How Religion and Violence Intertwine

    How Religion and Violence Intertwine

Introduction

The connection between violence and religion is complex because it mixes moral and

spiritual concerns. The primary questions which emerge in the event of any terrorist attack are

whom are the people engaged in the act, and what is the motive behind the attack. These primary questions become more complicated when religious ideologies enter the equation as religion is expected to offer peace rather than conflict. Whether the offenders are ISIS militants in the Paris assaults, Syrian conflict militants, or Christians in the United States bombing abortion clinic. This paper seeks to analyze the intertwining of religion and violence, focusing on the motives behind religious conflicts.https://penstrokeswriters.com/?p=341&preview=true

Discussion

The main argument presented by Hany Abu-Assad in his research shows how cultural violence especially brought by different religions, including the Arabs or Muslims, results in the death of innocent civilians. The director argues that he could almost complete the film due to the strenuous and challenging negotiations between Palestine and Israel authorities. Israel, a land built as the state of the Jewish nation, accommodates all individuals but denies Palestinians citizenship proving the kind of dehumanizing Palestine faces. These arguments are usually violent or infighting among the two groups, considering they hold different beliefs (“Paradise Now.” Abu Assad). One of the factors to consider in analyzing the links between religion and violence is the place of their beliefs in promoting terrorist attacks. The religious principle contributing to authoritarianism and violent behavior has led to intolerance towards individuals with differing religious views (Munson, p.234). Authoritarianism and violent behavior have created an environment of brutality and misuse of religious beliefs by devious political figures. The lack of love for religious beliefs core over their wicked personal purposes has contributed to violence.

Every instance of religion being associated with violence appears different. As a result, it is hard to generalize our understanding of the connection between religion and war. All these Press reporters, government leaders, and scholars have made gross generalizations concerning the role of religion in violence due to ignorance about the particularity of each war. Those perspectives can be observed in the ideas that underpin government decisions and media stories, and the scholars proposed causal theories concerning terrorist attacks (Juergensmeyer, p11). Brutality is rooted in religious devotion. They appreciate their religious boundaries, which create right from wrong and distinguish pure from the impure. The religious groups who consider themselves pure fight against the impure to advance their religious ideologies and satisfy their own beliefs because they do not know any better (“Paradise Now.” Abu Assad). The act of unity from Christianity, mixed with Judaism’s desire for retaliation, and Islam’s militant approach are all strategies for promoting specific religious views and demanding violent attacks. In each one of the cases, the strategies lead to an act of religious violence, and the believers maintain the religious boundaries to justify their actions.

The exclusivity in religious groups has led to exemption and no accommodation towards others and stereotyping, which lay a foundation for violence and war. Religious exclusivity is seen in how several Islam and Jews view their religious values as essential but do not include opposite religious views from other groups. As a result, most of these religious believers fail to accept how their own beliefs might have resulted in conflict (Juergensmeyer, p12). In the long run, it becomes simpler for individuals to criticize religion whenever it does not align with their groups. Research shows that most people in the United States and Europeans believe that Islam has violent issues (Henry, p8). This type of Stereotyping creates a toxic environment of religious intolerance of specific groups within the community.

Another crucial factor in religious violence is the connection between

political government and religious groups. Some who embrace the belief that “Islam is the root

of the terrorist attacks” believe that Muslims have a unique interaction with the government.

However, this is not the case, as history shows that religion frequently serves as an excuse for

public superiority over anyone who opposes it (Juergensmeyer, p12). In the past few years, there

has been violent protest with the activists blurring lines of authority between the church and

the state. They look back to religious traditions to legitimize their aggression. Several analysts

have noted that present religious disputes are rarely concerning religion. Instead, they are over

territorial boundaries, leadership, and power, all of which are framed in religious terms (Munson,

p240). There is far less acceptance among the overall religious believers for the idea that

religion, in general, promotes acts of violence. We saw the surge in religious intolerance in the

past few years; most individuals still see religion as if it is something positive, at least in their

very own religion. This mindset is the same all over.

Conclusion

This paper set out to discuss the intertwining of religion and violence, with a critical focus on the motives behind religious violence. The discussion has shown the place of beliefs in religious wars through the advancement of exclusivity in religious principles and intolerance of specific religions. In addition to that, the discussion on how religion and violence intertwine has shown how difficult it is to generalize all religious violence due to their respective natures and the danger of stereotyping all kinds of religious violence. Lastly, the discussion has shown that political ideologies play a crucial role in pushing for religious-based violence, and it is false to say that religion is the cause of violence and wars.

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