Pohlong, B. (2004). Culture and Religion: A Conceptual Study. Mittal Publications
In this particular book, the author elaborates on a conceptual issue relating to the central role played by religion in culture. He starts by elaborating on what culture is and how it is attached to religion. People tend to be brought up in a particular cultural setting that gives then certain compactness and identity as individuals. Even if such individuals change places and go to live in communities that share different cultures from their own, these people tend to carry with them their own cultural backlog and make an effort of duplicating it in the new environment irrespective of whether the situations are hostile to its practice. In this day and age, the idea of culture has become popular in that everyone claims to understand it and individuals attribute cultural association to almost anything.
According to Pohlong (2004), culture implies perfection in all aspects. However, even though some individuals do not follow religious belief they are still caught up within the influences of the prevalent idea of religion within a particular community. People tend to understand religion more as a practical system of belief in something considered by human beings as beyond themselves and that which brings them together in an effort of organizing their lives into some sort of socio-religious society. It has been observed that every religious individual aim at achieving some objective through religious practices and this can be attributed to the fact that people are born into a socially organized religion and tend to live by the religion of their birth. The author also notes that religious behavior patterns have an influence on and are influenced by what happens in the rest of the culture. Religion can be viewed as a cultural stabilizer not only in France and the United States but the rest of the world in that both culture and religion provide moral codes of conduct that are responsible for regulating behavior patterns of individuals. Religion may be viewed as a part of culture alongside others such as political and economic orders as well as family. It should however not be determined that religion and culture are similar. A person’s choice of a course of action is determined by the value alternatives where such choices help people to realize their natural values at a comparatively higher level. The author suggests that it is not possible for culture and religion to have significant meanings apart from value. Religion becomes a way of life when religious precepts, as well as practices, become part of living itself and influences every aspect of people’s lives. The book Culture and Religion may suggest that one can attain his/her own cultural identity even after losing one’s religion. This makes it impossible for one to change religion while claiming to follow a particular culture. Religion is an important cultural stabilizer in the world as it determines the way of life of people in addition to playing a key role in every society.
Sengers, E., and Sunier, T. (2011). Religious Newcomers and the Nation State: Political Culture and Organized Religion in France and the Netherlands. Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.
In this particular book, the authors discuss specifically on the issue of integration of Islam into the political as well as the social framework of European societies in regards to the successful future of the region. France is largely known to be a Catholic nation but is considered less so today than in the past. Protestanism has not only been poorly understood in this country but also often ignored. According to the authors (2011), the often catholic focused image of Christianity in France where the majority of residents tend to identify culturally with Catholicism does not help. Despite the lack of recognition, the Protestant community has distinguished itself and still does so by making important contributions to French society. The current contemporary situation of religion in France, as well as other European nations, is characterized by the loss of s