Conflict and Cultures    

The conflict in Ireland, while having many similarities with the current conflict in the Middle East, has a much better chance of coming to a peaceful solution.  The first and most prominent reason for this is the fact that the cultures in conflict in Ireland are very similar while the Israelis and the Palestinians are extremely different.  The animosity between the Protestants and the Catholics was probably very strong when England split from the Catholic church, but now seems to be more of a result of the conflict than a reason for fighting.  This is not to say that the Protestant/Catholic line is not the main battle line drawn by both sides, just that the closeness of the religions makes it easier to cooperate.  The Palestinians and the Israelis, however, have vastly different cultures with very distinct histories.  The conflict in Ireland is also centuries old, meaning that the native Irish people who were kicked out of their homes have been dead for hundreds of years.  Due to the closeness in culture and being neighbors for so long, the Irish Catholics and the Protestant English/ Irish are able to compromise better than in the Middle east where the battle lines are much more distinct.

          The Irish who were forcefully displaced by the English in the early 1600s were not put into refugee camps and that is not only a stronger base for grievance but also one that many Palestinians can still remember.[1]  By the time the Irish Catholics were strong enough to separate themselves, at least partly, from England, there was no suggestion or goal to kick all the Protestants out and move back onto the land their ancestors had been kicked out of hundreds of years ago.  The recent Irish Catholic grievances have more to do with being second-class citizens and under the thumb of England.  Both of these problems were much easier to approach because the Irish Catholics were asking for a lot less, in terms of what their enemies could gives them, than the Palestinians are fighting for.

          The Catholics and Protestants in Ireland have been living together for so long that despite the anger they have for each other, they have the same culture and much of the same history. “Ninety percent of what could probably be defined as culture is common in our society”—Eamonn McCain talking about the different cultures in Ireland[2]. Facing an enemy of the same religion, particularly in battles that involve civilians, does make a difference in how badly you view them and this in turn changes the way one would approach peace.  This is significant even if the only difference is that the IRA buries it’s dead in the same way the Loyalists do.  While the Israelis and the Palestinians do coexist in close proximity, their cultures and religions are very different.  “The Middle East is a mosaic of peoples, religions, languages, and cultures”[3], this is true even without Israel because the Middle East has so many independent countries and conflicting Muslim sects.

          There is a ceasefire in Ireland right now because two close cultures found a way to live in peace for now.  The war in the Middle East is escalating because the conflict is relatively new and the enemies are strangers.  At the present time the Palestinians do have stronger grievances and while Ireland was oppressed by England for much longer, the assimilation that happened made and end to the problem come a lot easier than it will in the Middle East.

