In Hermann Häring’s, Religion as a Source of Violence: Overcoming Violence in the Name of Religion (Christianity and Islam) and Working Hard to Overcome Violence in the Name of Religion, he focuses on the notion of violence in the name of religion and the role of religion in the name of peace. All religions know violence and killing are unacceptable, but when religion is questioned or disputed, violence is used as a means to protect ones authenticity or credibility. Violence is no longer an acceptable means to reconcile conflict. The use of non-violent tactics, communication, and formal steps to settle conflicts should be enforced to overcome violence and show reconciliation for past conflicts to create solidarity and trust amongst different religions.
Hermann Häring’s argues that religion only leads to violence when it is combined with other factors. In relation to the articles, when religion is combined with power it can lead to violence. Häring shows this relationship of violence and power with the Catholic and Islamic religions. Both have gained power over time with the use of violence. They are guilty of provoking and practicing violence to gain power and political action. The legacy of violence and religion begun at the beginning of Christianity and Islam. Both religions have showed an unwillingness to accept views other than their own and have shown inconsistent behavior with their own beliefs. The Christian religion is a religion of peace, love of one’s neighbor and one’s enemy (93). Islam is the belief of devoting oneself to the Will of God. Islam is concerned with the active shaping of a just world (95). Historically it was once a crime to commit heresy against the common belief of the community. Individuals who oppose...
... middle of paper ...
...d religion be taught in schools to help promote understanding of religion and to eliminate regions hatreds and myth that could lead to future animosity and genocide activity?
If the notion of Christianity is to love one’s neighbor and enemy, and history shows that Christianity is a religion deeply imbedded in violence, then why has nothing been done to stop war in the name of Christianity? If this violence and hatred has dated this far back, why hasn’t the church become more involved in restoring the churches image?
Works Cited
Beuken, Wim, and Karl-Josef Kuschel. "Overcoming Violence in the Name of Religion (Christianity and Islam)" Religion as a Source of Violence. London: SCM, 1997. 81-91. Print.
Beuken, Wim, and Karl-Josef Kuschel. "Working Hard to Overcome Violence in the Name of Religion." Religion as a Source of Violence. London: SCM, 1997. 93-109. Print.
Religion is one of the many factors that define an individual. So, any threat to a person’s beliefs is a threat to his or hers’ very being. The clash between Muslims and Christians is just one of the many groups with distinct differences and beliefs. Therefore, these differences in religion often influence political rivalries as well. Throughout history, someone observing world affairs may note that religion is a contentious issue; however, political tension emerges from this very issue in recent times. Doing so has labeled politics as the core of many conflicts worldwide. These battles between religions also inhibit agitation by one group against another, for gaining reputable land, wealth, and political power. Thus, politics is the primary
In his essay, Rodriguez believes that the diplomatic affairs we see on the evening news are merely being disguised as a religious war. The fight over oil or land when in reality it is the fight between whose side God is on, the attacks under the control of Al Qaeda when perhaps it’s the greed for power or world domination. According to Richard, these religious wars are allowing terrorism to become prevalent; often times within the same culture (147).
The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror is a book written by Bernard Lewis that ‘in particular charts the key events of the twentieth century leading up to the violent confrontations of today.’(Lewis) Lewis clearly and entirely pointed out key events explaining the choices to be made by the people of the Islamic faith. They must determine whether their religion takes its place alongside other religions in a global community, or whether it will revert back into conflict with non-Muslim nations.
Violent Jihad as a struggle against one’s enemies has its root in [these] situations. When the Islamic religion spread over the region, Jihad became a religious tenet and assumed the form of a peaceful, internal struggle to strive for the good and reject the evil in one’s action. Violent, external conflict was never r...
Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
In different circumstances using violence on behalf of religion has aided a reformation, or the spreading of the gospel. Other times, millions of people have died due to resistance. Some situations call for violence and others do not. However, there is a failsafe way of determining whether violence should be used on behalf of religion, or not.
"Center Update: Case Studies on Religion and Conflict." The Berkley Center. Georgetown University, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
According to Armstrong (2001), “The very word Islam, which means “surrender”, is related to the Arabic salam, or peace”(p. 48). Is Islam a violent religion? This is the issue that has been brought up by the class, and it will be debated towards the end of the semester. This question has been raised by many non-Muslims due to the numerous events that occurred throughout the years such as September 11, some managed to find the right answers while others are still doubting Islam and trying identify and understand how it is practiced and know it’s values in order to know whether it is violent or not.
Nelson, Jack. Is religion killing us?violence in the Bible and the Quran / Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.. 2003 Print.
Robinson, B.A. (2002, October 14). Islam: Is it a religion of violence or of peace.
In both given articles, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” by Bernard Lewis, and “The Roots of Muslim Rage Revisited” by Nicolaas J.E. van der Zee, argue about the enhancement of the Muslim fundamentalism with different perspectives; however, I believe that Lewis’ view may be quiet misleading to the actual perception. Lewis indicates that Muslim fundamentalism is conceived through the Muslim community’s oppression and dissatisfaction with the West’s political involvement, as well as “Islam is a source of aggression” . In defiance of Lewis’ opinion, the word ‘Islam’ comes from the word peace as well as the will of submission to God. The notion of aggression and violence that Lewis conceptualizes to be the headline of Islam does not have any supporting
“The trauma of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., which were quickly interpreted as religious as well as political phenomena, provoked yet another body of studies. On the other hand, general studies of the relationship between religion and violence are rare, and they often appear to be somewhat one-sided...
The clash between Muslims and Christians persists today. On September 22, 2013, a Christian congregation of about 500 people was violently infringed upon by two Taliban suicide bombers. As the church had been filled with innocent women and children, this devastating att...
Most religions specify that violence is not allowed and yet extremists will cause major destruction in the name of their God. However, some people are too quick to blame religion on terrorism (Winchester, 2). In actuality, it is the nature of human beings to prove that their way is right, there way of doing that is using fear and destruction (Winchester, 3). It is not religion that causes the terr...
Thacker, Justin. Does religion cause war? UCCF: The Christian Unions, Registered Charity number 306137, 9 January 2009. Web. 15 April 2012.