Ritual-based Versus Text-based Religions

I certainly find a ritual-based religion more appealing than a text-based one.
Comprising of activities involving actions, words, or gestures, rituals are easy to learn partly
because they are usually repetitive. Given the fact that a key characteristic of religion is that it
is a unifying force among its adherents, the use of rituals ties members of a given religion
more tightly together than the use of texts. This is because the ease of learning and
performing rituals means that differences such as age, education, and wealth do not affect
one’s understanding or commitment to their religion. Generally, text-based religions tend to
disadvantage illiterate members or members who cannot afford the cost of buying the
religion’s canonical texts.

Another reason why a ritual-based religion does a better job of unifying their
members is because of the uniformity in interpretation of the rituals. In text-based religions,
there are often different interpretations of the religion’s texts thus leading to schisms. For
instance, different interpretations of the Bible have led to the establishment of hundreds, if
not thousands, of Christian denominations.

Even though I prefer ritual-based religions to text-based ones, there are some
advantages that text-based religions have over ritual-based ones. The most prominent is
perhaps the fact that text-based religions tend to survive much longer than ritual-based
religions. Religions that are purely based on rituals rely on oral transmission of their practices
and beliefs from one generation to next one. The reliance on oral transmission of beliefs and
practices means that the religion may disappear if the oral transmission stops due to, among
other factors, assimilation of the community’s members to another culture.

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Another advantage that text-based religions have ritual-based ones is that they can
easily be spread from the regions of their origin. In religions that are purely ritual-based, the
rituals can only be understood by people sharing the same culture and language. Therefore, it
is difficult for outsiders to understand or be part of that religion. For text-based religions, the
texts can be translated to different languages thus making it easy for the religion’s beliefs and
practices to be transmitted to other groups. That is why it is not an accident that the two
biggest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam, are majorly text-based religions.