Religious leaders normally argue that religion is a force for good and love in the world. Yet, at the same time, we see religion regularly used for war, mass murder, terrorism, and even genocide. Why does this difference exist - how can religion be claimed as a basis for peace while so many use it as a basis for terrorism?
Conflict in the Middle East has resulted in untold death, destruction and suffering. Although many have offered plausible arguments as to the social, political, and economic origins of the various conflicts, inevitably everything keeps coming back to religion: the disagreement and violence between Christians, Jews, and Muslims. This means that understanding the role of religion in these disagreements is necessary to understanding the violence itself...
Holy wars, or wars waged on behalf of religion and religious ideology, are simultaneously a source of both terror and fascination for many people in the West. At one time an important aspect of Christian doctrine, the concept has been generally relegated to the sphere of fanaticism and primitive barbarism - but not everyone shares this dismissive attitude. In Islam, holy wars remain a key ingredient of both doctrine and practice. Why does this difference exist?
Religious leaders normally argue that religion is a force for good and love in the world. Yet, at the same time, we see religion regularly used for war, mass murder, and even genocide. Why does this difference exist - how can religion be claimed as a basis for peace while so many use it as a basis for terrorism?
Religious leaders normally argue that religion is a force for good and love in the world. Yet, at the same time, we see religion regularly used for war, mass murder, and even genocide. Why does this difference exist - how can religion be claimed as a basis for peace while so many use it as a basis for terrorism?
Is America's 'war on terrorism' really a war against extremism and on behalf of democracy, or is it instead a war on Islam? Americans insist that their concern is political, not religious, but there are good reasons to believe that even if this is true, the rhetoric and conduct of Americans is turning the war on terrorism into a war on Islam.
Most religions depict themselves as forces for peace and harmony; in reality, most religions have been intimately involved in some of the worst violence that humanity has ever experienced. How and why does this contradiction exist? It's true that religions preach peace overtly, but perhaps there is something going on in the background which people don't notice consciously.
The detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has become a symbol for America’s war on terrorism. For some, it’s a symbol of what needs to be done and of America’s resolve. For others, it’s a symbol of an American government that has abandoned its principles of justice, fairness, and the rule of law.
When one thinks of 'holy wars' waged with the approval of religion, religions like Christianity and Islam come to mind, not Eastern religions which appear more peaceful. Buddhism is thought of as focused on the personal development of peace and harmony. Most don't realize the extent of Zen Buddhism's complicity with the Japanese war machine and the horrors it unleashed on Southeast Asia.
America is arguably both the most modern and the most traditionalist society in the world today. This contradiction lies at the heart of the various problems America has had with its foreign policy. Every nation has some form of nationalism, but American nationalism consists of both strongly forward-looking and strongly backwards-looking elements.
The American government says that we are engaged in a war against terrorism, not a war against Islam. Of course, all of he terrorists being targeted happen to be Muslim, leading to the attempted distinction between 'good Muslims' and 'bad Muslims.' Upon what is this distinction based, and is it a valid way of viewing the Middle East?