To what extent has Catholicism lost its traditional strength in Brazil and how does this change a native Brazilian’s perspective on world affairs, particularly in respect to religious world view?             Brazil, like many other latin American countries, has a an extremely intricate and complicated culture, due to a turbulent history of immigration and colonialism.  The native south Americans that lived in that area before interactions with Europeans have fused, forcibly in most cases, with the successive waves of oppressors, immigrants and missionaries.  The predominantly catholic missionaries that have been common and powerful in Brazil since Europe first heard of the land have had a lasting influence on the culture of the country as it evolved from a slave labor plantation to a relatively stable industrial nation. With influx of new immigrants in the twentieth century, however, the traditionally strong hold of the Roman Catholic Church has eroded and or has been assimilated into the traditionally non catholic cultures of the people.            Before examination the present role of the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil, it is important to first understand the historical roots of the culture, as this will give clues to the world view of Brazilians in general.  The land that would later become Brazil was first “discovered” by the Portuguese in 1500 and colonization began a mere fifty years afterwards.   After most of the interior of the area had been colonized enough so that no other European country could lay claim t o the land, Portugal began building sugar plantations and importing African slaves to Brazil (Rodrigues, 1967, xi). The influx of African slaves, paired with the native susceptibility to European disease and gunshots, radically changed the ethnic makeup of the inhabitants. This change also brought together many different faiths.            Since Brazil was under the control of European powers until 1889, when the people proclaimed a republic, Catholicism was the official religion of the country for about 300 years. During this period of 1500-1889, it is safe to say that conversion to Catholicism was not optional in most cases, particularly for slaves and Indians without a recognized system of worship. There was no real distinction between church and state and as a result a productive member of society would have to be catholic. The official hold of the Roman Catholic Church eclipsed with the proclamation of a republic and allowed for the open emergence of syncretic religious practices. Despite tolerance to different religions Catholicism remained the predominant and most influential religion. In addition, “…the predominance of Catholics among the immigrants of the 19^th and 20^th centuries contributed to the lasting predominance of that religion” (Brazil, 2006).       Despite the continuing predominance of Catholicism in Brazil, there are several other commonly practiced religions as well as forms of Catholicism that have among their roots ties to African and native South American traditions and rituals. For example, Brazil has the largest group of Japanese descendants outside of Japan and so Buddhism and Shintoism are significant religions in certain areas (Brazilian Embassy,1994 p.15).  What is most significant in regards to Catholicism and its impact on culture is the fact that Brazilian Catholicism is very different in practice to the kind practiced in Italy            The observation of Roman Catholic practices can be drawn along financial lines more than any other division.  Brazil has a high power distance aspect of culture and as such, the rich practice their faith differently than the poor, though both practices could be considered a form of Catholicism. Generally the upper class goes to church and participates mainly for social reasons.  An upper class person is also more likely to practice Roman Catholicism rather than a hybrid of African American traditions and catholic saints (Figueiredo, Jeanenne).  The lower class, particularly in small towns and rural areas, tend to take church practices and doctrines very seriously while also incorporating African and native Brazilian religious practices.            The extent to which Brazilians follows the priestly doctrines can also be looked at from a generational perspective. This is to say that the younger generations do not adhere to these doctrines as closely as their elders do.  This currently causes some problems as the elder generations strongly disapprove of the increasingly modern youth practices.  Pre-marital sex and birth control are hotly contested issues between generations (Figueiredo, Carmen).  This is a good example of how the Brazilian worldview is changing with respect to religion. While it is clear that the youth are still greatly influenced by their religious background, increased exposure to other cultures, specifically North American and European, have eroded some of the traditionally strong religious values.  This is also significant with respect to the representation of culture, as 62 percent of the population is under 29 years old (Brazilian Embassy, 1994 p.9).            One of the most interesting and significant reasons why the Catholic influence is receding is an increasingly open worship of religions thought to have been wiped out by catholic influences.  What actually happened to these native religions was that there were practiced in secret or incorporated enough catholic ideas to fool the colonialists and dictators.  African slaves and native Brazilians retained many of the practices and religions while simply changing the names of the old gods to a catholic equivalent (Durand, 2005 p.2).  Due to this historical secrecy, many of these religious groups require an intense initiation. Ironically, the initiations use methods similar to Catholics during a period of atonement such as fasting and meditation on hurtful acts (Figueiredo, Carmen).             Practices can often be traced back to a region of Africa or brazil itself, helping to further identify the cultural influences of these religions, the most well known being Candomble.  Candomble is the religion of the Yoruba slaves, descended from Africans abducted in the areas of Nigeria and Benin (Brazilian Embassy, 1994 p.15).  Capoeira, a widely practiced ritual dance also has its origins in secret religious practice.  Originally a style of combat used to resolve conflicts in the African region of Angola, the music and dance part of the ritual was a smokescreen for the slaves’ beliefs and internal conflicts (Figueiredo, Carmen).  The influence of these religions is widespread in Brazil and while most are a combination of native beliefs and catholic doctrine, the practitioners see them as native religions instead of Catholic derivatives.  This is important with respect to the Brazilian world view because it adds a unique cultural element to a country that is generally considered a devout patron of the Roman Catholic Church.          The number of Catholics in Brazil is declining from 90% of the population in 1980 to 83% in 1991 and 67% today (Winfield, 2005 p.1).  There are many reasons for this trend, the largest of which can not be measured or accurately interpreted; Globalization.  The upper class in Brazil often sends their children to study abroad and when these individuals return, they bring concepts common in some cultures but alien in theirs.  As the upper class is already in a position of influence, they are more willing and able to spread these non traditional values.           Despite this decline in numbers, the Catholic Church and its representatives still exert a strong influence over the people of Brazil.  All Catholic holidays are national holidays, most people go to church every Sunday and observe lent, take communion etc (Figueiredo, Jeanenne).  Church representatives still exert power over the political process, even if they have to go on a hunger strike to get people behind them(Brasilia, 2005 p.1).              The influence of the Roman Catholic Church is receding because of increased intercultural communication, the reemergence of native religions, and the general rejection of certain key doctrines such as premarital sex and birth control.  This is, however, analogous to spilling a drop out of a reservoir because the religion still has an overwhelming presence in the region.  Catholicism was omnipresent during the creation of what is now Brazil and can not be erased or even eroded to a large degree because it was a tremendously strong player in the formation of the region.  This idea is important because its helps us understand the culture as a catholic culture, the religion being infused with the country’s history and permeating every aspect of culture for hundreds of years.                                                                           Works CitedBrazilian Embassy (1994). Brazil in Brief. Washington, DC: Cultural Sector Brasilia (2005, October 7). Brazil Bishop ends hunger strike over river. Agence France Presse—English. Brazil. ( document.write(new Date().getFullYear()); 2006). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved document.write(mm[new Date().getMonth()][1]); March  document.write(new Date().getDate()); 25, document.write(new Date().getFullYear()); 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online  http://search.eb.com/eb/article-25085  Durand, Irmin (2005, October 21). Brazil still worships its African Gods. Agence France Presse—English. Figueiredo, Jeanine (22 yrs old). Interview. By Alex Churchill. March 25, 2006 Figueiredo, Carmen (mid forties). Interview. By Alex Churchill. March 25, 2006 Rodrigues, Jose Honorio (1967). The Brazilians. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. Winfield, Nicole (2005, October 8). Brazilian cardinal wonders how long Brazil, Latin America will be catholic. Associated Press Worldstream.