Names: Angel Pereira

Gerardo Prez
Teacher: Iris Roa
Subject: Communicative Competence: Upper-Intermediate II


Multiculturalism
Since the very beginning, people have lived in a multicultural society, but few of them
are concerned about what multiculturalism implies. An accurate definition might be the following:
it is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural
groups and is manifested in customary behaviours, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of
thinking, and communicative styles. As multiculturalism has been already defined, one of the
most controversial aspects is religion which every society has been dealing with for years.
Therefore, through the development of this essay some interesting aspects of religion will be
discussed such as tolerance towards the variety of cults, traditions and customs; and towards
the right to worship within a society.

To begin with, societies should be tolerant towards the variety of cults that exist within a
society, in a way that there should be no prohibition when it comes to decide or to enter to any
cult. In addition, there is a variety of cults such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, to name but
a few. Even though there are people that deny the richness of religions and claim that there
should be no religions whatsoever, the variety of cults throughout the world shows how diverse
people are. Furthermore, religion should not be banned because of the several traditions and
customs that give a unique identity to the followers. Some traditions are really interesting and
some are a bit out of mind. For instance, Christmas is a worldwide tradition that is celebrated by
Christians and it reunites the whole family to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, giving and
receiving presents, especially to children. Another tradition is Bar Mitzvah which is praised by
Jewish, it occurs when a boy turns 13-years-old, meaning that he is considered old enough to
have certain rights and responsibilities. Lastly, the performance of the Haji (Pilgrimage) to
Makkah, Saudi Arabia is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim. Hajj begins on the 12th
month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The Hajj is a spiritual journey where a Muslim forgets all
worldly things and devotes his\her attention and time to Allah alone. According to everything
claimed above, the different religions and their traditions show how different people are and the
richness of a society if the diverse cults are accepted.




Names: Angel Pereira
Gerardo Prez
Teacher: Iris Roa
Subject: Communicative Competence: Upper-Intermediate II


Besides, the idea of tolerance towards the right to worship is essential within a
multicultural society. The right to worship or freedom of religion is considered by many people
and nations to be a fundamental human right.

In a country with a state religion, the right to
worship is generally considered that religious practices of other sects besides the state religion
are permitted, and does not persecute believers in other faiths. Moreover, to be tolerant towards
different religions, sects, atheists or agnostics means that we as a society have to accept the
freedom of an individual or community to manifest his/her beliefs whether it is in a public or
private situation. Although there is an assumption which claims that religions should not co-
exist, but they should be united in only one big belief; it would cut freedom of religion off, yet it is
the essence of the right to worship. In addition, it would not permit the followers of any religion
to express themselves in what they already believe in. That is to say, it might impose a utopian
and only subject to believe. Furthermore, the relationship between the religion and the believer
goes beyond any boundaries just as though that relation is born inside every person and it is
what identifies him/her as a human being. As a whole, the right to worship should not be
prohibited, because it is an essential and intimate fragment of identity of every person itself, so
does within a society.

To sum up, religion is one of the aspects that shows the richness of any society in
the world. To be tolerant towards the diversity of cults and their traditions means that
mankind is opening up to what is different from them; therefore, every different tradition that
any religion brings with represents societies distinctiveness. On the other hand, tolerance
towards freedom of religion as well as the diversity of cults is a statement of acceptance.
Hence, is mankind prepared to accept what is different from them and to be willing to co-
exist together in a multicultural society?