Communication Project #1

Attend a religious or cultural Event

Overview
I chose to do my project on the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. They belief in god and
centralize on a three personages that form a godhead. They believe in heaven and hell, and
believe that you can find redemption in repentance. After doing a little research on them, I
attended an event with a friend that was called the sacrament meeting. There was a distribution
of bread and water to symbolize Christ and afterwards there were several speakers.
I used Hofstedes Value theory and I found that men primarily ran the organization. There was a
clear difference in authority between members since only a couple of men presided over the
meeting. The organization holds strict rules that must be adhered to and they enforce them. The
Religion I consider as short termed in the pursuit of virtues and truth.
Initially I held an unwilling attitude towards this assignment because I dont think that I would
be accepted as an outsider into the Religious meeting. However my ideology changed after this
assignment since I was welcomed warmly. I think that I may be willing to participate in other
religious and cultural events from my experience. I may not be received as well as this time, but I
think its the experience that is eye opening.

Religion
The church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints believes that there is a god that created the
universe. They believe in three separate beings that form a godhead with the father, the son, and
the Holy Ghost. LDS members desire to become god-like and believe there are made in gods
image.
It is their belief that we are not born with sin and that we are tempted by Satan and his followers.
Members are baptized at the age of 8, which is considered the age of accountability. They believe
when they die they will go to a spirit world and they will be either assigned to a paradise or
prison. It is within their beliefs that there are three tiers of heavenly kingdoms. They also believe
sinners and unbelievers can repent in prison and move to the lowest part of heaven.

Religious Function
I only attended what my friend called the sacrament meeting. There was a dress code where I had
to wear a buttoned up shirt, dress pants, and actual shoes, no sandals. The females seemed to
wear dresses and mostly heels. The meeting room was very large and housed rows of cushioned
benches.
Before the actual allotted time for the meeting started, everyone was very talkative, friendly, and
liked to shake hands. I had quite a few people shake my hand and welcome me personally but it
seemed for the most part they didnt like my un-groomed appearance. As soon as the meeting
started everyone sat down and faced a podium that was elevated up on some sort of stage. During
the meeting they sang songs and passed around bread and water for everyone to eat. The
meaning behind the bread and water was said to be symbolic of the blood and flesh of Christ.
After that there was a sequence of more songs and they had what seemed as volunteer speakers.
The speakers talked about religious personal experiences and understandings. Overall I felt that
the meeting was centralized more on the personal belief of each individual. However, I am
comparing my experience to other religions that seem to focus on teaching straight from the
bible and ask members to recite scripture with them.

Value Theory
I decided to choose Hofstedes Value theory. Using this theory, I will explain my religious
experience. Hofstedes theory has four problem types and those are: Power Distance,
Femininity/Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-term/Short-term Orientation.
The books definition of Power distance is, A cultural variability dimension that concerns the
extent to which people accept an unequal distribution of power. This concept is displayed in the
form of hierarchy. Low power is less hierarchy and high power is more hierarchy. The
Masculinity and femininity is the emphasis on distinctive gender roles. Uncertainty avoidance is
bottled down to how strict an organization is through rules, leniency of dissent, taking risks, and
formality. Long-term versus short-term orientation is defined by the search of virtue and truth.

Analysis
From my experience, Gender Roles were well defined as only males presided over the meeting
with a few female speakers. From what I understand males are the main holders of position due
to what they call as the power of priesthood. It seems only men had this gift bestowed upon them
by god. I noticed there was high Power Distance, since I saw a clear difference between the
authority levels of some members. A couple of men sat up front on the stage area by the podium
and got up to announce the changing of events. There was also a group of young boys called
deacons that distributed the bread and water.
From what I could gather, I viewed the religion as having high uncertainty avoidance. They had a
large emphasis on rules, and they viewed people who didnt follow the rules as sinners that

needed to repent. Im unclear on their risk taking, but for their formality, they had strict dress
codes and considered the body as a sacred thing to not be defiled with tattoos and drugs. I found
that the religion was short-term oriented. They had set definitions of good and evil as well as the
repentance process. Also from my experience, they liked quick results and used social pressure to
conform others.

Reflection
How did you feel about this project before attending the religious or cultural function?
There was no motivational factor in accomplishing this assignment. While I view myself as open
minded, I personally do not like becoming a part of others activities. The fact that I am an
outsider I feel that I am treated differently than I normally would be if I was a member. This
makes me not want to participate in any religious function or cultural activity.
What did you learn about the religion or culture that you investigated?
They defiantly have their own unique beliefs and customs. The members are heavily family
oriented. They are very friendly and intent on having outsiders feel welcomed in an attempt to
understand their religion and possibly make a convert. I personally believe religion as a way for
people to stay true to a sense of societys ethics. People also use religion to guide them to their
own view of happiness. What this religion does is provide members with is a moral compass to
follow and a path to achieve what they consider as happiness.
Did your attitude change throughout this project?
I think seeing other religions and cultures in person is very eye opening and I would consider
participating in other events like this again. I think my view changed because I was welcomed
warmly by the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. I did feel pressured to accept their
beliefs as my own but I think every religious function would attempt to do the same.
Did the application of theory help you to understand your experience?
Yes, I was able to view the religion using Hofstedes Value theory and learned what the religion
valued. It was rather insightful to be able to pick apart the religion using the four problem types
and I learned a lot through this experience. I believe that this theory is applicable for a vast
majority of cultures and religions and I could use it again.
How can you incorporate what you learned in your project in future classes, in your career
and in your life?
Many people believe in a wide variety of morals and standards due to their religion. I learned
from this experience that I need to respect other peoples beliefs even if I dont agree with them.
Although I dont think I will ever consider becoming a LDS convert, I respect their desire to
become better people. In order to strive to become the best you can be, I think is an admirable

thing. In the future, regardless of other peoples faiths and beliefs, I will try to respect their
choice to live that way.

References
(n.d.). Inspiration, Spirituality, Faith Beliefnet.com - Beliefnet.com. What Latter-day Saints
(Mormons) Believe - Beliefnet.com - Page 2 . Retrieved from
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2001/06/What-Latter-Day-Saints-Mormons-Believe.aspx?p=2
Judith, M., & Nakayama, T. Chapter 3. Intercultural Communication (pp. 107-11).