From Violence to Peace

Part 4. The Role of Religion

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Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion
appear to be the most inveterate and distressing,
and ought most to be deprecated.

~George Washington~

Established religions have been around for centuries but not from the beginning of human life on earth. Let’s start this post with a brief look at the various religious and moral traditions.

Pre-religious times

People did not always have established religions. In early times, before civilization, people wandered the earth, noticed its splendor and marveled at it. Even before language, it appears that our ancestors held a reverence for Earth, were thankful for its bounty and were thankful for what it provided. In this sense, Earth was considered sacred long before the evolution of formal religion. Early cave paintings suggest such a reverence and appreciation.

Before the establishment of religions, early civilizations made no distinction between things of this world and things beyond it. Earth’s resources were accepted for what they offered nomads and developing civilizations. No one saw a need to convince others to think the way they did and early people often shared beliefs and borrowed from each others’ traditions. Eventually various religious traditions formed around the world. Let’s look at the major ones.

Hindu tradition

The Hindu tradition arose about 5000 years ago, and no one figure or person is revered as its founder. Hinduism professes several major beliefs:

• The soul or “atman” is at the center of each living being.
• The goal of life is to become one with the supreme soul.
• Karma is your destiny or fate.
• You can choose good or bad karma.
• Consistently choosing good karma leads to a state of happiness in the next life.
• Reincarnation is a process of souls migrating from one body to another, animal or human until oneness with the supreme soul is reached.

Hindus believe that there are many paths to reaching God instead of just one as many other religions teach.

Buddhist tradition

Buddhism first appeared 2500 years ago as a way of life and a religion described by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha. Buddhism is by nature tolerant of other religions. The tradition is based on the four noble truths:

• Life consists of suffering.
• Suffering is caused by cravings which deprive you of happiness.
• Suffering can be avoided by living in the present instead of focusing on the past or future.
• The noble eightfold path leads to an end of suffering.

Following this path includes acting morally, being fully aware of your thoughts and actions and developing wisdom by understanding the four noble truths as well as developing compassion with others.

Jewish tradition

Judaism has no formal set of required beliefs and stresses actions more than formal beliefs. However Maimonides, a revered medieval scholar, outlined a general list of Jewish beliefs as follows:

• God exists.
• God is one and unique.
• God is incorporeal or without a body.
• God is eternal with no beginning or end.
• Prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no other.
• The words of the prophets are true.
• Moses’ prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets.
• The written Torah–first 5 books of the Bible–and oral tradition–teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings–were given to Moses.
• There will be no other Torah.
• God knows the thoughts and deeds of men.
• God will reward the good and punish the wicked.
• The Messiah will come.
• The dead will be resurrected.

Within Judaism exists the Orthodox movement, emphasizing strict adherence to the original Jewish principles and practices. The Conservative movement stresses flexibility in interpretation of Jewish law. The Reform movement changed some aspects of orthodox worship and ritual to bring them into better compliance with the times. The Reconstructionist movement, more cultural than religious, does not hold Jewish law as binding but sees it as a guide to living in modern times.

Islamic tradition

Islam is a religion based on revelations by God (Allah) to Mohammed who lived from 570 to 632, coded in the Koran and the accounts of Mohammad’s life known as the hadith. Basic beliefs include:

• Allah as most perfect and excellent
• Angels who inspire the hearts of people to do good
• Prophets and messengers of God, who taught virtue through their example
• Books of God, including Jewish holy books and the Bible’s New Testament, containing guidance on how people should live and conduct themselves
• Life after death when all become aware of the results of good and bad deeds and face the consequences for how their lives were lived

Christian tradition

Christianity is a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Its core beliefs are as follows:

• Christianity is the fulfillment of the Jewish tradition.
• Jesus is the Messiah of the Jewish religion.
• He redeemed us from original sin which we inherited from Adam.
• He did this through his death and resurrection.
• God consists of three persons in one being: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• Original sin inherited from Adam is erased by baptism.
• The Ten Commandments guide daily life.
• The New Testament tells the story of Jesus and his early followers.
• Christian life consists of loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Secular tradition

Although not always choosing a religion, many people have adopted a set of moral principles by which they live their lives. These people are sometimes known as humanists. They take into account the needs and desires of others and try to stay in harmony with each other.

