Cultural Analysis on Death and the Afterlife

If there is one continuous in this world, it would certainly be death. Dying is an unavoidable element of life. Indeed, all the things that lives will at sometime die. The fear of death is held by every person. Possibly it is the correlation of death with discomfort or the unknown state of the human consciousness just after death, maybe a mixture of each, that creates this fear. The fear felt is undoubtedly universal, on the other hand, the approaches in which it is dealt with are varied and diverse. The concept of human mortality and how it is dealt with is dependent upon one’s society or culture. For it is the society that has fantastic influence on the individual’s beliefs. Therefore, it is also attainable for other cultures to influence the men and women of a distinctive culture on such comprehensions.

The main and conventional way men and girls have made dying a less depressing and disturbing concept is although religion. Various religions present the comforting conception of death as a begining for a different life or maybe a continuation for the former. Christians, for instance, believe that souls that have lived by the words of their God will exist eternally in heaven as divine beings themselves. This conception of an afterlife is normally what we persons who are residents of the Unitied States hold to be correct. For American culture has its roots in Europe and European culture was and is nevertheless influenced by Christian faiths. Similar to Christianity, the Hinduism also eases the fear of death by presenting a life after death. Disimilarities present themselves in the two faiths concerning specifically what type of afterlife is lived. Believers of the Hindu faith expect to be reincarnated immediately after their demise, either as an animal or human being based on the manner in which their lives have been carried out. These ideals have influenced our culture although our use of language and thought. The implications are apparent in the frequent references to one’s previous lives. For instance, if somebody has a organic talent for music one may well refer to the person as getting after a talented musician in a previous life. A religion which describes death as a continuation of existance is held by the Crow tribe of middle America. They viewed death as a journey with the final location as a spot where all their anscestors have gone before them. This notion of an afterlife eased the tribes assimilation…

Leave a Reply
