The case for contamination by Anthony Appiah Essay

The case for contamination by Anthony Appiah - Essay Example In such a society, it becomes difficult to control the trending social values that people share in such platforms. Appiah thus retains a passive viewpoint as he strives to maintain objectivity in the article. He discusses the importance of religion in the changing society as the discussion below portrays. Just as the title of the article depicts, Anthony Appiah discusses the â€Å"contamination† of the world. In his context, contamination of the world refers to the slow but sure infiltration of foreign cultures as people continually integrate on a global platform. The advancement of the society coupled with the development of new technologies have created a global village, such is a society in which people trade cultural values easily. According to Appiah, the seclusion of the traditional society sought to preserve the cultures and values of the societies that could not readily interact with others (Flood 21). With the intensified interactions in the contemporary society, it becomes difficult to monitor the actions of people as most societies continue to adopt the independent structures thus borrowing global cultural trends. As such, cultures continue to infiltrate the society; Appiah observes that such changes are contaminations of the inherent cultural values. While religion is a fundamental aspect of a society and a cultural feature, the changes in the current structures of societies continue to apportion a reserved function for religions. Unlike in some of the traditional societies in which the Church for example was an important organ of governance, contemporary societies have secular governments. This exhibits the inherent change in the structures of the societies and the cultural values of the people in contemporary societies. The modern structure of societies position religion as important in setting values and influencing the behavior of people in the