issue207【Chasing For "6" Score】第二次作业

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207"Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."

To get a clear view on this issue, we should understand what are rituals and ceremonies, and the role they play in a certain culture.  We should also know how do they help define the culture, as stated in the argument above, and how do they connect the people.

Every culture has its particular rituals and ceremonies. They are hold to memorize certain god, event, or people that the culture values. As these rituals and ceremonies are passed down from one generation to another, so are those values.
In some African tribes, boys at certain age will receive a ritual, such as piercing at some part of their body, to be recognized as a man. The ritual tells the boys that they are born to fight and now it's time to get ready to protect their tribe, no matter how much pain it could bring. In China, families get together to celebrate the Spring Festival. However far they may be from home, they will come back if it is possible. This festival best illustrates the treasure of family in Chinese culture. Even if children are usually more interested in delicious food and presents, they gradually learn it by heart that family is the most important thing for Chinese people. Christmas does the similar thing in western cultures.

Although there are other ways for a culture to preserve its values, rituals and ceremonies are the most important and effective means, hence can not be replaced. Values can be taught in classrooms, from books, and even through some quite modern medium such as television and movies. Since there are so many choices, one may ask, why are rituals and ceremonies so important and even indispensable? The answer is that because no other means can indoctrinate the values better than they do. People learn something best when they practice it; people also keep their faiths best when the people they love and believe all keep it. We practice our culture's rituals and ceremonies year after year; we practice it with our grandfathers, with our fathers, and we will let our children practice it too. Nothing can match the effect created in this process.

By instructing people what they should do and what they shouldn't, what is important and what is not, values answer the people's question of who they are and distinguish them from other groups of people. In the examples mentioned above, young men in African tribes learn that they must be responsible for the security of the tribe through the ritual of piercing; Chinese children learn to value and love the family members through Spring Festivals; so do the children in western countries. If they don't believe and practice the same thing as other people in the group, people may wonder, do they still belong to that group? If not, then where do they belong? Who will share the values with them and appreciate them? Without the values that rituals and ceremonies bring, people will lose the connection with other people.

In sum, rituals and ceremonies are hold to preserve the values that a culture cherishes. Even though there are other means, rituals and ceremonies pass on those values best. For this reason, people will get confused of who they are without them.