RELIGIONS CAUSE CONFLICT

Kyle Rudy
Kyle Rudy
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08/04/2020
Introduction

Religion ultimately creates more conflict then it creates peace, the crusades, holocaust,

and many more conflicts from many other religions. They all have one thing in common religion

caused them. Many religions teach peace and love, yet the concept of religion itself breeds

conflict and misunderstanding. These same teachings of peace and love become conflict as the

sides start to see their views as the only path forward. Many times, this ingrained thought of “my

way or the highway” breeds not only contention but extremist views. “Violent extremism is

defined by the FBI as “encouraging, condoning, justifying, or supporting the commission of a

violent act to achieve political, ideological, religious, social, or economic goals.”” (FBI) and

Merriam Webster defines extremism as “1: the quality or state of being extreme 2: advocacy of

extreme measures or views “. The overlap of sacred spaces makes each group believe they have

ownership of that place. Religion is a complex subject that is so gray in definition that it is easy

to go to extremes to make a point.

Conflicts of all sizes

Many conflicts are religious in nature, I remember growing up seeing on the news

countless reports of extremists being at the heart of the way the news painted the conflict.

Reading about the crusades, and even hearing in a religious school that the other religions were

wrong, and our duty was to convert others, force our opinions on others. That was a Christian

school that taught of God’s love and forgiveness. It is easy to believe that religion fosters peace

and understanding, however at some point that love, understanding, and belief all can become

conflict. “Christians are facing conflicts among themselves. Roman Catholicism is experiencing

divisions between conservatives and liberals.” (Fisher and Rinehart). The conflict goes beyond
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internal conflict, it extends clear into inter-religion conflicts, which could be violent or non-

violent. “In many parts of the highly volatile Middle East, where Jesus’ followers first carried

Christianity, Christian minorities are now facing severe persecution from extremist Muslim

groups.” (Fisher and Rinehart).It doesn’t end with Christianity and Islam. Hinduism and Sikhism

has had conflicts in the past as well. “Sikhs and Hindus lived side by side in mutual tolerance

until 1978 to 1992, when violent clashes occurred over some of the policies of the Indian

government. Sikh separatists wanted to establish an independent Sikh state, called Khalistan,

with a commitment to strong religious observances and protection for Sikhs from oppression and

exploitation by the much larger Hindu community.” (Fisher and Rinehart)

Conflict over religion is inevitable, it is a core priceable of being human. One of the

reasons for this is the nature of religious following. The teachings create a form of groupthink,

groupthink or ““The members’ firm belief in the inherent morality of their group … enable them

to minimize decision conflicts … especially when they are inclined to resort to violence. ...

‘Since our group’s objectives are good,’ the members feel, ‘any means we decide to use must be

good.’ This shared assumption helps the members avoid feelings of shame or guilt about

decisions that may violate their personal code of ethical behavior.” - Irving L. Janis, Victims of

Groupthink” (FBI). The power of that group think comes from people’s need for religion, this

strong need can bring people to a psychological impasse that makes them want to “eradicate”

false religions. “Throughout history, huge numbers of people have been killed in the name of

eradicating “false” religions and replacing them with the “true” religion.” (Fisher and Rinehart).

This same psychological impasse can cause internal conflict in the followers of a faith, one

where guilt can control their actions. “If people try to leave their religion for the sake of their

mental health, they may be haunted with guilt that they have done a terribly wrong thing.
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Religions thus have the potential for wreaking psychological havoc on their followers.” (Fisher

and Rinehart).

Conflict is just the nature of religion, despite teachings of love, detachment from the

physical, as well as teachings of forgiveness. Conflict is unavoidable, even when working

towards a common goal, as seen in everything from business to family. Think to the last time

you and a family member had conflict over something totally irrelevant to any real purpose.

Was it really worth anything? Conflict is like that. It can have all the purpose in the world but at

the same time it has no further purpose. Religion is one of those items, the purpose of the conflict

seems so relevant and purposeful, until you realize it is going against those same principles. Yet

the end never comes each side sees a view or site as the be all end all their point of view.

The combination of groupthink, psychological play, and nature of conflict. Is what makes

religion such a huge and violent power, politically and socially. The concept of religion brings

all these powers to a head, The Crusades were a call on Christians to take the Holy Land from

the Muslim people. It was actually called for by the Pope of Rome called on the knights of

Europe to seize the city of Jerusalem, in the process they slaughtered most of the Jewish and

Muslim population (Shuster). Sikhism has also had its issues with institutionalized groups of the

religion acting on beliefs. “In 1998, factions of a Canadian gurdwara had a bloody fight over the

issue of using chairs and tables in the langar rather than the tradition of sitting in rows on the

ground.” (Fisher and Rinehart)

Conclusion

Religions cause conflict, that is the unavoidable nature of religion, Religions for the

greater part do not mean to cause such conflict. They can even give people hope and stability.
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Yet the nature of ideals, rules that are unbendable and groups that judge the members all help

build a foundation of conflict that is hard to not only over come or ignore but fix. The facts of

groupthink, and psychological play add and compound the problems of conflict not just in one’s

own psyche but all the way to global ideals and communication. Conflict is a beast with many

faces and many tails. If one is not careful the fangs and stingers will strike, creating more

conflict as conflict will breed conflict. Not just in one or two ideologies but in them all.

Works Cited
FBI. What is Violent Extremism? 14 July 2020. <https://www.fbi.gov/cve508/teen-website/what-is-
violent-extremism>.

Fisher, Pat Mary and Robin Rinehart. Living Religions 10e. n.d.

Shuster, Mike. The Middle East and the West: The Crusades. 14 July 2020.
<https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3854466>.