by Sapphire Magpie Ravenclaw

Created on: September 20, 2011

All around the world, there is a plethora of different religions and different cultures. It is not an absolute necessity for them to be linked. A healthy, moral society can exist without religion. However, religions, for billions of people all over the world, form the basis of their culture. It is also possible for people to share the same cultural beliefs but not religious ones and, more rarely, vice versa.

Morals exist without the need for religion to dictate them but there are certain aspects of some cultures which are either directly or indirectly linked to the teachings of the particular religion in a given area.

In order to explore the links between culture and religion, it is first important to consider the differences. Religion tends to be based on stories of creation and a higher being to whom all should praise. This may form a basis for a culture within a society. However, a culture is one of laws, customs and morals. Religion may influence culture but culture includes all of life rather than the single part that is religion.

Basically religion is a belief in something while culture is the way we practice the teachings and assimilate them into our daily lives. Culture can exist without religion. Morals, ethics and common sense were all around before religion.

While many modern cultures have been based on the teachings of certain religions, many of the tenets of different religions will have been based on cultural ideas which existed before religion. An example of this being the rules regarding foods within religions. If a religion grew up in an area where the ground was less fertile, there may be fewer examples of forbidden foods than in those religions which grew up in more fertile areas. This then forms a link between culture and religion because the doctrine of the religion has been based on culture which has grown from natural needs.

A major link in Western society is that many laws in Britain, America and Europe, have been formed using Christianity as the basis for what is right and wrong. Of course, this does not mean that those who do not practice the Christian religion will not adhere to the laws of society.

Essentially, the links between culture and religion in the modern age are that both religious and cultural beliefs have been cultivated side by side for so long that each now has some influence on the other.

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