Religion and Worldview

Yesterday's class discussion about how religion can play a role in just about everything people do and how they perceive themselves and the world around them was an interesting topic for everyone, it seemed. The question of whether people choose to be members of a certain group due to how they feel and believe or end up feeling and believing a certain way because of the group to which they belong is something I think about a lot in terms of religion. This also enters into the domain of political and social views. When eighteen-year-olds go to vote for the first time, do they even know why they are choosing a certain candidate? When someone who has been raised as a member of the Catholic Church is in the middle of his wedding ceremony, does he even know why he chose that venue? Can parents come up with valid reasoning why their teens shouldn't be having sex before marriage, and can teens come up with a valid argument for why this is permissible?

One of the biggest uncertainties I have is how to know whether someone has made a logical decision as to how to conduct himself or take his place in society. Those who leave one religion and join another have probably (hopefully) thought about it. Those who choose not to identify with any certain group until they have made up their mind have probably thought about it, too. But what about those who grew up certain way and maintain the beliefs with which they were raised? Did they think about changing, and decide to stay? Or did they never question anything about it? It's hard to tell whether those who have spent their whole life as subscribers to a certain school of thought, set of religious views, or political party have made a decision for themselves or are products of their environment.

No matter how you examine an individual or a group, there are traces of societal influence all around. There is nothing anybody can do to stop it; it's just how the world works. If we allow it, even Facebook determines part of our day! The new design allows the system to randomly choose which "friends" are visible on our "news feed." As an individual who does not identify with any organized religion, I do not believe that religion influences my worldview or daily life. But I will not deny that NOT belonging to an organized group of religious believers influences how I live my life and perceive the world around me.

So how does this fit into International Communication? My point is to say that indigenization happens all the time, on an individual, community, and all sorts of broader levels. So instead of thinking about who does what the right way, or in a strange way, we should all just realize that things will be perceived, interpreted, responded to, and acted upon in different ways. We are all humans, and we all have motives for our actions. I feel no need to compete with the views, beliefs, or ideals of any other individual or group, because I have my own and I like it that way.