Im Right, Youre Wrong, Go to Hell by Bernard Lewis - Article Example

Lewis is trying to point out that a lot of factors could be dwelled from one civilization to another while highlighting that while other civilizations seem to die during that time, the Turkish civilization was struggling to be alive. Meanwhile, religion plays a crucial role in the definition of civilization. Two of the most popular religions defining civilizations are Christianity and Islam, which interestingly display some similarities while manifesting some differences from each other. In most of the languages in the world, we have two words: "Christianity" and "Christendom.

" The word "Christianity" would refer to the system of religion itself while "Christendom" would refer to a civilization that basically incorporates both non-Christian and anti-Christian on it. And we also have "Islam" and "Islamdom."According to Lewis, Islam and Christianity are two civilizations are the ones which are greatly defined by religions since other civilizations are basically defined by region and ethnicity. Those civilizations are mainly bounded by religious practices that are known all throughout the world.

On the other hand, those civilizations defined by region and ethnicity may include perhaps Buddhism and Communism. Buddhism, although, once known as religion, cannot be defined by religion since it was not actually successful in the proliferation in the world, unlike Islam and Christianity. Meanwhile, the civilization of Communism is obviously defined by region and ethnicity and not of religion given its characteristics that are void of any religious leanings.It is important to take note of the significant differences between civilizations to define by religion and civilization defined by ethnicity.

The understanding of civilizations does not only mean so much to the society's anthropologists. Understanding the civilizations that we are in is very significant for us to fully understand where we are headed to and to fully grasp the varying factors that we have to deal with in our respective civilizations. The study of civilization is indeed complex. While civilizations defined by religion mainly put religion as the society's central theme, the civilizations defined by region and ethnicity consider a broader view of the society that they are in like some geographical and in-depth cultural orientation.

Despite the complexity of looking into the aspects of civilization, it always pays to know the culture that you are in.