Religious Hospitality: Attitudes, Ethics, and Civic Responsibilities

This essay examines the concept of hospitality through the lens of ancient religions, including Judaism, Graeco-Romanism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It analyzes ancient texts and incorporates insights from interviews with hospitality industry professionals to understand the diverse attitudes and practices associated with welcoming guests. The essay also delves into the definition of 'Other' and the impact of the 'Selfie World' on modern communication and self-perception. Furthermore, it discusses the ethical and civic responsibilities involved in welcoming others, exploring concepts such as ethics, diversity, self-identity, and their relation to hospitality. The conclusion emphasizes that hospitality is a crucial concept reflecting the beliefs of different societies, with roots in ancient traditions that extend to modern business practices.

Running head: HOSPITALITY ESSAY
Hospitality Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
The essay throws light on understanding the ancient religion hospitality services along
with the attitudes which are followed in Judaism, Graeco-Romanism, Islam, Christianity,
Buddhism, and Confucianism with the help of the ancient texts and the interview which was
being conducted from eminent personalities. The hospitality industry is one of the broad
categories of fields within the service business which includes event planning, transportation,
travelling and additional fields within the tourism industry (Jewishencyclopedia.com ,2018).
The respective industry is dependable on the availability of the leisure along with disposable
income of the individuals. It refers to the relationship between the guests and hosts wherein
the host receives the guest with goodwill along with reception of the guests.
Analysis
Ancient religious hospitality practices and attitudes
The concept of hospitality can be understood to be very wide in nature and according
to Jewishencyclopedia.com (2018), the religious differences which exist between the hosts
and the guests influence their interactions and also determine the kind of hospitality which
exists in the different religions and regions. In some of the Islamic countries, the tourism is
not encouraged as it tends to have a negative impact on the host communities. In addition to
this, as per the interview which I conducted from eminent personalities in the Hospitality
industry I have come to the conclusion that, the Christianity religion tends encourage the
concept of hospitality as they see it as a means to spread their religion. The Arabs tend to
define the concept of Hospitality as something related to that of Grace and tend to believe
that, if they provide the different guests with grace, they will do their `karma`. As per my
readings, in the religion of Buddhism, the concept of hospitality is considered to be quite
crucial in nature and that their religion asks them to treat the different guests as a presence of

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God. Hence with respect to this, unlike the Islamic religions, the Buddhist religion can be
believed to be very progressive about the same (Youtube.com ,2018). While reading a text
based on Confucianism it could be understood that, in the particular region, the self is
deemed to be independent and relational. In addition to this, obedience to the guest or the
master forms crucial part of the Confucian ethics and to serve the society and other is
considered to be very important.
Definition of ‘Other’ and Selfie World’
As per my understanding, the Selfie World is one of the most common tools which
have been used as the common method of communication which allows us in shaping the
public personality. Additionally, the selfie mentality is helpful in finding the boldness along
with arrogance behind the camera and it is steeped in Narcissism (Bretherton, 2017). After I
interviewed an eminent personality, I tried to gain knowledge that with the posting of the
different selfies, there can be taste of the droplet of fame that can become addicting quickly.
On the other hand, the others are the aspect wherein through the usage of selfies
taken by individuals, they can be welcoming others through social media posts. When there is
application of the biblical standards in the mindset which is advanced as the selfie culture,
there is immediate clash of values that can help in managing their thinking process and the
thoughts of the individuals can be valued as different individuals carry various perceptions
(Bruno, Bertamini & Protti, 2015).
Description on Hospitality
As analysed by me from the interview which was conducted by me from eminent
personalities in the hospitality industry, I came across the different hospitality aspects which
should be followed (Brotherton, 2015). The term hospitality is the social concept which helps
in analysing the relationship between the host and guests in different fields of life. It is the

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process wherein the host receives the guests with proper goodwill and it is inclusive of the
entertainment and reception of the guests who are present in the scenario. In the ancient
cultures, the hospitality aspect is inclusive of welcoming the strangers and offering them
food, shelter, water and safety.
Analysis of Civic and Ethic Responsibilities while Welcoming Others
As commented by the personality whom I interviewed, I came to analyse that the
ethics in hospitality is described as the discipline which helps in overall study of the usage of
hospitality and it helps in managing the scenario appropriately. There are different ethical
responsibilities wherein the hospitality managers are honest and truthful towards their clients.
On the other hand, the loyalty is inclusive of the demonstrating the loyalty to the companies
in devotion of the loyalty towards colleagues and helping them. On the other hand, while
interviewing the personality, I cam across the fact that while there are different wars which
happened previously, it is our civic responsibility to take care of the guests and treat them
well which will be beneficial for the culture.
Concepts of ethics, diversity, hospitality, other, and self-identity
According to Thebanmappingproject.com. (2018), ethics can be described as the
moral principles which tends to guide the person`s behavior in a worldly setting. Whereas, as
per my understanding diversity can be stated to be the quality or state of having different
forms in the forms of ideas, types, beliefs and others. I believe that all the regions are quite
different and tend to treat hospitality in a different manner. The definition of hospitality can
be described as the friendly or religious gesture in which the guests are welcomed and
accepted. This adheres to relatives, friends, strangers or visitors. The hospitality of a
particular religion reflects its teaching. When reading about the hospitality, I came across the
definition of others in hospitality which reflects the degree to which a person or a society is

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welcoming in nature and accepting towards the guests or the strangers as present. Lastly, in
defining self-identity, I would like to describe the concept as the perception or recognition of
one`s characteristics as a society or a particular individual Every religion is believed to have
its own identify (Youtube.com (2018).
Conclusion
Hence, from the given analysis, it can be stated that, Hospitality can be defined as a
crucial concept which tends to throw light on the religions and the beliefs of the different
societies. Where hospitality has now been looked upon as a business, its root are deep within
the ancient societies. The essay threw light on the overall concept of hospitality which was
followed by the analysis on different ancient religion and their focus on hospitality. The
concept of self and others as per my understanding have been discussed and the definition of
diversity, self-identify and ethics has been discussed.

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References and Bibliography
Bretherton, L. (2017). Hospitality as holiness: Christian witness amid moral diversity.
Routledge.
Brotherton, B. (2015). Researching hospitality and tourism. Sage.
Bruno, N., Bertamini, M., & Protti, F. (2015). Selfie and the city: a world-wide, large, and
ecologically valid database reveals a two-pronged side bias in naïve self-
portraits. PLoS One, 10(4), e0124999.
Jewishencyclopedia.com (2018). Hospitality. [online]. Available at:
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7905-hospitality#ixzz0wVN1oGcT
(Accessed on: 13 Feb. 2019).
Jewishencyclopedia.com (2018). Hospitality. [online]. Available at:
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4248-charity-and-charitable-institutions
(Accessed on: 13 Feb. 2019).
Psalmstudy.com (2018). Laws and Hospitality [online]. Available
at:http://psalmsstudy.com/rabbi_maccabi_publication/laws-hospitality-halifax-
shalom-magazine-5773/ (Accessed on: 13 Feb. 2019).
Thebanmappingproject.com. (2018). (2018). Laws and Hospitality [online]. Available
at: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/resources/timeline_9.html (Accessed on:
13 Feb. 2019).
Youtube.com (2018). Hospitality [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=PF6VPZsHDZQ (Accessed on: 13 Feb. 2019).

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