to understand a given community.

Before the advent of modern society, most of the communities were defined by their faith. There were Muslims, Christians, Judaism, and Buddhism, all these religions were formulated following communal practices that believers adhered to. When studying ethnicity and culture, the arguments are often built around three major points including religion as a cultural identity marker, cultural migrations, and the position of the religion within a culture (O'Brien 21). The above scenario, therefore, means that there is a strong relationship between communal practices, ethnicity, and culture. Religion arises from the cultural practices and the beliefs of the people which are common practices in every community. In most cases, belonging part of religion means belonging to a particular community or culture. Therefore, there is a crude generalization that believing in a given cultural practice means belonging in a particular religion. Consequently, it is clear that religion and communal practices are inseparable. Some religions such as Islam maintains that their religious practices cannot be perceived in the context of cultural or communal practices (O'Brien 21). They claim that the essence of their faith is religious. As a result, many adherents may agree to the above scenario, however, it is not possible to deny that religion is a cultural expression.

A community incorporates different ideas, customs, and social behaviors which in other words, forms a culture. Besides, all the above values are also evident in religious practices. Therefore, community and religion should be perceived as relatives. The above scenario hence has implications on how to engage in the study of religion. If religion is perceived as the element of culture, studying religion should be regarded as an ethnographic and an anthropological exercise. Religion is practiced by the people from the communities, it is, therefore, a reflection of ideas and practices of the people. However, religion is involved in the achievement of a moral society; therefore, it can be viewed as an attempt by the members of the community to bring out the positive aspects of the society (O'Brien 26). In other words, religion is a collection of ideas from the community whose aim is to ensure sanity. The relationship between religion and the community is an old and still an ongoing debate.

Impact of Globalization in Religion's

Link to the Community

Increased globalization has weakened the link between religion and communities. In other, words, globalization has come with secularism which has interfered with the beliefs of many people towards religious activities. Globalization comes with a culture of pluralism whereby there are overlapping interest and distinctive ethics. With the globalization, people cannot align their communal beliefs with religious perspectives. Increased globalization has led to an increase in the emergence of cultural practices. With the integration of the communities, the cultural values which aid the formulation of religions to disappear, a situation that leads to a broken link between the religion and the community. When there is a reduced connection between the community and the religious practices, people tend to focus secularism because they do not have any foundation to base their philosophical views about religion.

Globalization has led to the enlightening of various members of communities. As a result, people do not see the connection between the community and religious practices. In other words, people perceive morality as an individual practice that does not require beliefs in supernatural power. Religious institutions are the sources of numerous humanitarian works within the communities. The above scenario, therefore, means that there is a close relationship between religion and the communities. From the above statement, religious adherence is accommodated and valued, the benefits that religion brings to the communities are well-behaved citizens that contribute to the moral state of the society. If the religious adherence can get denigrated, marginalized, and if it is shut out from the public, communities will lose the benefits often brought by the religious values and also face a backlash from the religious adherents. Globalization throws people together in the intensive forms of activities and this is so powerful because people are capable of making free choices (Riley n.p).

The increase in globalization has weakened the link between religion and the community and as a result, there is the need to rethink or change the study of religion. With the integration of different cultures as brought about by the religion, there is the need to redefine what the societal values are and how they can be transformed to suit the current social system. Since religion solely depends on the cultural values and customs, globalization creates confusion since the world is becoming an integrated place where there are common cultures (O'Brien 17). Religion too should undergo transformation to ensure that it does not only depend on the specific cultural values raised from certain communities but it should reflect the general customs and cultural values that come in a globalized world. For instance, the teachings on Islam should reflect the modern practices that are considered relevant in modern culture (O'Brien 17). There is also the need to ignore the traditional Islamic values if religious leaders want to maintain the continued links between the community and religion.

Works Cited

O'Brien, John. Keeping It Halal: The Everyday Lives of Muslim American Teenage Boys. , 2017. Internet resource.

Richman, Paula, ed. Many Ramayanas: the diversity of a narrative tradition in South Asia. Univ of California Press, 1991.

Riley, Naomi Schaefer. 'Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America. Oxford University Press, 2013.