Justin Bresson
May 11, 2017
Overholt
Contemporary Literature Paper
Effects of Strong Religion and Nationalism In Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, the reader is faced with a futuristic world that at first glance appears to be distant not just in time, but also in the state of society. However, upon further examination, this alien world is in fact disturbingly reminiscent of our present day society and international relations. Similar to now, we witness a world where there is a downturn in religion, nations are turning to fierce nationalism, and the international community is held together by a few tenuous alliances. Both religion and nationalism have the power to accomplish great things by uniting a people in the strongest way possible; however,
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In the book, similar to now, we see that America has become increasingly nationalistic and that, less similar to now, the international community only continues to cooperate when there is a common threat to the world and then that cooperation is promptly tossed out when the common threat of the Buggers is eliminated. However, one trend that is very similar to now is the decrease of the importance of religion in our daily lives. For example, in the novel, Ender’s parents practice their religion sporadically at best, which is not helped by the fact that they live in a situation where the state actively discourages the practice of religion through its policies, such as limiting families to only having two children (Card p. 23). From 2007 to 2014, the percentage of people who identified as being unaffiliated with a religion in the United States increased by 6.7 points (Wormald). This a drastic decrease in the amount of persons practicing a religion and this is in the United States, where religion was intimately tied with the creation of our country and its ideals. If the numbers can change so drastically here then it is imminently clear that the popularity of religion is declining in the West overall. Like nationalism there are positive aspects to religion, in fact many would contend those of religion far outweigh that …show more content…
No, tomorrow we won’t be sending children into space to be abused, maimed, or even killed all for the sake of a common good. But, if nothing is done now today will be remembered as the day we began sliding into the this valley of the shadow of death. For this reason we must fight the growth of blind nationalism in our country and promote a unified humanity through international discourse, lest the shadows be closer than we wish to think. We must remember that, while it may feel good in the moment to eschew the chains of our ancestors, we must be wary and ensure that in our rush for individuality we do not simply change the ideal to which we are
Huffington post says, “religious practice and affiliation has greatly declined in the united states in the last 50 years”(Blumberg). Change has happened and it’s not bad but its evolved into something different from the
Before mid-seventeen century, people in Americans lived as colonist with established churches. After the King was defeated, members of the Church of England refused to stay loyal to the fallen King. They opted to grow a new church branch in America, the Protestant Church. Religious diversity grew further under the Declaration of Rights that became the open door to guaranteeing religious toleration. Conversely, even after winning and moving toward separation of church and state, many remained using the traditional emotion of the European system that imparts the significance of morality and respect for authority. By the 1800’s many people were ready for a spiritual growth and individual religious diversity. As specified in Liberty University’s
Taking a look at what’s going on in the world today, I can’t help but think about our future. About the children that we are raising in the middle of this chaotic place we call earth. We would think that after all the suffering and hatred throughout history by now, we would have found a peaceful way to express our difference and celebrate them as well; however, that is not the case. In many cases we think that what is done today will not affect necessarily affect the future, however, there is concrete evidence that contradicts this thinking.
Even today, divisions in groups have been as a result of continued differences among the uniting groups. Humans have a tendency to incline towards the protection of their interest’s aid favors of their perceived groups. Such favourism makes them advocate fully for their interests posing a challenging opposing side to the interests of their unperceived groups. Many nations today are faced with such opposing groups having differing interests and ideals. People advocating for similar ideals tend to create strong ties of
On a superficial level, Inherit the Wind is an attack on the constraints of religion, but upon closer inspection it communicates individual thought and intellectual growth as being mankind’s greatest miracles. By contrasting an idea with a cathedral, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee draw attention to the sanctity of human thought (Lawrence Lee 59). Thought, despite its fragility, must be protected, for if humanity loses the freedom to think, humanity loses the ability to grow and wallows in the muck of ignorance.
