{"id":231,"date":"2021-06-16T14:40:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T14:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understandingreligion\/part\/syncretic-traditions\/"},"modified":"2024-08-20T21:26:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T21:26:22","slug":"syncretic-traditions","status":"publish","type":"part","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understandingreligion\/part\/syncretic-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 7: Syncretic traditions"},"content":{"raw":" \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_604\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"Bonfim<\/a> Bonfim festivities, Salvador, Brazil, taken from Yoruba and Christian traditions[\/caption]\r\n\r\nFaiths, languages, cultures, rituals, and customs frequently bounce off of and combine with one another in a process called syncretism<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0When we talk about religious syncretism, we are talking about the combining of one faith with another for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 What is created then becomes a completely new and separate religion, different in intent and belief from any of its origins. We have a number of notable examples of this in our world--the Rastafarians, Vodou, Candomble, Santeria, Gnosticism, the Unification Church, and various others.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_605\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"150\"]\"Flag<\/a> Flag map of Jamaica, using the flag of the Empire of Ethiopia, as a symbol of the Rastafarian movement.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIt has often been the history, experience, and actions of colonialism around the world that has created syncretic traditions.\u00a0 Captured slaves often had to hide their spiritual traditions behind mainstream Christianity. Colonized peoples adapted their practices to those of the colonizers and missionaries. As various cultures ranging from Southeast Asia to the Americas to the African continent encountered European Christianity or Middle Eastern Islam,\u00a0 and these traditions spread across the globe, new spiritual traditions came about blending the original beliefs with the incoming faiths.\r\n\r\nIn reality, any time more than one religious or spiritual tradition encounters another, there is likely to be sharing and the rubbing off of one on the other. Christianity is a blend of Judaism, paganism and various cultural activities that are now locally included and that depend on the location of the Christian believers.\r\n\r\nAnother\u00a0 example is the impact of the Zoroastrians on Judaism.\u00a0 Zoroastrianism has a dualistic view of the universe, believing that dark and light, good and evil are in perpetual battle.\u00a0 There was no belief of this sort in the early Hebrew ideas, but when\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_606\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\"]\"Symbol<\/a> Symbol of Zoroastrianism, white and golden version[\/caption]\r\n\r\nthe Exile happened--the Hebrews being conquered and carted off by the Babylonians to what is now Iraq--then their exposure to this dualistic belief and practice resulted in some of those ideas blending into Judaism.\u00a0 The concept of a devil, or something that leads the cause of evil, although not a major part of Judaism, certainly came there from Zoroastrian ideas.\r\n\r\nAnd there are many more examples. Christianity adopted pagan holidays and re-branded them.\u00a0 Mahayana Buddhism was impacted by the movement of Christianity into China.\u00a0 Daoism, Confucian ideas and Christianity were all used in Moon's Unification Church in Korea.\u00a0 The Baha'i started with Islam, but is also influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism.\r\n\r\n \r\n
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Merriam Webster:<\/h1>\r\n

syncretism<\/h1>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n