Culture and Religion as Political Instruments in the Modern World

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It goes without saying that culture, religion, and politics go hand in hand, and this has been witnessed since the beginning of time. Religion and culture have been taken into consideration in the political decision-making sphere since humans were able to administrate themselves. This can be shown in how, throughout history, political decisions have been taken based on the words of priests and prophets…etc.

We can take clear notice of the remarkable correlation these concepts share; they’ve always preexisted together and had a long and rich history full of collaboration as well as conflicts and a struggle for power in some cases.

Culture, religion, and politics share a great load of similarities since they all signify a system of beliefs that is maintained by a group of people (leaders, priests, prophets…etc.) in charge of making decisions based on some considerations derived from religious texts or laws.

  • Politicians utilize religion and culture to create this fake persona of them being these moral, honest, and trustworthy people. This can make it easy for them to manipulate and force people to share the same convictions as them. Therefore, giving culture and religion recognition is equivalent to gaining political support.
  • By using the cultural and religious jargon, you can easily get the approval of the people, making them think that their political standings got the blessing of the divine as well as the ancestors.
  • Ideological art can be a powerful tool in promoting ideas and in establishing political agenda: the most meaningful example I can give is the architecture of Walter Gropius, the founder of the BRAHAUS movement, which is a modernistic design center for mass-produced products of all kinds, it embodied his principles of impersonality. His work reflected the totalitarian regime that he lived in back then, he didn’t value beauty, his designs avoided any decorations for their functional ends, they simply consisted of straight lines, rectangles, cubes…etc. 
  • By understanding the art of a certain culture you’ll be able to comprehend the vital activity of a society in its most intimate and creative moments. This can be used as a very powerful tool to gain political support.

In summary, we can say that for culture and religion to operate well as an engine for political gains, the people need to be receptive to it. This means in displaying cultural and religious references, people should be accustomed to it to get the impact wished for. Using culture and religion to secure the people’s approval can be a very smart move, but it can be used in a totally and utterly morally wrong way. That is why people need to develop a sense of perception. As stated in “Only the Lover Sings” by Josef Peper (in WYA’s Certified Training Program), man’s ability to see is the spiritual capacity to perceive the visible reality as it truly is. It can be a remarkably helpful asset to discern what is sincere and genuine from what it’s not.


Published: January 17, 2022.

Written by Khadija Elhoussayni, Intern for the World Youth Alliance Middle East and North Africa.

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