“Religion, Culture and Cultural Modernization”

So far there is no general consensus on the definition of religion, culture and cultural modernization. And here religion has been regards as a socio-cultural phenomenon and refers to an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship God or the supernatural power, culture refers to the complex of knowledge, institution and ideas that can impact and explain human lifestyles, and cultural modernization is an expression of the modernization phenomenon in the cultural sphere. Cultural sphere includes fields related to the creation, production, distribution, provision, conservation and consumption of cultures.

Modernization has been a worldwide phenomenon and a profound change of human civilizations since the 18th century. It includes not only the great change and transformation from traditional to modern politics, economy, society and culture, but also all human development and the rational protection of the natural environment at present, and meanwhile cultural diversity and religions exist across space and time.

In the process of world modernization, what happen for religions and cultures? Does secularization takes place anywhere? Does tradition disappear? Does modern cultures divided from traditional cultures totally? This paper will discuss the changes and relationships among them since 18^th century.