Religion As A Primary Force Of Violence

war is a Holy War. When people fight a Holy War they believe that they

In his article, "How Religion Can Lead to Violence", demonstrates a man who, however he's a philosopher and disturbed with religion, is totally mindful to what atheists and secularists have been stating for a large length of time. Gary clarifies the connection of religion to slim tolerance and the violence it can prompt.

Nationalism is a powerful force that can unite people working towards a common goal, but when it is taken to the extreme it can cause major disharmony in society, evident in the numerous genocides during the Age of Imperialism, the Fascist party's rise to power, and the Japanese’s unwillingness to surrender during World War II. Nationalism is dangerous, because it warps the minds of the individuals in the organization, creates prejudice and discrimination, and can be easily manipulated into a weapon against humanity.

In many cases it is natural to interpret the events of September 11th as purely evil, however, Lincoln argues that the terrorist attacks were profoundly and intensely religious. For this reason, Lincoln attempts to clarify what religion does and how it can be used to legitimate violent acts such as the terrorist attacks of September 11th. To support his argument, Lincoln offers a definition of religion that is more precise than the definition previously discussed in this essay. Lincoln argues that within religion there is a religious maximalist approach and a religious minimalist approach. The maximalist approach is the,“conviction that religion ought to permeate all aspects of social, indeed of human existence”(Lincoln 5). Essentially maximalists believe that religion should be considered the most important thing above all else. In contrast, minimalists believe that religion should be "restricted to an important set of (chiefly metaphysical) terms, protects its privileges against state intrusion but restricts its activity and influence to its specialized sphere”(Lincoln 5). Lincoln then goes on to define religion as having four parts. The four parts being; discourse, which contains speech acts that create a social reality in which people live, as well as, textual examples of “transcendence.” Secondly, there is practice which consists of the rituals and ceremonies of religion. Thirdly there is, community which refers to the people practicing the religion and constructing a religious world around it. Lastly there is, institution which is the recognized regulation and representation of the religion, its practices and community. All of these factors make up Lincoln’s more specific definition of

Almost all religions around the world are based on a belief. Almost every religion have certain rules and principles that order together within a society: Many people misunderstand and misinterpret the holy texts the Bible, Quran, Torah, and others fabricate. Religion is defined as faith to a higher being who one believes has created us. It has also been used as laws through history to stop the committing of crimes. In many religions, the consequences of breaking rules and regulations of the religion are burning in the pit of hell. Religion is man-made and was created for many reasons but mainly to keep peace and justice in the world. But the words can be manipulated and used as an excuse to start wars on this planet. This caused many to believe that the world would be a better place without religion.

Nationalism has played a crucial role in world history over the past centuries. It continues to do so today. For many, nationalism is indelibly associated with some of the worst aspects of modern history, such as the destructive confidence of the Napoleon’s army and the murderous pride of Nazi Germany. Large numbers of people, descent in their hearts, have carried out unbelievable atrocities for no better reason than their nation required them to. Authoritarian and totalitarian regime have crushed dissent, eliminated opposition, and trampled on civil liberties in the name of the nation.

Religion had a large effect on violence that broke out within the two empires. Within Islam, two sects reigned supreme. The Sunni and the Shiite. The Sunni believe that Muhammad's bloodline is not the rightful heir to becoming a caliph. Sunni believe that the next Caliph should be voted upon by the Islamic people based on merit. The Shiite believe that Muhammad's bloodline should reign supreme and the Caliphates should only follow lineage. This diametrical opposition directed the Sunni and Shiite to despise one another. Because of these conflicting ideals, riots, attacks, murders, and bloodshed occurred between the two sects. This raging controversy has continued to modern day. Christianity in the Byzantine Empire had bloodshed and destruction

How can power have a major impact on violent views and how can violence affect a person 's life? Violence is intended force to hurt another person physically, mentally and/or emotionally. Power is to have control over a person or group of people. When power and violence is collided together, it can cause major harm to others. Even though power can be used for good, it can also have a major impact on violence in a negative way as shown by three real-life examples which are ISIS, Hitler, and Malcolm X.

Collective acts of violence during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century became more prominent and apparent since the Civilizing Process meant that violence was no longer an inherent part of everyday life. Ideology, namely, ‘a historically rooted, descriptive and normative mental map of both the way the world works and the way the world should work’ , played a prominent role in influencing collective violence. This essay will focus primarily on pogroms and collective anti-Semitic violence in order to gain a more in depth understanding of collective violence. Anti-Semitism works particularly well to understand collective violence since it occurred throughout Europe, without being specific to one particular country or

Her religious indoctrinations allowed for her subjugation but ultimately, she broke free from her false consciousness and used her faith as a tool to fight oppression. However, this is an atypical response and there is a disconnection between teachings of the church and her own developed religious beliefs that empowered her to fight. The church as an institution can and has been used as a tool of oppression, Menchú recognizes this “Catholic Action and other religions and the system itself have all tried to keep us where we were. But I think that unless a religion springs from within the people themselves, it is a weapon of the system” (Menchú 157). In her own words the church is a weapon of the system, the system of oppression. However in time

Religion is such a sensitive subject because people are passionate about what they believe. But I've heard God get blamed for a lot of things that I think he has got nothing to do with. The president we just voted in, many evangelicals thought he was the most qualified candidate that represented them the best, you know regardless, of all the hateful things he spoke. 9/11 was in the name of God, killing people in the name of God. I just think sometimes humanity sneaks in and God has nothing to do with what we're doing. People will use religion as a scapegoat to avoid real issues and justify the mistreatment of other. In a way I religion because of the way it treats other that are different from them. I grew up in the church and the hypocrisy

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.

On, February 25, 1994, an armed Israelite, Baruch Goldstein, entered into a mosque in Hebron and open fired into a group of Muslims during their holy month of Ramadan. Goldstein, baring a Galil assault rifle and training from the Israeli army, killed twenty-nine muslims and wounded countless others (Wiles). His actions later inspired riots throughout the streets of Hebron, which resulted in approximately sixty deaths, and about 250 injuries. Goldstein was a Jew, and claimed his actions were inspired from the Torah (Wiles). This is not the only time religion has been used to justify the killing of innocent people. In fact millions have died in the name of religion, either as martyrs or victims of these horrendous crimes; but alas, religion is not the culprit of this otherwise unjustifiable action. Universal religious violence between Abrahamic religions runs rampant, as both it has historically been an issue and is still an issue today; yet the cause of this theological destruction is not based upon holy scripture, rather the violence is motivated by desire for political gain and control.

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

Throughout history, religion has proved to be the main source of social stability in different communities and cultural groups. Everything that is part of a societal system, including law, is influenced by religious beliefs and practices of that society. This being said, most religions are based on the theory that there is a single more powerful entity, that has control over aspects of which humans do not. For the longest time in history, sociologists have argued that peer group, political movements, schools and most importantly, the family to be agents of socialization. Because of this reason, they have ignored the role played by religion in the perpetuation of cultural as well as social