Does following religion a of a different civilization makes one culturally different from his own civilization?
Not necessarily, though i know where you’re coming from. Many religions attempt to articulate universal truths but in their own language. If there’s no organic connection between your faith and your culture, you may fail to achieve the authenticity which those who have cultural continuity between the two have. Consequently, whereas you might get somewhere, you might also become more alienated than adopting a different cultural practice as such. An example of what i mean: neo-Pagans use rites of passage such as handfastings or funerals. However, these rites would either seek to include people for whom they don’t feel sincere or exclude them. This removes them from the community of their birth but it may not provide an alternative cohesive community because of a certain lack of seriousness and rigor.
….. A culture is inherited in your blood while your religion may be inherited or my not be. For example though the religion of Muslims of Punjab [India], Kerala [India] and Bangladesh is one i.e.Islam but the language they speak is Punjabi, Malyalam and Bangla which was inherited through the ages and even some customs are inherited. Therefore a person living nearby you may share cultural affinity with you yet he will be following quite different religion. ….
