Often, we find people objecting to the latest gossip or some event on television, shaking their heads and saying, “This kind of behavior is not part of our culture.” But if people are doing it, isn’t it part of the culture?
Is culture simply a collection of everyone’s behavior and rituals in a particular community? Or is it the accepted and norm of each community? Is it perhaps only the respected and prized behavior and rituals? Is it the behaviors and rituals of the founding members of that community? Does it grow and change as the community evolves?
Can culture be defined? What is our culture? What is Pakistani culture? What is American culture? What is British Culture? What is Canadian culture? What is Muslim culture?
Some dictionary definitions presented to help the discussion (though they are certainly only a starting point, as the topic is more complex):
From the Oxford English Dictionary
culture
c. The philosophy, practices, and attitudes of an institution, business, or other organization. Cf. corporate culture n. at CORPORATE adj. and adv. Additions
From Dictionary.com*
**cul·ture **
3. a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period: Greek culture.
5. the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.
6. Anthropology. the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.