inculturation
Inculturation is the high art of faith parasitically latching onto local festivals and customs as if it had lived there for decades. Underneath lies little more than missionary whim and a translator’s eye for market trends. The locals, convinced it’s ‘always been this way,’ adopt surface rituals while the original doctrine shrinks to a mere silhouette. In the end, no one remembers the core, but the surrounding culture somehow ends up slightly more devout.