Essay Example on the Crucial Role of Faith in Culture

Introduction

Throughout history, the most crucial aspect of culture is the view. Religion can be said to be the product of people's ideas. Beliefs also promote the inheritance and development of civilization. It is worth noting that there is no culture without faith since they play a vital role in the culture. The embodiment of knowledge in literature should be in the perception formed by a view in a region or country, and the tangible exhibition of faith in family culture. The religious beliefs of Christianity have also gradually influenced many people and their world views and also promoted the formation of Western culture. The Christian religion is a culture that has long been formed by people who believe in Christianity and constitutes the main body of Christian civilization. In the development of about two thousand years, this cultural form has established its unique theological structure and cultural and artistic style. In this article, it will illuminate the role of beliefs in culture as well as the impacts that come along with ideas in the western countries. Besides, the relationship between Christianity and opinions will be brought to light as well as show how Christian faith is the key to the development of Western culture. In the end, you will realize how inseparable belief and culture are. "It is clear that religion and culture cannot be separated." (Beyers 1)

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Belief is the hypothesis that something is right or exist. From the time immemorial in Western culture, assumptions have been there in every community and depend broadly from one country to another. Through views, society can define its culture and also the development the culture brings. Beliefs determine the direction culture of a specific community or country takes. Aspects such as Christianity, Buddhism, Islamic and gender equality determine how a society seriously and permanently adopts its culture. Belief is a spiritual, and every living thing experiences it. Ideas can either be in agreement with the society standards or be opposite of the societal norms meaning they can be religious beliefs or personal beliefs. Either way, we all believe in something. Thus, views gives humans the power to either create good or evil since they guide our mind.

Culture is the norm passed from one generation to another that is followed to ensure uniformity in society. "Where shared knowledge, beliefs, attitude and artifacts exist within a group, we have a culture." (Grill 1). Fundamentally culture makes communication conceivable, feeds us to enhance our interactions in the community. Since perception is common, it is what improves the possibility of "we." It describes a man on his own but together with the rest since the society shares it. It is not timely because it transfers from one peer group to another. Western culture is a comprehensive term used to explain the customs, social and traditional standards and beliefs. Religion can be shared among the communities where a person is going to participate in more than one culture. Western culture first originated from ancient Greeks since they were the first to build western civilization. Western culture refers to a combination of ideas, social norms, ethical values, and traditional standards. It includes different components that will help to define a culture of any community in the Western world:

• Capitalism: This is an economy where a few dominant companies or individuals control vital sectors that affect our lives. Since the emergence of capitalism in the Western Economies and culture, it has ignited various concerns on its effects in the community at large. It encourages the urge for hard work and desire to work since the economy is very competitive. The disadvantage is that in a capitalist economy, there is an unfair distribution of resources. The disadvantage is as a result of lack of competition in the modern culture as compared to the ancient culture. "Capitalism without competition is not capitalism." (Jonathan and Denise, 1)
• Individualism: Individualism is the principle of self-reliance and social theory that approves freedom of action for individuals in a state or community set- up. A good number of countries practicing individualism is France, Australia, and Canada. Individualism advocates selfishness where "I" is more important than "we." States and communities exercising individuality capitalize on a belief that wants of a person are essential than those of the society at large. This context is mostly associated with egoism
• Scientific thinking: Scientific thinking is a culture adopted by some of the Western countries. It is defined as analytical thinking on science content that involves reasoning, induction and deduction, hypothesis testing. It first originated from Greece. One thing to note about science is that it is deeply rooted in religion and culture. The degree of scientific thinking depends on the culture causal in which society is supposed to experience it. The western world has been leading in a technological and scientific discipline from ages ago. To name but a few, west invented steam power to be used in factories. It also developed communication devices such as telephone, telegraph, and radio.
• Christianity: Religion is one of the most significant constituents of Western culture that has been adopted throughout history. With the expansion of Christianity from Europe to other countries like Mesopotamia, Asia, and Egypt it enhanced Christianity culture in communities and was embraced well. Almost the whole of Western culture encompasses the Christian religion as the main. Throughout history, Christianity has had a significant influence on other components such as science, music, and art in such a way that they are now Christian Science, Christian music and Christian literature. Christianity advocates for human rights and doing the right thing. The prevailing belief in Christianity is that there only exists one God and that God created all living things.