Religion, whether we realize it or not, is a major element of American society (and also worldwide history). For many, religion is a significant part of their cultural identity. Religion plays a part in all levels of politics and is often an aspect of community events and organizations. Everyday, we all interact with people who have different religious backgrounds and personal beliefs. Children born into religious families are very connected with their religions from birth and this affects the way they will see the world for the rest of their lives. Even those who later explore other faiths or convert to other religious ideas will be affected in
Samuel Huntington sees an emerging world organized on the basis of "civilizations". Societies that share cultural affinities cooperate with each other and the efforts to force a society into another civilization will fail; countries gather around the leading States of their civilization. This description of the process of new structures of international relations that Huntington sees developing, leads him to consider that the greatest risks of violence and confrontation lie in the Westerns’ claims to universality, which are leading them to increasingly get into conflict with other civilizations, particularly Islam and China; local conflicts, especially between Muslims and non-Muslims, generate new alliances and lead to an escalation of violence, which will usually lead the dominant states to make an attempt to stop them.
“Nationalism cannot only aggravate ethnic relations within the state, but it can also spill over borders and increase the likelihood of international conflict”
Huntington’s initial article argued that in the post-Cold War era the fundamental source of conflict would not be ideological or economic, but cultural. He continues by arguing that nation states will continue to be the most powerful actors in global affairs, but the conflicts of global politics that are to occur in the future will happen between
Boccaccio also infused The Decameron with his opinions on the Catholic church, which even at that time was Italy’s primary religious institution. Catholicism may have been popular, but Boccaccio was very blatant in showing that he did not approve of the Church’s conduct. In The Decameron, religion was practiced by fools, the church was a breeding ground for mischief, and “marriage” was a transaction devoid of meaning.
As Peter Berger (1967) explained religion, it is a sacred canopy under which the entirety of life is explained and regulated. Secularization theory as explained by Weber holds that modernity challenges this sacred canopy through two major ways: increased cultural and structural pluralism and increased primacy of economic pursuits (Emerson and Hartman, 2006:129). With globalisation accelerating in the post Cold War era, causing mass migration across borders, increased interstate interaction and huge growth in the global financial market, it was predicted that religious influence would be relegated to the private sectors of social life by ripping the sacred canopy, and leaving people with, at best, sacred umbrellas (Smith 1998). Despite this, what secularization theory did not anticipate is that the demystification of the world provided within it the seeds both for the re-mystification of the world and resistance to the demystification (Berger, 1992:1). Hence the world today, with some exceptions, is as furiously religious as it ever was, in some places more so than ever (Berger, 1999:8). Since the 1970s there has been a particular rise in religious fundamentalist movements, as signalled by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 led by Ayatollah Khomeini, which led to the establishment of the first Islamic State. As Almond et al note, fundamentalist movements have risen to the highest levels of power in Sudan in 1993, Afghanistan and India in 1996, and in India again
Putnam and Campbell’s “America Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” does a better job of foreshadowing the future religious landscape in the United States. The two authors use the concept of ‘shocks, aftershocks, and earthquakes’ in order to convey religious turbulence in the United States. The earthquake of the 1960s was the most significant indication of change in which there was a steep decline in religious observance (Putnam and Campbell, 97). The 1960s was a transitional time for the United States as the Civil Rights Movement, immigration reform, and the sexual revolution dominated American culture. These events displaced religion from the lives of Americans and thus became a clarion call for the transition away
The World Leaders didn’t completely remove religion from the equation, but cherry picked the plumpest and juiciest parts, while discarding the mushy and rotten bits that nobody wants: sacrifice, repentance and remorse. In Mustapha Mond’s own words, “Christiantiy without tears”. But the religion they put as a place holder is merely a shell of what could be something meaningful, and it’s wasted potential and
The religions around the world are practiced in America such as Christianity,Islam,Jewish,etc and this country still remains one of the most religious nations in the world today.Population also usually can be participates in organized religious practice while others can choose to engage in a private spirituality.Besides that,religion can be describes as spiritual belief in, worship of, or obedience to a God and considered to be divine or to have control of human destiny.I believe the percentages in American people that believe in God still be higher in 50 years ahead,but the religious practicing probably will decreasing.It has many factors such as age, race, gender, economic class, and other demographic factors that can affect American
Leonard Binder states, "Most observers see little good coming out of an ethnic narcissism that conduces to the demonization of the other." (p. 6) These conflicts often escalate to the point where the original crisis fades into the background, and the participants lose sight of it altogether. Each group believes that when one gains, the other loses automatically. Similarly, when one group compromises, it is also a loss. This is particularly difficult when religion is involved because groups will not compromise their beliefs and ethnic loyalties are very strong. Additionally, nation-states include ethnic strategies into their government, foreign policy, and politics in general. (Binder 8)