Welcome to the second part of my multi part essay exploring a few ideas on the parallels between Western society and religion. There is a previous essay which will also be linked on my essays page. Before I get started, I think I should define exactly what I’m talking about when I use the word ‘tenets’.
“a principle, belief, or doctrine generally held to be true; especially : one held in common by members of an organization, movement, or profession” – (http://www.merriam-webster.com/)
A few examples of the sort of thing I’m talking about are “transubstantiation”, “free market economics”,“virgin birth”,”the right to trial by jury”,”reincarnation” and ”freedom of speech”.
In both religion and society, the tenets of the system need to be accepted for a person to really take part properly. An inability to accept these tenets can be met with broadly similar consequences in both systems, a degree of ostracism with consequences for social standing. In religion, you might do penance and in society it can cause problems for your career.
The actual tenets themselves seem to be largely defined by a central authority, in religion this is usually a senior priesthood or charismatic founder, in society politicians and celebrities with the judiciary refining things as they go. The tenets of a religion are broadcast from the pulpit, while the tenets of a society are broadcast and reinforced by the mainstream media. Of course, people will reinforce the tenets among themselves to a degree as this is our group identity.
As I said earlier, acceptance of the tenets is required, but people being people the exact details can get a little fuzzy from place to place. The tenets can have local variances and you might also find that certain things aren’t accepted in some areas that are in others. A great example from the religious camp is the whole business of homosexual clergy in Anglicanism. It’s accepted in some places in the USA, but not in Africa. From the societal end of things, I can point out differences in approaches to banking and capitalism between the US and Europe. Europe seems more unionised and also has a better approach to work/life balance than the US. In addition to this, both systems have a spectrum of adherence from literal fundamentalists right through to liberals with a very flexible approach.
A final observation I want to make is that the tenets do evolve slowly, the Zeitgeist moves on, always changing gradually. Admittedly sometimes there is a bit of kicking and screaming along the way (women priests for example), but changes do happen over time. Despite the view that certain things are “built on a rock”, the rock itself does shift and change slowly.
OK, I’ll wrap this part up now as I feel that I’ve said everything I have to say on the tenets. I hope I’ll be able to have the next part ready in 7 days time.
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The bookshelf image is by Babblingdweeb and is licensed under by-nc-nd.
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