Religion, Identity & Resistance

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Religion & Identity

When Max Weber wondered about the creation of Protestant Identity he looked toward cultural practices as the source and enforces of codes of behaviour, philosophy, moral code and practices that enforce the notion of what it means to be protestant. Religion is a cultural construct. Modern religions practised the world over influence the society that it spans - codes of ethical and moral individual behaviour are based on its tenets with religion becoming the standard that the individual, who seeks to be a part of the religious group consciously practices. Take for instance the Jewish practice of doing only what is 'kosher' from choice of food to choice of action and reaction if placed in certain situations. A 'good Jew' does only what is acceptably kosher with the definition of kosher defining what is acceptable and what is not. Thus, societies and nations defined by a particular religious majority would often find certain elements of said religion reflected in the country's laws and legal code thus governing the way of life of the country's citizens making religion and social legalities symbiotic (i.e. Thailand's Constitution adheres to Buddhist Principles, Iran's Constitution follows the Islamic Code, the Philippines' Constitution is deeply influenced by Catholic Morality). How then does this enforce identity? Once more let's go back to the idea that Weber proposed - that religion is a tool of identity construction. A Protestant who wishes to become 'good' follows the teachings of the Church and the Bible. He does this because he accepts the tenets of the religion. When he prays he practices what Michel Foucault calls 'Technologies of the Self' - practices that are always repeated almost as in a ritual thus ...