Institutions
I believe that human beings are capable, and even have a need to behave in a certain prescribed manner in respect to their environment, experience, people, event, location, object, and/or activity depending on the importance or symbolism that they attach to the same. Whether it is their birthplace, parent, memory, child, workplace, or job, these places/things/experiences/activities are physically or symbolically accorded deep respect or veneration, because of their relevance to an individual or group of people, so much, so that they become sacred. Sacred refers to anything that needs to be revered because (in the traditions, experience, culture, beliefs and narratives of a religious, ethnic or other group of people) it is associated or symbolizes a deity, religion, holiness, or a duty to what an individual or group of people believe to be extremely important. It may refer to a place, object, activity or event that is valued as being holy or associated to what is holy. The sacred is variously understood to refer to something that is dedicated for the service of a deity or exclusively devoted for the purposes of serving a deity, or other thing, activity, event or experience that is considered deeply important. As such, there are sacred vestments, places, religious leaders, and activities.
There are also universally distributed forms of behaviour like asceticism, celibacy, pilgrimage and religiously driven practices of reclusion, seclusion and meditation that are understood as sacred. According to some books that I have read, my assertion that people have a deeply ingrained need to have something(s) that they consider sacred is confirmed. This is not least because even as the world has grown increasingly secular, people have still created their own sacred moments, events, places, activities and objects, whose lifestyle and rationality is safeguarded from the secular such as memorials, anniversaries, initiation ceremonies among others. This have the same significance to other people as is my own family and job.
I come from a tightly knit, multiracial family, with an Iranian mother and an American father, through whose eyes and perceptions of the world have been very influential to what I consider to be deeply important or sacred to my life, not necessarily in a religious sense. These things have largely assumed a religious significance in my own life. For instance, I do consider my family sacred, not only because marriage and family are sacred institutions according to some key religious faiths, but also because to me, they form a foundation and centre to my life so much so that I have accorded them a religious significance. I am completely devoted to my family
Differentiation between the Sacred and Ordinary
In order to understand sacred better, it is helpful to distinguish it from its antonyms i.e. the regular (profane and secular). This is distinction sets aside activities, places, events and objects that characterize daily routines in people’s lives from those that are meant as, or associated with, a duty and/or service to a deity. The emphasis is laid on the introspective understanding that detaches the regular social matrix of all human experience from what is thought to be sacred. In this way, it becomes possible for me to keep the notion of what is sacred separate from the cognitive and cultural processes that constrain my thought/action as well as from socially transmitted meaning systems.
I am able to set boundaries of what is sacred and everything else that does not meet the cut to be considered as sacred falls in the ordinary category. In many societies and cultures across the world, it is generally accepted or expected that all people respect the symbolism/meaning made by the sacred, whether they are familiar or ascribe to the specific region, belief, or ethnic community. This is also a helpful way to distinguish between the sacred and ordinary, because it forces people to be subject to what they or other people consider as sacred e.g. respecting other people’s religions and worship practices.
Difference or Similarity between Sacred and Holy
Holy refers to soothing that is worthy of absolute devotion because its outright righteousness or goodness. To me, holy means without moral blame, sin or blemish and it includes what is divine or ordained by God. Effectively, there is the holy Quran, bible, rosary and even holy people. There are many things that are associated to the divine or God that are also termed as holy by the religious, such as the holy month of Ramadan, but I personally hold the belief that these things are only sacred. This is not least because they do not necessarily meet the criteria for perfection or free from moral blemishes. As such, I do not use holy and sacred in the same sense because I believe holy has far greater standards and definitely involve a deity, but the sacred is anything that is either associated with or meant for the service of a deity or anything else that a person, culture or group of people consider to be very important.
Ultimately, I believe the difference between holy and sacred is that while holy refers to outright perfection or divine, sacred refers to perceptions of holiness that are subjective but associated with, or meant for the service of the holy/deity. He sacred is defined by rules that are open to scrutiny, but holy is defined according to inscrutable rules (even if they are just superstitious). My multiracial and multicultural family background is perhaps the best illustration of this assertion. To begin with, my family brings together Islam and Christian national cultures, with many things that considered holy being beyond scrutiny. However, there are so many other things in my family’s and own experiences that pass for what is sacred in the same way that there are many other things across communities, cultures and individuals that are sacred. I have heard of sacred caves, mountains, forests, and places.
Other than my devotion to my family, I also consider my job as high school football coach equally sacred. In the sense that I have argued above, it shows that I consider family and coaching children to be deeply central to my life, that I consider them a part of my duty to my God. The belief in a deity is however not necessary for me to have sacred things, activities, events and experiences, since as I pointed out, my reference to them is only meant to indicate deep and unconditional devotion to them rather than their actual religious implications. However, family and marriage also have a foundation in both Islam and Christian as divinely ordained institutions, which is why they would still be sacred in that sense.
