Opinion

Your culture is
your identity
In the present time, if you ask someone that what the definition of culture is, then he will fall in dilemma and it will be so hard for him like over eating. The pathetic matter is; even we know nothing about civilization. Now we have facebook, twitter, yahoo, Gmail, Google earth, Wikipedia and encyclopedia, do they carry what the practical culture and civilization are? They try to give you a definition from third mention but the reality is so deep. Actually, I am not going against science and technology, I am about defining your deeds.
We know that religion and culture are not similar, religion is our faith and culture is something observing different festival, civilization is in the pages of history. By the way, we are going to practice a culture what unknown to us. Actually, cultural practices come through civilization. Culture is what we are doing and civilization is what we have. According to Cambridge dictionary “Culture is the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people. Now we always try to think through materialistic approach but we cannot go out of our faith. Most of our cultural practice related with faith.
In our food, dress up, fashion, arts, recreation even life hood, willingly or unwillingly we follow a culture but do not know which is us and which is not. To the name of modern, we are going to forget our own culture. It is our bad luck that we are patronizing other’s culture when we have a enlighten culture. Our civilization is angry with us for betraying with him. Already I have referred that every culture has a relation with a faith that may materialistic or idealistic. Materialistic concept also has a faith, if he says there has no God that also is his belief, because it also has no document about inexistence of God.
“Religion” is an English word. In bangle, it refers the word “dharma”. Dharma means what we do and what becomes open through our activities by a belief. Peter Mandeville and Paul James define religion as “a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence and in which communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontology of time, space, embodiment and knowing”. If we do good or bad that proves our religion is good or bad. It also proves that religion is not only belief but also deed, culture is also same here and they both are bosom friend. Actually, our culture verifies that which our religion is. If you follow other’s culture then it means you are following other’s religion. However, it does not make any matter to us but it is very complicated with our faith and religion. You are going to lose your own culture it means you are going to lose your own faith and betray with your civilization who had given you your own identity.
In the time of science and technology, we are going to replace our own culture and civilization through other’s rituals. We take those as step of development but those are carrying a black part for our community in future. Actually, we should take science and technology through our own culture and faith but we are doing against it. We are destroying our own identity. According to the evidence of history, if we go ahead with misguidance and without identity, then we will lose our path before reach in final destination. We should know and follow our own culture for gaining our own identity.
Farhan Khan
World Religion, University of Dhaka