Syncretism #Syncretism

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Syncretism (/ˈsɪŋkrətɪzəm/) is the combining or merging of various distinct beliefs or schools of thought, particularly religious ones. For instance, features and components of one religion are incorporated and absorbed into another. It can include assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in theology and mythology, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to multiple faiths. While syncretism in art and culture is sometimes likened to eclecticism, in the realm of religion, it specifically denotes a more integrated merging of beliefs into a unified system, distinct from eclecticism, which implies a selective adoption of elements from different traditions without necessarily blending them into a new, cohesive belief system.

Criticism of the term

Véronique Altglas argues that the use of the term "syncretism" is an effort to make some religious practices and religions seem less legitimate, pure, or well-established. She argues that the term "syncretism" presupposes that the religions that syncretism combines were "pure" and unchanging before being combined. In reality, she believes, religions are all inherently syncretic to some degree because they combine many elements from different people's spiritualities and religions and different cultures. The term "syncretism" can serve the ends of ethnocentrism and purism in some cases in this view.