Race, Religion and Culture
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YO-ELEVEN-11
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seattlegal said:
The fact that "race" is used so much to determine other things (like in a criminal investigations), IMHO I feel that it may not be a passive factor in this process. Although it can be put on the back burner when "culture" is introduced to the process. The fact that most (NOT ALL) people tend to naturally mirgrate toward their race when doing or practicing intimate things like their beliefs. It is not a big deal, but it can be a useful tool in looking into ones choice patterns in life. Your observation is sound and very logical, but how can race be a passive in this situation?
Vajradhara
One of Many
Namaste all,
modern anthropology is no longer using the term "race" for classification purposes. the term now is "ethnicity" and, in my view, is a more appropriate term to use as, i think someone already pointed out, we are all part of the human race
i think that the evidence is pretty clear that a being can and often is greatly influenced by the cultural millieu in which they were raised. that said, we see plenty of examples of beings accepting religious views which are not part of their normative culture, to wit; western hemisphere beings accepting the Buddha Dharma.
my own view is that the garden of humanity is beautified by the abundent blooms of the various world religions and the myraid ways in which they arise.
metta,
~v
modern anthropology is no longer using the term "race" for classification purposes. the term now is "ethnicity" and, in my view, is a more appropriate term to use as, i think someone already pointed out, we are all part of the human race
i think that the evidence is pretty clear that a being can and often is greatly influenced by the cultural millieu in which they were raised. that said, we see plenty of examples of beings accepting religious views which are not part of their normative culture, to wit; western hemisphere beings accepting the Buddha Dharma.
my own view is that the garden of humanity is beautified by the abundent blooms of the various world religions and the myraid ways in which they arise.
metta,
~v
Anecdotal thought to add to the mix....what color/culture is your church?
Mine is just about 50/50 white/black ratio, we do have maybe 2-5% hispanic...and maybe about 10% of the ethnic blacks are from the islands.
They've arrived from a variety of previous denominations, classes, less than 1% were raised in Unity...the majority came from a more fundamental backround...the minority from a non-religious youth or recent years and are returning to be more spiritual..
Mine is just about 50/50 white/black ratio, we do have maybe 2-5% hispanic...and maybe about 10% of the ethnic blacks are from the islands.
They've arrived from a variety of previous denominations, classes, less than 1% were raised in Unity...the majority came from a more fundamental backround...the minority from a non-religious youth or recent years and are returning to be more spiritual..
seattlegal
Mercuræn Buddhist
Just as I said in my post:YO-ELEVEN-11 said:
We are the ones who choose to make a big deal out of race. If you put two toddlers of different races together to play, the race factor is not an issue. It only becomes an issue if we make it into an issue. Toddlers don't seem to make an issue out of it.seattlegal said:
T
Tao_Equus
Guest
flowperson said:This blurring of the boundaries of race and culture is, I believe, pretty specific to economic class. That is, at present rice farmers in Laos can't, for the most part, surf the net after a hard day in the paddy and jet off on three day weekends to attend revelries in Bangkok. Most people in the third world and in the lower economic classes in developed countries simply do not have the resources to participate in the dreams that America and Western Europe have been exporting for the past fifty years or so.
In fact there is abundant evidence that the gap between people with the economic advantages to do such things and the poor is widening apace. This is a very troubling thing for dream exporters to deal with, and I believe that's why we're seeing the redoubling of efforts at economic development in areas such as Africa, especially in the sub-Saharan region.
So, aside from the obvious limitations of genetic, environmental, and familial programming, there is simply not enough wealth available to anticipate that the dream of a coffee-colored-skinned world speaking regional forms of English to each other might come true in the near future. But I believe that It could happen in a few hundred years or so if certain governments don't inadvertantly foul our world beyond its ability to heal and sustain itself.
flow....
I think you hit the nail on the head here Flow. Race, or ethnicity, has a lot less to do with ones upbringing and eventual mindset than the socio-economic group to which you are born. India with its still vibrant Caste system would be a good example, all Indians, to the outside world sharing a single culture. Yet the closer you look the more the nuances jump out at you. The same is true here where I live. Millionaires with their Porshe's living side by side with those on life-long social support, speaking different diallects and culturaly far removed from each other. And despite their proximity to each other never inter-reacting. However I disagree that "there is simply not enough wealth available", we are abundantly wealthy as a whole, it's grossly unfair distribution thats the problem.
David
YO-ELEVEN-11
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wil said:
wow..nice church...There need to be more church's like that.
China Cat Sunflower
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wil said:
What's the ratio of men to women Wil?
Chris
inhumility
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Since all Revealed Religions are guidance for man, the created one, from One God the Creator; and in origin are true, race and culture have no bearing on it. Race, country and culture are for man for easy recognition.YO-ELEVEN-11 said:
Thanks
In service I'd say about 55-60% women...in classes about 80% women, at retreats about 70% women...In the youth program 0-18 about 70% male (at kids middle school or high school retreats...the split is real close to 50/50)... I'd say average age in service has to be around 50..smallest age group represented would be 18-30...
