Religious Identity: Morality, Social Structure, and Dualism

Religion and the adoption of religious beliefs is often seen as a distinct part of an individual and of society by extension, separate and detached from all other aspects of life. In the globalized world consisting of many cultures, it is commonly believed that religious and spiritual practices are a very private and compartmentalized aspect of one’s life. In multicultural environments, especially in professional, industrial, and academic settings, religion is typically not acknowledged, and ends up fading into the background of modern social life. This is a natural outcome in the era of globalization and the ambiguous cultural boundaries associated with it, however, this fact should not be misleading to the integral role that religion plays in identity. Identity in Anthropology is viewed as a complex concept, that can take on both personal and collective dimensions. Many aspects of identity are not inherently existent/primordial but are culturally characterized and constructed and fluctuate in different socio-cultural conditions in time and space (Golubovic, 2011). Religion is still a prominent part of the lives of a large percentage of the human population, predicted by many experts to continue to prosper despite globalization phenomena (Billig, 1998). Therefore, there is a need for recognition and study of religion as a fundamental part of individual and collective identity, strongly associated with cultural and ethnic identities as well.