In the article, The Case of Contamination by Kwame Anthony Appiah, he focusses on the sensation of cultural change where he makes use of personal examples conveyed in an evocative narrative manner to show that cultural assimilation adopts various means. Today, people succumb to changes easily in the ways they like by creating new forms of difference like new religions, but it is not guaranteed that the effected changes will be liked as others end up being disliked. The example of global economy illustrates how changes can be favourable or unfavourable to others considering that it poses as a challenge to individuals who have to alter crops, yet it is exciting to people who are well placed in terms of finding opportunity in globalization. In a similar manner, Christianism appears to have been succeeded in terms of mass conversion, but aspects of folk religious practices are common illustrating that it may have been acknowledged in external form but not in essence. Additionally, the author describes religion in two different forms with the first one being a cultural artifice and second as a risky new form of anti-cosmopolitanism.
According to Appiah, religion’s role is that of cultural artefact that transforms or undergoes transition eliciting various responses that can be either favourable or unfavourable. In simple words, changes that occur in cultural religion are similar to other cultural shifts that arise due to amplified globalization of opinions. Therefore, religion plays a similar role to various forms of culture like communication, dressing, or custom where it also influences change leading to various individuals liking it and others disliking it. For Appiah, the assortment of culture, inclusive of religious traditions, is a tolerable situation, but the means by which cultural change occurs that that leads to the creation of only a single cultural model in not accepted. The reason is that simulated cultural diversification and homogeneity may unknowingly be a trap that hinders human beings from evolving into a higher nature. Instead of homogeneousness and disingenuousness, diversity may be more appropriate to human’s nature to achieve the maturation of his conceptual, moral and artistic potential in addition to an individual attaining a fair share of happiness in life.
The other role that religion can serve as illustrated by Appiah is a dangerous one described as anti-cosmopolitanism in which the notion of neo-fundamentalist regarding universal utopia that can pose as a problem to human beings is cited. According to him, spiritual utopia portrays a cover-up of faith in the dignity of man and shared notions with people from various countries (2). However, behind this cover-up of faith exists intolerance that can be encourage utopian beliefs to begin war against any country that stands in the way of their faith of universal justice. Therefore, when religion is supported by a fundamentalist attitude to beliefs, the imperialist disposition is released as evidenced by the similarities drawn by Appiah from menacing ideologues like Pol Pot, who made use of the name of generalized humanity, but also tried to get rid of religion.
Appiah’s description of the tasks that religion plays in cultural change adds to his intention of advancing cosmopolitanism along significant cultural shift that progresses global citizenry in the universe. However, his approach seems to be very self-protective of Christian originalism and many years of hybridization that transitioned via many years of ancient Nazarene. In that, deception associated with religious cultural change may be liable, but the imperialistic connivance by state and religion is most probably the reason for the lengthy spiritual separation, biasness, and violence in the history of human beings. Therefore, the variations that exist between institutions of religions are the main hindrances to cosmopolitanism, and that is why Appiah is calling for the patience and respect for the liberty of people to make their own decisions.
Personally, do not agree with the second role of religion as presented by Appiah because I believe that religion shows that humans belong or share a common morality of good and wrong unlike the anti-cosmopolitanism in the article. The role of religions from the beginning has been to show human beings that they share something common origin and even plays a similar role that is accepted by believers as signified by the first role he has illustrated. In that, Appiah’s first role of religion is realistic because religion elicits varied behaviours like the type of dress that people should wear, which may be accepted by a section of people or rejected. However, religion acts as a uniting factor that signifies the belief that we stand for like the American civil religion that unites and brings together all the citizens of the United States.
In conclusion, Appiah describes religion as a faction that serves to effect anti-cosmopolitanism, which had created a huge drift and hatred among people and the second role of cultural artefact that transforms or undergoes transition eliciting various responses that can be either favourable or unfavourable. In terms of anti-cosmopolitanism, religion has led to increased fights that take place globally like the on-going Syrian war, but I believe that religion serves the role of making people share a common moral code and that such wars should be blamed on different ideologies or transformations. Second, religion serves as a cultural artefact that goes through transition producing various responses that may be accepted by believers or rejected all together. The second role is true because religion has led to various changes in terms of language and dressing that people have accepted while other have led to drift in the among people.
Work Cited
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. "The case for contamination." New York Times Magazine 1 (2006): 32. Print.