Many such people act in the same way as those who follow established religions. They try to live their lives in a way which will benefit others as well as themselves. Environmentalists show the same respect and awe for nature as those who see Earth as God’s creation and respect it in the way they live.

Religion and violence

The role of religion in the history of the world’s conflicts and wars has often been taken for granted. Indeed, many wars have been undertaken in the name of God and religion, its leaders insisting that they were acting in the name of God and as a way to glorify God. In the process, many people were killed to preserve religious traditions.

In a larger context than religion alone, Armstrong sees people as having an innate tendency toward empathy for other beings. Many people care for other people. Others who have been hurt by their fellow humans might find it easier to form relationships with animals that they adopt as pets or commune with in the wild.

Animal species, including human, depend on the destruction of other animals and plants for food in order to live. Yet this does not meet with our working definition of violence in that people do not generally want to see their fellow creatures suffer, even when they become our food. People generally seek humane ways to slaughter food animals. Yet there are some who enjoy seeing animals and even other people suffer, usually after a history of violent traumatic experience.

How people form their religious opinions

In the last post, I mentioned Karen Armstrong’s observation about the deep polarization in today’s world and its connection to social media and other electronic communications, such as news broadcasts which are often slanted toward one or another political view.

As with many other topics, people often oversimplify their perceptions of the world’s religions and the way religious adherents incorporate their beliefs into their daily lives. These days anyone can post anything on the Internet regardless of whether it has any basis in reality beyond the imagination of the person doing the posting. In face to face conversation, unsubstantiated statements are often ignored and quickly forgotten by the listener. Yet such statements can remain on the Internet indefinitely, giving them more weight than they deserve.

No matter what you read or hear and no matter how opinions come to you, before accepting what you hear, consider responding to opinions with Napoleon Hill’s question, “What is the evidence for what you say?” If there is none, the statement can be safely taken as mere conjecture.

Many opinions have been expressed over the years about the relationship between violence and religion. It is clearly not true that all religions are inherently violent or that the majority of the leading religions are inclined toward violence.

Roman and Greek worship of gods was part of the culture. For many centuries, people never viewed religion as separate from the government of their citizens. For a while, Christianity was identified with government in The Holy Roman Empire and later various countries which were closely identified with Christianity in general and the various sects which broke off from Christianity. The monastic tradition was an attempt to separate Church from State and return focus on spiritual rather than temporal concerns although the separation did not endure, at least in some European countries.

Over the years, wars have been fought in the name of religion such as the Crusades to retake the Holy Land in the name of Christendom. The Inquisition was designed to purify Christianity and protect it from what were considered evil influences and was famous for its frequent use of torture in the process.

The sexual abuse epidemic in recent years chiefly involved priests in the Catholic Church but also occurred among clerical and lay officials in other religions denominations. This abuse visited physical and psychological violence on youth. This development was not a direct result of religious belief but related to the exaggerated status of clergy and the inability of some of them to live up to standards which they set for others.

Christianity is not the only religion where violence had a place. Judaism and Islam both have texts authorizing and encouraging violence in some circumstances, but both also have texts supporting non-violence. Remember that religious communities and their teachings vary from time to time and are not necessarily consistent across the ages.

In recent times, Islam has been the focus of concerns about violence, particularly with what has been called radical Islam by some. As I said, the Koran is a series of documents thought to be revealed by Allah to Muhammad. These texts encouraged adherents to care for others, particularly in time of need.

In contrast, fighting back against those former adherents who threatened the Islamic community was also expected. Slaughter of non-combatants, women and children was forbidden. Rather than sanctioning violence toward unbelievers, Armstrong points out that the term Jihad originally meant “fighting against our inherent selfishness.” Suicide is also clearly prohibited. Although fighting is allowed in order to defend the Islamic people and their religion, revenge is not an allowable motivation and is to be left to Allah.

