{"id":52331,"date":"2023-01-27T21:31:27","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T21:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/forusa\/?p=52331"},"modified":"2023-02-01T22:15:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T22:15:00","slug":"abuse-of-religion-to-foster-extremism-is-universal-phenomenon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/forusa\/2023\/01\/abuse-of-religion-to-foster-extremism-is-universal-phenomenon\/","title":{"rendered":"The abuse of religion to foster extremism is a universal phenomenon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Until recently, whenever Americans would express concern about religious extremism and violence, it would be in reference to Islam. The problems posed by the politicization and weaponization of religion, however, are deeper, more widespread and more dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several years ago, I moderated a panel discussion on \u201cUsing Religion to Justify Violence.\u201d The panelists, who included former government officials and prominent media analysts, focused their remarks exclusively on Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

When it was my turn to ask questions of the speakers, I attempted to broaden the conversation, asking pointed questions about then-President George W. Bush\u2019s penchant for saying that in executing the war against Iraq he was carrying out \u201cGod\u2019s will\u201d; or the growing threat of white \u201cChristian militias\u201d operating in remote areas of the U.S.; or the Christian evangelical movement\u2019s belief that Israel\u2019s conquest of Palestinian land and oppression of Palestinians was justified by biblical prophecy. The panelists would have none of it, and treated my questions as an annoying distraction from their discussion of Islam and Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just for the record, I have a Ph.D. in Comparative Religions and have spent extensive time studying both the Abrahamic faiths and the religions of India. With this background, I feel comfortable asserting that all of the world\u2019s major religions have groups and individuals who have used and are today using religion to justify violent behavior and extreme political objectives. In some countries, extremist and violent currents, far from being on the margins, are in the mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current ruling party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, headed by Narendra Modi, rode to power on a wave of extreme Hindu nationalism. Modi himself was for many years banned from entry into the United States for the role he played in fomenting anti-Muslim riots that took the lives of over a thousand. And in Sri Lanka, there are Buddhist militias who complain that Muslims are occupying \u201cBuddhist lands\u201d and have, therefore, sworn to wipe out the Muslim threat to their island country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christianity, of course, has not been immune from these extremist currents. One need not go back to the Crusades or even to the way the Christian religious language was used to mobilize support for the two world wars and other wars since that time. Back then, as patriotic crowds sang \u201cOnward Christian soldiers,\u201d Americans were taught that we were killing \u201cthe Godless Huns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past few years, we have become acutely aware of the extent to which right-wing extremist groups in the U.S. have come to rely on Christian symbols to validate their racism, xenophobia, penchant for violence and misogyny. Among the proponents of this Christian extremism are members of Congress and Republican candidates for high office \u2014 all of whom have embraced what they now call \u201cChristian nationalism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s the problem of extreme Jewish nationalism which has among its adherents numerous influential Israeli parties and political and religious leaders. A number of prominent rabbis have been quoted arguing that because \u201cthe souls of gentiles aren\u2019t human\u201d the commandment \u201cthou shall not kill\u201d doesn\u2019t apply to taking their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

By definition, faith is different from certainty\u2026. This is radically different from political ideology, which is always certain.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This problem, therefore, of the use of religion to justify an extreme political agenda is worldwide, as is the weaponization of religion \u2014 that is, the use of religion to validate violence against others. This is clear enough in the case of the Sri Lankan Buddhist militias, Modi\u2019s incitement against Muslims, al Qaeda\u2019s or Hamas\u2019 acts of violence against innocents or even those of the Jewish settlers who have tormented Palestinians in the occupied territories (one prominent faction of which is called \u201cGush Emunim\u201d \u2014 \u201cthe band of the faithful.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is, therefore, of critical importance that we understand, expose, and combat this problem of the politicization and weaponization of religion, which is the exploitation and abuse of religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first place, we must see it as a universal problem, plaguing all societies. No religion is immune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, we must understand that the reason why it occurs is less the fault of the particular religion in question. There are no justifications that can be found in any of the religions, as they have evolved over time, to justify the slaughter of innocents or the violation of their rights or dispossession of their properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who pluck a quote from teachings of the Buddha, the Vedas or the Upanishads, the Mosaic Law or the prophetic vision of Isaiah, the Qur\u2019an or the teachings of Jesus to validate their political ideology or justify their behavior are not so much carrying out their faith as they are using the language and scripture of their faith to validate their politics. The reason it works is because religious language is evocative and has power. It\u2019s one thing to say \u201cI\u2019m killing you because I want your land\u201d and quite another to say, as the Sri Lankan militants might say, \u201cthis is Buddhist land,\u201d or the Jewish extremists say, \u201cthis is the land God promised to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line is that discernment is in order. Faith is central to the understanding of religion. By definition, faith is different from certainty. It implies a belief in what is unknown. This is radically different from political ideology, which is always certain. When religious language is used to validate political ideologies, the mix becomes a lethal brew. Religion is no longer \u201cbelief.\u201d It is abused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question \u201cwhy and how does this occur\u201d has two answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first place, blame must be cast on groups and leaders who exploit the power of religious language to advance their political agenda. And then there is the need to identify the root causes that lead some to join these groups and follow these leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both polling we have done and the body of sociological literature on this topic identify several factors. Most of these point to the loss of control that individuals experience, often resulting from severe economic and political stress and social dislocation. In some societies it may be due to the shock of urbanization and the rapid social change that follows. In other instances it may be economic recession, the loss of employment, and uncertainty about the future. Then there are those instances where prolonged disenfranchisement and discrimination result in individuals experiencing deep alienation. In all these instances, individuals lose their moorings, and seeking answers to explain their circumstances, become easy prey for leaders or movements that exploit their fear and insecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By couching their message in familiar religious language, these groups and leaders \u201cexplain\u201d to their vulnerable targets the source of their followers\u2019 sense of a lack of control. This usually includes two themes. First there is a call to return to the \u201cold ways\u201d \u2014 from which we get the term \u201cfundamentalism.\u201d They will denounce the sinful present while glorifying (and romanticizing) a perfect past. This is often accompanied by the demonizing of another group or way of life that is identified as the source of present problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In different societies and at different times, this strategy has taken various forms. The \u201cother\u201d may be a vulnerable minority found within that society whose rise to power is feared; a threatening external foe; or an emerging group within the society that is identified as the cause of social dislocation. It may also be lifestyle changes resulting from social transformation. This pattern holds true in every extremist movement I have studied, whether from the past or the present, the West or the East. This abuse of religion that provides security and certainty to those who are experiencing a loss of control is a universal phenomenon. If merely left there, it would not be a danger. But when it masks a political agenda or when it justifies violence either by groups or state actors, it becomes a danger. To denounce it is one thing. But to limit our criticism to its manifestation in only one faith and to fail to understand and address its root causes, is quite another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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