Virtual_Cliff
Well-Known Member
There seems to be an implication in this question that the choice of religion is purely an individual option. As such it is framed in the context of the prevailing materialistic / individualistic culture of modern Westernised nations.
This approach can give rise to a purely superficial and ineffectual take on religion. The full power of a religion can only be experienced when it is manifested through the spirit of a community or nation. For example, it is almost impossible to separate the Jewish faith from its people and its culture. We Christians have much to learn from Jews and Muslims in terms of the internalisation of the faith into every aspect of our individual and communal life.
This approach can give rise to a purely superficial and ineffectual take on religion. The full power of a religion can only be experienced when it is manifested through the spirit of a community or nation. For example, it is almost impossible to separate the Jewish faith from its people and its culture. We Christians have much to learn from Jews and Muslims in terms of the internalisation of the faith into every aspect of our individual and communal life.
lunamoth
Episcopalian
Virtual_Cliff said:
VC! So good to see you here.
luna
queenofsheba
Well-Known Member
In my opinion, there was a strong relation between ethnicity, language and religion in the past, but today that relation is much vaguer. Religious borders are often different from ethnical are linguistic borders, because of all kind of historical events.
YO-ELEVEN-11
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Virtual_Cliff said:
Good point.
YO-ELEVEN-11
Watcher
queenofsheba said:
Also a good point.
By the way Nice pic.
RubySera_Martin
Well-Known Member
My problem with responding to this question is that race and culture are thrown together as though race and culture automatically went together. Maybe they do in some cases but definitely not in all cases. I can probably count on one hand the people I encountered of different skin colour (race?) from myself in my first twenty-thirty years of life.
However, I was born into a minority culture. For our tiny geographical area (possibly a ten mile radius) it was the majority status but for the province in general it was a strict minority. I would guess the only reason Ottawa knew about us was because of the stink we kicked up whenever they passed a law that we didn't like on the grounds of religious belief.
I'm white Caucasian, mostly of German descent, lived in North America for close to three centuries, blazed trails in more than one geographical area, and think of this as home. Close to 150 years ago, due to the religious up-heaval in Protestant North America, my ancestors saw fit to set a distinct boundary between themselves and "the world."
Thus, I grew up in horse and buggy culture in Ontario during the latter half of the 20th century. We accomplished what most scholars would say is impossible. A distinct culture living in regular single-family farmsteads or homes in the midst of a very different culture. We would claim that we didn't change all that much but the rest of society definitely did. I have not yet fully exhausted my research on that claim but I have seen enough in my lifetime to know there is some truth to it.
By the time I came onto the scene in the mid-1950s we were a very distinct culture. And we retained it. We did set up our own church-operated school system in the mid-1960s.
However, a sister community still attends public schools and they retain their culture very well. The culture is so strong that the school where many of those children attend puts them into separate classrooms. All of us are pure white, mostly of German descent. We have our own language, but use the same economic and legal system as our next-door neighbours.
The tie that binds all of us together across time and geography is religion. After several centuries of in-breeding there is also family galore. But religion and culture is stronger than family and our communities are scattered throughout the US and Canada. The specific community into which we (us conservative Mennonites) are born definitely determines the form of the religion we are most likely to practice--black car, rubber tire, steel rim, or other. Those are local nics for the various groups based on type of transportation i.e. black cars, rubber-tire buggies, or buggies with steel rim wheels.
However, I was born into a minority culture. For our tiny geographical area (possibly a ten mile radius) it was the majority status but for the province in general it was a strict minority. I would guess the only reason Ottawa knew about us was because of the stink we kicked up whenever they passed a law that we didn't like on the grounds of religious belief.
I'm white Caucasian, mostly of German descent, lived in North America for close to three centuries, blazed trails in more than one geographical area, and think of this as home. Close to 150 years ago, due to the religious up-heaval in Protestant North America, my ancestors saw fit to set a distinct boundary between themselves and "the world."
Thus, I grew up in horse and buggy culture in Ontario during the latter half of the 20th century. We accomplished what most scholars would say is impossible. A distinct culture living in regular single-family farmsteads or homes in the midst of a very different culture. We would claim that we didn't change all that much but the rest of society definitely did. I have not yet fully exhausted my research on that claim but I have seen enough in my lifetime to know there is some truth to it.
By the time I came onto the scene in the mid-1950s we were a very distinct culture. And we retained it. We did set up our own church-operated school system in the mid-1960s.
However, a sister community still attends public schools and they retain their culture very well. The culture is so strong that the school where many of those children attend puts them into separate classrooms. All of us are pure white, mostly of German descent. We have our own language, but use the same economic and legal system as our next-door neighbours.
The tie that binds all of us together across time and geography is religion. After several centuries of in-breeding there is also family galore. But religion and culture is stronger than family and our communities are scattered throughout the US and Canada. The specific community into which we (us conservative Mennonites) are born definitely determines the form of the religion we are most likely to practice--black car, rubber tire, steel rim, or other. Those are local nics for the various groups based on type of transportation i.e. black cars, rubber-tire buggies, or buggies with steel rim wheels.