The Relationship between Christian Belief and Western World Culture

Western world culture and Christianity closely interrelate to each other. It is clear that both Christianity and religion cannot be separated. A considerable part of the population of western cultures is practicing Christianity apart from a small percentage like India practice Buddhism and others in the Islamic religion. In the most recent years, there has been a remarkable defection from the church and observance of Sabbath day which is the seventh day of the week. Thus these results indicate the degeneration of Christianity power. It has a less powerful influence on western culture as compared to a few years ago. Partly, the defection from modern western civilization from the church is due to covetousness. Individuals are very busy making money such that they forget about their spirituality. In most cases, Universities are some of the places. Therefore, the primary cause of this defection is the intellectual sphere.

Throughout Christianity history, the church has been able to provide social service in Western society like medical care in schooling. Besides, the church is a prominent player in society politics and religion. The importance of Christianity in Western culture cannot be ignored. It is the past and also in the present brought great social change.

Despite its dominant role in Western culture as the twentieth century approached, the Christianity belief started and is still undergoing secularization. Secularization as a collective and chronological process has three interrelated trends; the fall of Christianity believes in the contemporary culture, denationalization of religion and the diversification of secular scopes such as state, economy, and science. Christianity is partly criticized in modern society due to the lack of women involved in the churches as compared to men. A good example is the Catholic where women are not allowed to be priests. Also, Christianity is always facing critics because of colonialism. Catholicism and Protestantism were the religions associated with European colonial powers during colonialism since then the missionaries were acting as agents of colonialists. Thus, in some cultures, Christianity is not embraced.

Secularization has affected Christianity but not by a large percentage. Secularization is the declining spiritual power. The first incident was the detachment of the Christians from the fate of the Jewish people after Jerusalem was destroyed. Also, arrogance has led to several squads among the Christian community in western culture. Very disastrous concerns arose in the west where it added the ambitions of the papacy to exercise power over all organizations of supremacy. The modern lifestyle is a great force. It affects everyone regardless including the ignorant, the learned and all classes of culture.

The Role of Beliefs in the Culture

Beliefs in culture are expected to promote discipline across all cultures irrespective. With religion beliefs, individuals in society struggle to behave well. Putting selfish interest aside is one of the primary objectives of the religious, and thus culture is encouraged to be selfless. In any society, the value of solving problems and dealing with situations without hurting others is discipline. "Religion teaches that the man's love and service to God will be real only if he loves and serves humankind"(" Religion and its role in the society 5"). Thus it helps in understanding the people you deal with and treating them well because we cannot be the same. Also, when discipline is instilled at the individual and group level managing the society becomes easy, and therefore there is a balance between meeting individual needs and those of the community.

Belief in culture stimulates social cohesion in western civilization. Through going to church and worshiping together, individuals and community at large are brought together by this common goal. Also, the worship bonds the worshippers like a family leading to cohesion. Apart from worship, the primary purpose of religion is to bring people together, devotion and eat together. Through this belief, achieving unity becomes unavoidable. Religious beliefs integrate people into religiously shared values such as the Ten Commandments in Christianity and Judaism. Thus combining people and cultures results in social cohesion. "Not only the belief in one God put but the belief in a creator God binds together Abrahamic faiths." (Langermann 4)

Religious believes controls cases like suicide in society. In western civilization, the majority of the population with religious beliefs are strappingly opposed to death or murder which religiously is a sin. When dealing with Individuals in the society who in the past have tried suicide or homicide, clinicians can use the views in counseling the patients. Also, the clinicians can refer them to psychologists or religious professionals for further counseling. Therefore the rates of suicidal cases in the society tend to lower and have decreased in the 21st century.

Beliefs ultimately play a psychological role in preserving stability in western world culture. For example when in trouble most people pray but when safe, a few do during birth or death religious ceremonies are conducted to Religion. People come together and pray in these functions. "We find that there are different essential occasions such as birth, marriage, death and in all these activities religious rites were performed." ("Religion and its role in the society 3"). Therefore, it is very beneficial for individuals since it creates stability. During crisis and times of trouble, beliefs are of great help since they neutralize the situation and hence promote stability among individuals and society at large.