Interplay among religion, community and culture

Community is essentially formed by a group of people who share common activities or beliefs based on their mutual affect, loyalty. and personal concerns. Participation in religious institutions is one of the most dominant community engagements world wide. Religious institutions are widely known for creating a sense of community by offering various material and social supports for individual followers. In addition, the role that religious organisations play in communal conflicts is also crucial. As religion deals with the ultimate matters of life, the difference among different religious beliefs are virtually impossible to settle. although direct causal relationship between religion and violence is not well supported , religion is, nevertheless, commonly accepted as a potential escalating in conflicts.

Currently, religions conflicts are on the rise and they are typically more violent, long lasting, and difficult to resolve. in such cases, local religious organisations, places facilitating collective actions in the community are extremely vital, as they can either preach peace or stir up hatred and violence. the peace impact of local religious institutions has been largely witnessed in India and Indonesia where conflicts are solved at the local level before developing into communal violence. while religion affects cultures, it itself is also affected by culture as religion is an essential layer of culture. For example, the growth of individualism in the latter half of the 20th century has been coincident with the decline in the authority of Judeo-Christian institutional and the emergence of "parachurches" and more personal forms of prayer. However, this decline in the authority of religious institutions in modernized society has not reduced the important role of religion and spirituality as one of the main sources of calm when facing painful experiences such as death, suffering and loss. when cultural specifications such as individualism and collectivism , have been attributed to religion, the proposed definitions and functions of religion overlap with definitions of culture. For example, researchers often combine religious identification (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc). With cultural dimensions like individualism/ collectivism to understand and compare cultural differences. Such combinations for comparison and analytical purposes demonstrate how religion and religious identification in particular are often relegated to a micro level variable, when in fact the true relationship between an individual's religion and culture is inseparable



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