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• Well, welcome back, MOJO.

  Posted by Jimmyjazz at 7:47 PM GMT 05/05/2011 Report Abuse

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• I think there is a major misconception in Mauritius (and other conriutes as well) about Culture & Religion Religion is a system of faith/belief & worship of a controlling power, which is usually superhuman. So the religions in Mauritius are divided into Hindu, Christian, Catholic, Buddhist etc Culture is formed up of the knowledge we acquire as we grow up in a certain social group. Our attitude, behavior, customs, philosophy, lifestyle, & tradition all make up our culture. When we are born and raised in Mauritius, we are all the products of the Mauritian Culture. Some of us adopt a more e2€˜sophisticated culturee2€™ while others prefer a e2€˜practical culturee2€™ and theree2€™s even a bunch who mix their religion and their culture to get e2€˜religious culturee2€™. However, it is indisputable that both religion and culture affect each other with different degrees of influence. How much religion affects culture, or vice versa, is actually down to the person concerned. It is subjective. If people really want to put religion in front and say it is the way of life, then we should essentially be living within the real rules & regulations of religion, which date back to the creation of each respective religion. We should forgo modernity, science & technology to live in the same conditions that those people lived in when religions were invented. When religion was invented, it only took into consideration the material things, the history & culture that existed then. It did not make itself adaptable to the changes that would occur with the several scientific discoveries, cultural revolutions & industrial revolutions that came later. Therefore, religion is not something that we can adapt to the way we progress. Religion is written in a book and has specific laws and regulations which we cannot change. If we could change those, then we would essentially be creating new religions. I believe that religion is actually derived from the cultures that existed in those early days, and it came about so as to put strict rules & regulations in order to create a system for people to live e2€˜bye2€™. I personally think religion was invented for some people to have control over others, and maybe it was also invented to try and keep peace, but the result is that it created more wars and divisions. I also think that the best way to make people follow something, which is not natural, is to make them fear it. So, by using deities, demons combined with supernatural & superhuman behaviors, the various religions have managed to establish a fear in people and consequently pushed them to respect their religion, as if they did not abide by the rules & regulations, they would be punished or sent to hell, etc Anyway, religion affects the conscience of the one who believes in it. Culture is enough for someone to assess what is good or bad, but culture is very diverse and it is adaptable with other aspects of life (technology, science, lifestyle etc..). Therefore the degrees of goodness and badness vary across different cultures and across different eras. Religion on the other hand is written in a book, it is like the legal system of a country is contained in a book, therefore, it is easier to use religion to tell someone they are being good or bad, as there is always the book to prove it. Marriage is mainly part of culture, and religion actually only occupies a small role during the ceremony (the prayers/odes uttered by a e2€˜man of gode2€™ during the wedding ceremony). After that, marriage is about & between a wife and husband. Religion has no role then, but culture, society and the legal system are the watchdogs of the marriage.Anyway, I personally think religion has become obsolete, it has no real use anymore. The legal system & politics are doing the same job as religion did years ago. I think religion can only bring moral support for some people; it does not in any way prevent people from doing bad things and it is not influence people to do good deeds. It is just there because some people are comfortable with it and it has been there for so long now that it has become like a routine.

  Posted by Jayz at 8:09 AM GMT 19/11/2012 Report Abuse

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