Religious Art Helps to Unite Many Faiths

Religion is a feature in all walks of life across the entire planet, there are many different forms of religion and that in itself has been the subject of many debates, wars and conflicts over thousands of years, which, at times has driven a gulf between different cultures and faiths.

Most religions are very symbolic and can be instantly recognised no matter what your own cultural background may be. Each religion tends to have their own views and traditions relating to the beginning of life or their own historic events that are often symbolised through art.

As mentioned the difference in various beliefs has been a major issue for thousands of years leading to persecution and countless deaths due to religious wars. However in modern society as cultures have evolved, learning and understanding other religions has become a very acceptable part of every day life and most people individually will completely accept other religions with understanding and also want to learn about other cultures and their history.

Religious art and symbolism has really helped to unite many faiths together, this is evident in people's homes, in the workplace and at retail outlets throughout the world. Think about it, you can visit almost any garden centre in the UK and find garden statues of Buddha who is a massive symbol of the Buddhism; a religion not traditionally associated with a country with a foundation of belief towards Christianity.

Many living room and dining room interiors are influenced by symbols, statues and associated with Buddha as people simply like the style and imagery of Central Asian, particularly Indian culture. A Buddha statue is synonymous with the teachings of Siddharta Gautama also known as Buddha, who was a teacher thousands of years ago in the Middle Asia and Indian continent. Buddhism is largely associated with Karma and Rebirth whereas more western religions believe in a spiritual life after death.

Such beliefs of being reborn as another being depending on the way a person lived their last life goes completely against religions such as Hinduism and Christianity that firmly believe in a spiritual continuation of life in the afterlife of a person dying physically. When you consider the huge gulf between such religion's beliefs it just goes to show how influencial religious art can be in people accepting other cultures for other purposes other than to follow them

As the centuries have moved on the issue of interfaith cooperation is one that has bonded and brought together many religions in a way that would not have been imaginable even a few centuries ago when people only accepted their own beliefs and religion. The bringing together of many faiths is more present in western society than anywhere else in the world and there is even a World Intefaith Harmoney Week that brings all different types of religions together.

It seems as the years go by that people will continue to accept other faiths and embrace them through religious art, symbols and culture; with this in mind it would not be a surprise to see Christians featuring religious art with Muslim influence, or a Muslim featuring religious art with a Christian influence such as Jesus on the cross.

In summary, art, particularly religious art really has had a huge effect on uniting faiths and hopefully this trend will continue for centuries to come. To view our own range of religious art please visit http://www.whoartnow.co.uk/art/category/42/abstract-art/religious.