Walden University Week 2 Searching Cultures Finding Uncommon Commonalities Discussion
To prepare for this Discussion:
Review this week’s assigned readings in the course texts.
Select one indigenous group from the reading and review the cultural elements of that group.
Compare a thought, belief, or ritual that you practice in your own culture to a thought, belief, or ritual in an indigenous culture.
Consider how comparing aspects of two different cultures can be problematic or useful.
With these thoughts in mind:
By Day 3
Post one paragraph that describes your comparison of a thought, belief, or ritual in your own community with that from an indigenous culture. In a second paragraph, discuss the challenges in comparing thoughts, beliefs, or rituals from two communities in this way. Explain how this comparison might be useful.
Thread 3
A ritual from your own culture and a ritual from an indigenous culture.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to the week’s Learning Resources, or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
By Day 5
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ postings that contain a perspective other than yours.
Explain how your colleagues’ perspectives do either of the following:
Align with or complement your perspective.
Contrast with or are in opposition to your perspective.
POST 1
A thought from your own culture and thought from an indigenous culture:
Culture is the term of social behaviors and norms that are found within human societies, each culture will have different types of norms and behaviors in which will be developed over time. As the Tiwi culture is different on many different levels compared to my very own culture, I have many thoughts in mind. One thought that really stuck out from the indigenous culture was their beliefs on marriage. Traditional Tiwi culture mandates that all women must be married (Peters-Golden, H.P. (2012). Now in my culture, it is not required for women to get married, although if you are unmarried in my culture, you may be asked why you are not married yet it is not looked at as a necessity. In the past this the culture required every female to be always married, there was no concept of an unmarried female, ever (Peter-Golden, H. P. (2012). As someone who comes from a a culture that does not require me to be married I find that this belief that the Tiwi live-by would be a challenge.
References: Peters-Golden, H. P. (2012). Culture sketches: Case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
POST 2
As directed this week, I did take a moment to reflect on one of my culture’s beliefs/ rituals. As a Latina in my family, Catholic religion is the base and with that every year is Lent. For 46 days this practice is recognized and during this time no meat is consumed on Ash Wednesday or Fridays. Fasting is also practiced on these days as well, though for some this is not followed. When considering my cultures practice of Lent there are many contrasts to the Vegetarian Festival in Thailand. While their practice may be 9 days, there are rituals that here in this country would not be deemed holy, but most likely considered self-mutilating practices.
The challenge when looking at the two is a basic understanding, just as Lent may be a foreign concept to them and not seem reasonable, the same can be said when initially observing their Festival. Between our two countries are differences in what our culture deems acceptable practices which would limit theirs if they were to try to display it here. This day and age we have what has been labeled as “cancel culture” which would no doubt be in full swing should the display of piercing one’s cheek with a foreign object be displayed. In addition to not being willing to openly observe without aversion is the limits of our understanding of the fluidity of a belief. Taoism is not hard to understand, for a good read on the basics there is ‘The Tao of Pooh’ by Benjamin Hoff, through his words we can understand that Taoism is simply to be and not to over think, which is again where there would be a struggle. Every culture has their methods of purification through devotion, for us here in America the issue is whether or not we can turn off our criticism and turn on appreciation instead.
“The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard - one that thinks too much.” Benjamin Hoff
References:
Cohen, E. (2012). The Vegetarian Festival and the city pillar: The appropriation of a Chinese religious custom for a cult of the Thai civic religion. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 10(1), 1–21.
Hoff, B. (1982). The Tao of Pooh. New York: E.P. Dutton
