Emerging Issues in Society

Emerging Issues in Society By Stephanie Moss

    In today’s society emerging issues look a lot different than they did fifty years ago. With the changes in the family structure, religion, and how the different cultures view these changes as deviant or criminal have an effect on our world as a whole. What would the world look like if we understood each others' cultures better?

   A prime example is civil wars in which one religious group oppresses another. In religion, we tend to believe, we are responsible for making others believe as we do. Thus, creating  deviant or even criminal acts against those who do not fit within another group’s norms. Think about abortions and its protesters standing outside clinics or even worse,  threatening the lives of those who perform the procedures. 

 According to Learning Peace article on Religion and War, "Many wars have been fought with religion as their stated cause, and with peace as their hoped-for end."

   Family structures within different cultures spark controversy in today’s societies. One that seems to be a big topic is gay marriages. In the United States, this is a hot topic and many states on in the court systems battling the rights of gay marriage. Yet, this is not new just to the 20th or 21st century. Traditional non-European societies have acknowledged and formalized same-sex unions in the past and some continue to do so today.

   Culture includes ways of thinking as well as patterns of behavior. People within a given culture use shared symbols, language patterns, belief systems, and ways of thinking. Yet, what happens when these shared beliefs and ways of thinking are different?

   In order to adapt to change in society it is best to understand all aspect of what makes each society unique. Once the belief systems and ways of thinking within these different societies are examined, the better opportunity you will have to understand them. The significance of culture lies in the meaning it holds for people. The environment and religion help define how  cultural group lives and what the people do and think about. Solutions to problems are different for each group and what might work for one might, not be the best for the other. If everyone could develop a more cultural relative perspective of other groups and cultures, perhaps one day there could be peace on Earth.

References:

 Learn Peace, a article on World Religions: War and Peace. (n.d) [Quotation]. Retrieved from  http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/infodocs/st_religions.html 

Thou Shalt Not Kill: Understanding Religious Wars by Morris Sullivan (n.d) [Quotation]. Retrieved from http://www.impactpress.com/articles/octnov00/religio101100.html