Wk 5 Final Paper

Brea Sylvester

RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE ! 2

Introduction

The persistent spread of extremist violence throughout the world is a considerable alarm

and concern today. This is mainly because the violence is mostly connected with religion. For

instance, the mass shootings in Orlando, Florida, which targeted people of a particular sexual

orientation was associated with religious sentiments. The shots caused 49 deaths and 53 injuries,

the worst mass shooting in the US. It has also been observed that religiously motivated violence

by Muslims and Boko Haram have affected both Christians and Muslims in West African

countries. As such, religiously motivated violence has been a common feature in the past

histories and also current realities in significant religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Judaism,

Buddhism, Christianity, as well as other minor religions. The violence takes many different

forms such as weapons, hate speech, or other kinds of violence attacks (Basedau, Pfeiffer &

Vüllers, 2014). Religion has also been associated with hatred, seizures, and oppression against

specific communities or groups of people. As such, it is essential to explore this topic in-depth to

unearth the history of religious conflict and violence since there is no much research which has

provided a proper account of such conflicts. This paper will add to the available research on

religiously-motivated violence, by exploring causes and origin religious conflict and violence, its

impacts, as well as the way forward for peace to prevail.

Background information on religiously motivated violence in the world.

There has been a tremendous rise in religion-based violence in the past decades. Among

the instances in history is the jihad and authority struggle between the Shia and Sunni Islam from

the Middle East. There has also been persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar as well as the wars

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between Muslims and Christians in Africa. A study carried out recently shows that there has been

an increased occurrence of religious-based violence related to harassing women, especially for

violation of their religious beliefs and practices (Selengut, 2017).

It is essential to realize that religious-based hostilities affect all religions in the world.

There has been increased killings and other kinds of violence across the globe as a result of the

religious hostilities even in nations that are not directly affected by the religious wars. For

instance, massive killings have been rampant in minor countries such as Iraq, Nigeria, Syria,

Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, among others. Wars between Islam and Jewish religions have

also risen in Europe. Additionally, the Hindu religion is threatened by other religions in

approximately 18 nations. Among the countries characterized by utter religious limitations

include India, Egypt, Russia, Turkey, and Indonesia (Bremmer, 2018).

Why should religions perpetrate such violence while they are perceived to champion for

peace and tolerance amongst people? Different scientists have studied various religions in a quest

to establish the reason behind their actions. It has been discovered that some of the religious

activists defend their actions based on theological grounds. However, such allegations are

opposed to arguments that religious violence does not display ethical works at all but a violation

of religious beliefs (Larsson, 2017).

On the other hand, some scientists have established that religions have mostly led to

violence and hostilities for the reason that they fuel inevitabilities while they approve self-

sacrifice. Others argue that both the hierarchical and nonhierarchical religious practices can be

interpreted to defend violence and hostility among people. Consequently, many religious

activists have fallen victims of such kinds of disturbance while they also victimize other citizens

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(Juergensmeyer, 2017). In different occasions, mass violence has increased when the country and

religion are entangled. Unfortunately, the actions seem to be rising rather than reducing.

Religion-based hostilities incorporate different forms of violence from intimidation,

outright wars, harassments as well as internment to terrorism. Such hostilities seem to arise in

instances when the core values of a particular religion are challenged. In such a case, the

challenged belief tend to fight the other religions within the region with the assistance of the

religious leaders. Such activities lead to increased physical hostility in different nations (Nellis &

Siddiqui, 2018).

Arguably, the religious leaders have been criticized to not act towards stemming religion-

based violence. This is because they do not publicly condemn the actions perpetrated by the

religious activists and thus the religious believers presume the activities as complicit. This is

ironical for the reason that the religious leaders amongst other believers have previously taken

part in peace mediations and championing calmness in different regions. They have also been

found helping the needy and especially those who have been affected by wars. It, therefore, beats

logic why the same religious leaders fuel the religious-based violence against other religions.

Solutions to the religious-based violence in the world today

The religious leaders should intervene towards preventing and countering incitements to

religious violence and hostility. They should be trained in ways of recognizing the dissimilarities

between hate and offensive speech and hostility and violence incitement. They should also

establish ways of diagnosing the issues in the right ways so that they can differentiate between

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political-based, ethnic-based, and religious-based violence. Additionally, religious leaders should

play their role in minimizing tensions through responding to incitements soon enough before

they cause massive effects. The leaders also need to select the most committed and influential

religious leaders amongst them so that they can end tensions where they seem to be high. The

followers of different religions should also get actively involved in preventing the violence

incitements for their respective faiths. They should cooperate with the leaders in finding better

ways of handling religious conflicts (Buc, 2015). They may come into agreements which, when

implemented, would result in peaceful coexistence among people of different religions. Such

interventions by leaders would play a key role in minimizing or even ending the issue of

religious violence in the world.

Inter-religious activities would also play a key role in minimizing violence against

different religions. Different followers of various faiths should find a common theological

ground from their own beliefs, that confirm the values and standards of universal maintenance of

human rights. Additionally, religious leaders may establish inter-religious alliances through

which they can communicate and carry out joint missions. They should ensure that the unions

aim at building and strengthening interrelationships between people from different religious

faiths (Burridge & Sacks, 2017). The inter-faith leaders should also collaborate with the media in

a bid to publicize joint efforts towards the wider society. Establishment of mutual networks of

faith-based leaders would also play a significant role in strengthening harmony amongst the

people from different religions and consequently minimize religious-based violence amongst

people. It is also essential that religious observatories be created so that they can establish the

root causes of offensive speech towards religion and also the source of religious violence

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incitements (Sacks, 2017). These will end religious-based violence as the perpetrators of such

activities are punished for violence incitement.

Conclusion

In conclusion, religious-based violence has come to rise in the recent past. Different

religions tend to fight against each other, leading to massive killings among nations. The sad

thing is that these hostilities are continually increasing with no signs of an end. Therefore, there

is a need for the religious leaders, the faithful believers, and the entire community at large to join

hands towards fighting the societal issues.

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References

Basedau, M., and Schaefer-Kehnert, J. (2018). Religious discrimination and religious armed

conflict in sub-Saharan Africa: an obvious relationship?. Religion, State and Society,

47(1), pp.30-47.

Bremmer, J. (2018). Religious violence and its roots: A view from antiquity. In Reconceiving

Religious Conflict (pp. 30-42). Routledge.

Buc, P. (2015). Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror: Christianity, Violence, and the West.

University of Pennsylvania Press.

Burridge, R. A., & Sacks, J. (Eds.). (2017). Confronting Religious Violence: A Counternarrative.

SCM Press.

Juergensmeyer, M. (2017). Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence (Vol.

13). Univ of California Press.

Larsson, J. P. (2017). Understanding religious violence: Thinking outside the box on terrorism.

Routledge.

Nellis, G., & Siddiqui, N. (2018). Secular party rule and religious violence in Pakistan. American

political science review, 112(1), 49-67.

Sacks, J. (2017). Not in God's name: Confronting religious violence. Schocken.

Selengut, C. (2017). Sacred fury: Understanding religious violence. Rowman & Littlefield.