MY REFLECTION ABOUT ALL THE TASKS FROM 10 TO 15
Task weeks 15 and 16
Persuassive essay
Understanding death across a cultural and spiritual eye.
"He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery. When foreign cultures that do not have a close relationship with the spirituality of death, it could be easy to disrespect the kinds of traditions that celebrate death from an ignorant point of view. This may cause misinformation about the cultural practices and identities of several countries that celebrate them. There are different traditions that celebrate death and honor the memory of the deceased around the world, in México, the day of the death is celebrated, a celebration full of typical foods, decorations and rituals that make Mexicans feel close to their loved ones who are no longer with us (Brandes, 1997). To help people from countries that do not have traditions that celebrate death to not fall in disrespect these cultural practices, cultures with a spiritual vision of death should actively promote correct information about their traditions with the world by act sharing educational resources that explains their rituals, engaging in cultural exchange programs and utilizing digital platforms to disseminate wrong stereotypes of those traditions.
Sharing cultural and public educational resources can help to battle the misinformation about the cultural rituals that celebrate death around the world. Opening educational resources to the general public breaks knowledge barriers and leads to the rapid diffusion of ascertainable and factual information, not just about the cultural rituals but the different problematics that those cultures face (Adil, et al, 2024). Government should create public educational resources to help cultures with no spiritual vision of the death to identify and respect these rituals. Sharing correct information about their traditions is the first step to take for these cultures to show others how they appreciate death as a spiritual transition. Another way to stop the disrespect and misunderstanding to these traditional practices would be the promotion of cultural exchange programs.
Engaging in cultural exchange programs promotes the interaction between different cultures and gives way to interculturality and appreciation of foreign traditions. The exchange of information, ideas, traditions and resources between people from different countries is a tool now more than ever, to enhance the tolerance, empathy and mutual respect between people from different cultural backgrounds to their cultural practices, avoiding conflicts and leading to an inclusive society (Agbai, et al, 2024). Cultural exchange programs are also beneficial for the academic record of the people who are given the opportunity to study in another country. This, in turn, gives them the opportunity to appreciate foreign traditions from a new perspective based on social consciousness. The social consciousness about the cultural practices that celebrate death around the world can also be promoted by the social media and the use of digital platforms.
The use of digital platforms helps in the dissemination of wrong stereotypes about this kind of traditions. The social media and digital platforms have been historically used for the spread of false information, not only about the cultural identities, practices and traditions of different countries, but also other different topics of concern for the general public (Steingartner, et al, 2024). That is why the government of the countries whose traditional practices celebrate the death as a significant stage of life should use the technology for creating different digital platforms and official social media profiles destinated to the spread of truthful information about these traditions. This would complement the creation of public educational resources discussed before, giving to the people from foreign countries and cultures, different alternatives to learn about certain cultural aspects before believing and spreading false and harmful information for the external perception of these traditions. The cultural traditions from every country deserve respect, especially from people who have never experienced them before.
The disrespect for cultural practices and identities of other countries generates conflicts between their inhabitants. These only distances us from the convivence and integration that cultural wealth offers. If an ideal future, the negative stereotypes will not harm the collective notion of traditions that celebrate death as a spiritual transition. In order to help people from countries with no such a close relationship with the spirituality of death to identify and appreciate other cultures traditions with respect and without prejudices from ignorance, cultures with a spiritual vision of death, such as Mexico should actively promote correct information about their traditions with the world by sharing educational resources with true and factual information about their rituals, engage in cultural exchange programs, fostering the interculturality and use digital platforms to disseminate wrong stereotypes of those traditions. At the end of the day, all these traditions are made to honor the memory of the deceased, and the diffusion of ascertainable is the base to not fall in ignorance and disrespect celebrations of foreign cultures.
References
Adil, H. M., Ali, S., Sultan, M., Ashiq, M., & Rafiq, M. (2024). Open education resources' benefits and challenges in the academic world: A systematic review. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 73(3), 274-291.
Agbai, E., Agbai, E., & Oko-Jaja, E. S. (2024, March). Bridging culture, nurturing diversity: Cultural exchange and its impact on global understanding. In International Dialogue of Civilization and Tolerance Conference - Abu Dhabi 2024.
Brandes, S. (1997). Sugar, colonialism, and death: On the origins of Mexico's Day of the Dead. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 39(2), 270-299.
Steingartner, W., Galinec, D., Vaľko, D., & Ádám, N. (2024). Disinformation campaigns: Battling misinformation for resilience in hybrid threats model. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 21(10).