Exploring the boundaries between religion and culture

Introduction

People have very different ideas about what counts as religion or spirituality. Some might even think of other people’s religions as superstition.

The following questions would make perfect sense to people in some religions but seem utterly bizarre to others. You might like to consider whether you would answer them positively or negatively.

• Do you eat fish every Friday?
• If you visit a religious building, do you cover your head?
• Do you pray when you are anxious?
• Do you wear religious symbols as jewellery?
• Do you say thank you for the food you eat?
• Do you say thank you to the food you eat?
• If bad things happen do you wonder who is to blame?
• Do you think that ‘acts of God’ should be insured against?
• Do you hope to see deceased relatives or friends in an afterlife?
• Do you hope to be reincarnated as a happier person?
• Do you think that good dogs go to heaven?
• When you can’t find something, do you ask a saint to help you find it?
• Do you talk quietly in religious buildings?
• Do you achieve mindfulness every day?

Some of the questions are about ideas and practices that are more historically rooted. Some are officially encouraged. Others are less official but still important to many people. Some may have originated in different religions but make good sense to people who blend them in their own lives. It is also true that doing one or more of them might not make you religious.

This free course, Exploring the boundaries between religion and culture, engages with questions about the relationship between religion and culture. Are they different things or synonyms that emphasise different ways of looking at the same phenomena? The course uses ‘either/or or both/and’ to point to those possibilities for understanding how religion and culture relate to each other. In the next section, a short film enables you to engage with the views and experiences of some cultural performers and invites you to reflect on the issues they raise. Next you’ll explore two sections about an ecological activist and musician. People’s motivations for engaging in activism are many and various but, for some at least, they include what might be called spirituality – and are certainly expressed in cultural activities such as musical performances. ‘Either/or’ questions are often asked when people are not sure what the reasons are for doing particular things: ‘is it religion or is it culture?’ You’ll consider some examples, including in relation to the foods some religious people eat or avoid. The course concludes with some thoughts about how messy reality is, and you’ll be asked to discuss aspects of religion and culture that might cast new light on these issues.

Interested in taking your learning further? You might find it helpful to explore the Open University’s Religious Studies courses and qualifications [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .