The Omnipresent Violence
Violence is not new. It starts with Abel and Cain. In time, it may change form, yet is not likely to end until the apocalypse. One’s perception of a religion may exacerbate his or her behavior towards others. However, the world will run out of its time, sooner or later, and both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic faiths have definitions of the end. Violent in nature, human beings load their arms due to upcoming war, waged for salvation by the ones who are chosen by God to walk on the true path. Mark Juergensmeyer defines this divine struggle as “cosmic war” and mentions its relation to “metaphysical conflicts between good and evil.” Good and evil are also subject to change depending on who describes them.
Jewish violence in the Middle East started as soon as Jews survive the holocaust. In World War II, Nazis tortured scores of Jews to death as well as other non-Germans.
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Juergensmeyer posits cosmic war in his book as “a part of the heritage of religious traditions that stretch back to antiquity, and abundant examples of warfare may be found in sacred texts.” He also argues that
[cosmic war images] are larger than life. They evoke great battles of the legendary past, and they relate to metaphysical conflicts between good and evil. Notions of cosmic war are intimately personal but can also be translated to the social plane. Ultimately, though, they transcend human experience. What makes religious violence particularly savage and relentless is that its perpetrators have placed such religious images of divine struggle—cosmic war—in the service of worldly political battles. For this reason, acts of religious terror serve not only as tactics in a political strategy but also as evocations of a much larger spiritual confrontation.
According to Juergenmeyer’s argument cosmic war can be contracted to a triad: the past, the future, and human’s perception of the first
Violence, it has been a main tool in the Christian arsenal since the middle ages. From the Crusades to the Inquisitions of Spain, violence is ever prevalent. Even in this day and age, intolerance and violence continue to be preached. But is this violence an instrument of God or man? Is violence an inherent part of this religion? Some would say that it is indeed built in to the very fabric of its being. The Old Testament is full of the smiting of infidels and those who defy God. The Book of Revelations tells of the violent and fiery demise of this entire planet. There are instances of mass genocide, the killing of innocent children, holy wars, you name a violent act and God has called for it. The story of
Warfare and violence has been a part of human life since before history was recorded. As time goes, and war still is a part of life, there is an ongoing debate on whether war and violence are inevitable. War is clearly evitable with the way humans were in the past, as well as how their closest known biological relatives act. By examining history, as well as the looking at the behavioural evidence of other primates, it is clear that warfare and violence is not inevitable.
this because all we do is work with our hands and use our brain a lot.
If God could have made the world without evil and suffering, why is the world full of evil and suffering? This is the question The Quarrel raises in terms of the Holocaust. According to Webster’s dictionary, quarrel implies a heated, verbal dispute typically between two friends. The two friends in The Quarrel, Chaim, an agnostic writer, and Hersh, a rabbi, become caught up in a quarrel as to why such a good God could allow such evil to be present in the world. This essay will discuss the unexplainable evil that threatens our sense of meaning and purpose by exploring the major issues of theodicies and anti-theodicies in The Quarrel. Exploring these theodicies and anti-theodicies is important in understanding why evil exists rather than explaining the science behind what causes evil.
He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak: as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”[v] Though Jastrow treats the issue as settled and declares that scientists have finally been “defeated,” it is too early to reach any judgements on the implications the new cosmology has for both science and religion. Our image of the origin of the universe is not yet complete and further investigations must be conducted before the towel is thrown in. Science has still much to offer to help us understand how the universe came to be. Therefore, let us now attempt to solve the cosmic mystery of creation by referring to the great scientific minds as our guide. Let us now rewind the story of the big bang and look into the origins of the universe.
In the monotheistic religious traditions of Christianity and Islam, one role of God (or Allah) is to limit or control aggressions among humankind. In these religious traditions, God establishes an ideal or standard for the righteous use of force by followers of the faith. These standards, or just war traditions, address details of when to use force to solve
“wars launched by man to annihilate his fellow man” and the outcome of those wars, where “the only vanquished remains man”
Until recently, oracles have struggled to understand just what commenced at the beginning of the world. Now, a group of Oracles at Delphi may just have unsealed the strongest piece of evidence yet for the Celestial War Theory in an ostensibly unimportant object—a rock. For readers who may be unfamiliar with this exposition, it states that many eons ago, a great battle ensued between Zeus and his father, Cronus, for control over the universe. This conflict for universal dominion rose about due to Cronus eating all of his children. Appalled by the devouring her children, Rhea, Cronus’ wife, devised a plan to liberate her children. She gave Cronus a rock to eat instead of her child. Because of this, the saved child, Zeus, grew up to overthrow
Religious intolerance and violence, we see terrifying examples of it every day on the news. But, why? Why are there atrocities committed in the name of God? How can people who are trying to get closer to God be so crude and violent towards one another? Will compassion ever rule and there ever be an end to the brutality?
The conquering of principalities and powers of darkness which enables the believer to overcome the enemy’s strategies for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God is spiritual warfare. The Christian’s weaponry is an armament from the Commander-in-Chief, our Lord, that is masterful in securing the victory for the cause of Christ. Now, more than ever, time is of the essence for the soldiers of God to herald the call and assemble the warriors in preparation for the concluding conflict.
Mankind is dramatically transformed by warfare, which evokes the virtues presumed fit during a time of peace. Man’s love for his culture has driven them to savagery throughout history. By using civilization as a motive for war, Muslims and Christians alike were deemed as hypocritical. They challenged the idea that warfare was only intended for self-defense. Christians and Muslims misinterpreted their sources of authority and used holy writings as a strategy to justify their moral preconceptions and barbarity. They fought without a being terrorized and used spiritual counsel to cover over their actions. The contradictory behavior of Christians and Muslims have shown their belief systems in a new light, explained what was considered lawful
The debate between whether religion cause war or not based on their impression of religion; furthermore, it is unreasonably clear about what does and does not permit like a religion. Countries such as Islam are fated while certain others, like nationalism, are subjectively ignored. Authors used different theories such as absolutist, divisive, and absurd to explain why religion is so predisposed to violence. Sometimes authors combine these arguments to make their case.
As a global collective, the human past is purely one of conflict. Power struggles are widespread and unique in context, but these struggles are not special in the presence or complexity of the self-versus-other conflict within them. One of the strongest examples for this assertion is the First Crusades. At face value, any observer can immediately take notice of the separation between those of Christian faith and those of Islamic faith. If additional diligence in research is provided, any one of these observers begins to find the endlessly deeper self-versus-other struggles present on both sides, specifically amongst the Christian military. Numerous accounts from Christian actors serve to support this argument; the recorded thoughts of both soldiers and intellectuals detail the surprising amount of divisions between what should be the Christian united. The relationship between the self and the other present in the mindset of the actors of the Crusades shows that a definite, dynamic, yet necessary division between all groups of people exists, no matter the already established bonds of any collective.
Since many religions have started in the Middle East, it has become the center for erupting conflicts. For instance, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been in the news for many reasons. Both groups want control of the God given land that they both claim is theirs, according to God, and what had happened in the past. The result of the conflict is religious terrorism (PBS, 1). Continuing, some Middle Eastern politics have been in conflict, even dividing communities of the
In Israel Jews and Arabs have been in conflict for hundreds of years because they both share religious grounds in Israel. Since the founding of Israel in 1948 there has been continuous conflict between Israel and Arab