In light of these considerations, it seems clear that extremists perpetrating violence in the name of Islam act out of a distorted interpretation of Islamic tenets and traditions. As Armstrong puts it, “ISIS is no more authentically Islamic than the British National Party is typically British or the Ku Klux Klan genuinely Christian.” Yet the anger of Islamic extremists is not entirely without justification. They have come to see Western powers, chiefly the United States, as undermining their religion and culture.

The United States sees itself and its intervention in Middle Eastern countries as helping to bring them forward into the modern world. These countries sometimes view it as another country trying to impose its values on them, many of which seem sacrilegious and directly opposing their religious values. Yet military violence is not directly addressed in the Koran except for self protection.

Looking back to the time before the seventeenth century, little distinction was made in many countries between government and religion, and the two were often see as being one. In the 1700’s through the influence of John Locke, government and religion began to be seen as separate entities and the idea of secular states began to develop. In the Western world we accept this distinction as a matter of course while in Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran, the distinction is much less clear.

I have seen reference to the United States being founded as a Christian country. The facts indicate otherwise. The American Revolution was a secular undertaking against the imperialism of England. It was not motivated by religious ideals although religious freedom was seen as critical.

In any case, many of the founding fathers in America were certainly influenced by Deism rather than Christianity. They believed in God and incorporated their belief in the Declaration of Independence. The founders could be viewed as theistic rationalists. The divinity of Christ was not part of their belief and played no part in founding documents.

Religious liberty as well as personal liberty in the United States as put forth by the founding fathers applied mainly to white men and not to Native Americans, African slaves or indeed women. The meaning of freedom and who is entitled to it has evolved over the years. Yet the changes do not always apply in practice even after all these years.

Ayatollah Khomeini and Pope John XXIII agreed that unrestrained capitalism does violence to affected citizens and needs to be tempered by social justice and charity. Leaders of other religions as well as of Catholicism and Islam also support this position although large global corporations continue to challenge it by their actions.

Armstrong has this to say, “While the Koran certainly orders Muslims to come to the aid of their brothers, sharia law forbids violence against civilians and the use of fire in warfare, and it prohibits any attack on a country where Muslims are allowed to practice their religion freely.”

Despite this, terrorists, who often tend to have little knowledge of the Koran, believe that their acts including their own deaths by suicide constitute martyrdom earning them an eternal reward. Instead, these acts are political, representing a response to what they view as oppression and cruelty by others.

In light of this, it is not appropriate to blame Islam, its teachings or adherents in general as being responsible for acts of terrorists. Perhaps it would be useful to make a distinction here. Islam is a term which refers to the teachings and patterns of worship of the Islamic religion. It also refers to the community of adherents to the Islamic religion. Christianity, Judaism and Islam all come from the same tradition and are all closer to each other than to any other religions.

Since terrorists who act in the name of Islam are very much in the forefront with regard to concerns about terrorism, let’s take a little closer look at Islam. Muhammad was both a religious and political leader and led campaigns to establish and defend Islam. Islamic faith maintains a central importance in Muslim countries and in the lives of those who live in them, while the Jewish state of Israel has become much more secular in its government and does not conduct itself based on religious documents and principles.

Bernard Lewis in his book, The Crisis of Islam, made several points important to remember:

• Radical Islam, also referred to as Islamic Fundamentalism, is not a single coordinated movement but various splinter groups with their own agendas.
• Traditional Islamic texts do not support the exercise of terrorist acts, especially murder, especially when it involves bystanders not directly involved in a conflict with Muslims. Islamic law also clarifies that suicide is a major sin punishable by eternal damnation.
• Most of the members and particularly the leaders of radical groups see the American way of life as sinful and threatening to Islam. They see modern trends as exemplified in America and European countries, particularly France, as a departure from and betrayal of Islamic values threatening their way of life. The ideal solution to their way of thinking is to purify Muslim society by removing Western influences and restoring sharia law in accordance with which Muslims will again live.

In this and the previous post, we have seen many of the contributors to violence in our personal lives, in our communities, and globally. In the next post, we will work to understand peace and what we can do to make our lives more peaceful.