I mean, look at it this way.
Osama/MIddle Easterners see the Bush Admin, and hates all Americans and all Christians (which is un-Muslim) becasue he thinks they are all anti-Islam and materialist.
Americans see Osama and 9/11, and assume all Muslims are gun-weilding nutjobs (which is un-Christian, Matthew 7:1).
why do people like to stereotype?
was the Iraq war a result of religious ignorance on both sides?
2006-07-20 02:45:29 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It's quick and easy, no need to delve and understand
2006-07-20 02:47:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stereotyping may be shallow, but it helps people believe they already know everything they need to know about a particular group of people. If we truly believe we have all the information, it is easier to defend our feelings, behaviors, and actions towards that group.
Any reasonable person knows that stereotypes are unreasonable. No group of people can fit neatly into any mold. Even in religious groups where there are specific rules, not everyone conforms. We are people. We think. We experience. We communicate. We learn. We change. We grow.
Even IF the US were a fully Christian group and Iraq was fully Muslim group, and IF each group held to some strangely negative religious code, the people within the groups would still be individuals capable of free thought and behavior. In many ways I feel it is the leaders that go to war, not the people. Sometimes war is justified -- to protect the rights and lives of the people. Sometimes it is not.
I do not believe that this war is a war of religious ignorance, but it certainly does figure in to the way it is playing out. Perhaps likening the attack on Iraq to the Crusades helped to feed this behavior. It certainly didn't help.
2006-07-20 03:41:52 · answer #2 · answered by home schooling mother 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
people stereotype out of fear or even to explain something they don't understand. I think the Iraq war is a result of religious ignorance on both sides because religions outside of the Islam religion feel that Islam is a false religion when it in fact derived form the same basic history as Christianity and Judaism. Islam usually teaches tolerance unless at war but they are not to start war just to subdue a particular religion.
2006-07-20 02:52:37 · answer #3 · answered by Diamond Freak :) 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess out of emotionalism, people tend to blame everyone associated with such n such thing to get some sense of closure.
However, this war is not really something religious. It's a power struggle, which sounds fair enough - but people are misquoting their actions by placing the blame on their govt. or religion. These acts of violence are not justified by neither any religion nor any government.
I don't hate all Americans just because I am a Muslim (b/c that really would be unIslamic,) and I am an American myself, but same with people who use the name of Islam in the incorrect way (blowing up INNOCENT people) - I will be upset with anyone who does injustice! It's not fair.
2006-07-20 03:05:13 · answer #4 · answered by Iram 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only for the first reason, not all, I figure that people can be lazy. They also are sinners that want to hate something with no good reason. This proves that they are lazy and are comfortable with their ignorance.
The second reason that they might stereotype is because they think it's funny. Not to injure someone, but just for a laugh. I agree that there is a right time and place for this type of humor, but the right time and place can make whatever is said very funny. Watch the movie "Blazing Saddles" if you want to see that example.
A third reason people might stereotype is in time of stress. War is one of those times. Where there is a definite enemy, the soldiers are dying, and sensitivity is at it's peak.
2006-07-20 02:57:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
people like to stereotype because they always want to divide humans into "us" and "them". "We Christians are good but you Muslims are evil and going to hell" - or vise versa. Humans seem more ready to hate others than to love them. I think it just comes down to power. If you hate others, you can justify letting them live in poverty and using them for your own means.
The war in Iraq was not started as a result of ignorance (or at least not religious ignorance) - it was started becuase the group of Anglo-Saxon males that run the US and Britain do not care about the lives of other ethnicities, they care about becoming richer and more powerful
2006-07-20 02:56:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The iraq war was a result of greediness on behalf of a certain president.
2006-07-20 02:48:18 · answer #7 · answered by gregtkt120012002 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they don't like to stereotype but they are human and just think it with out thinking most of the times it runs down the line great grand father said that __ are __ then after generations later. little joe is still saying the same thing.
2006-07-20 02:52:48 · answer #8 · answered by shush_that 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is easier than actually thinking. Reducing the complexity of the world to a simple little idea saves them the trouble of thinking about things.
2006-07-20 02:47:31 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's easier to create and control a herd mentality than to create and control individuals.
Stereotyping is a control system used by most power structures to ensure no one supplants them.
2006-07-20 02:52:12 · answer #10 · answered by bobkgin 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It gives them someone to be better than.
To answer the second part of your question about Iraq. GREED.
2006-07-20 02:47:33 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