Is faith this century's defining issue?

Question

Wole Soyinka believes it is. In his view, the death of ideology in general, and communist ideology in particular has left a vacuum. Religion has moved in and with it fundamentalism and intolerance. As example, in his country, Nigeria, Muslims and Christians once got along peacefully. Now his country is filled with religious conflict. He said "Judaism, Christianity and Islam are completely soaked in intolerance." Is intolerance the root of dissension in the world, as he sees it? Are the major religions guilty of contributing to the problem?

Wole Soyinka is a Nobel laureate. He has endured many hardships for opposing the dictators of his country, Nigeria.

Chanclikely, of course faith and beliefs are always influential. However, they may not be the major factor. For instance, W.E.B. Du Bois, predicated race would be the defining issue of the 20th century.

Answer 1

I hate to sound cliché, but it really depends. Faith can be a defining issue in parts of the world where a religious framework is deeply entrenched in the way the government is run, and where it informs the ethos of a nation. So if you were talking about many Muslim dominated theocratic nations - Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia just to mention a few - then most certainly faith is an instrumental component in shaping world events.

Yet in many other parts of the world, especially westernized societies, most notably European nations, religion is on the periphery of national consciousness. The powers that be in Europe have marginalized religion to something worth no more than frivolous pageantry.

Yet, not all western countries are secularized to the extent that Europe is. For example, the United States electorate, in large part, is deeply informed by religious convictions, and it is probably the reason why a presidential candidate that ran on a “faith based” platform won the election for two terms.

So in essence much of the conflict we see in the world is of two distinct varieties. One conflict is between those nations with secularized values (i.e. Europe), and those who’s every whim is dictated by theocratic principles (i.e. Iran). The other conflict is one between competing religious ideologies, such as between the U.S. Christian fundamentalists propounding a doctrine of Christian manifest destiny in the Middle East verses Muslim radicals who seek to repel their doctrine and preserve pristine Islamic rule.

To Wole Soyinka comments concerning how all three Abrahamic faiths are “soaked” in intolerance, I believe to a certain extent this is true. However, there is one important caveat to this depiction. There is some level of intolerance imbued into the theology of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but Islam is by far the most inflammatory and the least open to plurality. And despite what the naysayer, and the politically correct pundits like to assert, the strident militancy within Islam is not just the result of a few fringe movements, or the natural consequence of a culture that has been downtrodden or subjugated by imperial power. The predominance of violent tendencies and intolerance throughout the Muslim world has its main root cause in a theology that pretty much consistently encourages that sort of behavior. Though Christianity and Judaism may share this vice, much of Christian theology and Judaism, in both latter traditions and in the development of latter scriptural writings, mitigates and abrogates violence sanctioned by earlier religious precepts. Christianity and Jewish holy books, especially the ones that appear in the latter stages of each religion’s development, demonstrate a more conciliatory tone than ones that appear early on in their traditions. Islam takes the exact opposite course, showing that the Prophet Muhammad becoming more intolerant and quicker to mandate belligerent action, as his religion spread.

So in short the major religious concepts of the world are at fault for bring about such divisiveness among people and filling the role of the catalyst for violence the way political ideologies used to, but Islam, more than the other two monotheistic faiths, is far more instrumental in inciting violence in the world. Christians and Jews, have for the most part reconciled themselves from the centuries old acrimony with each other, and are on amicable terms all around the world and with other faiths, with a few exceptions here and there. Muslims though, are at the center of conflict in almost every region of the world were a major sectarian controversy exists. You name the dispute, whether it is India vs. Pakistan (Hindus vs Muslims); Israel vs. the Middle East (Jews vs. Muslims) sectarian discord in Southeast Asia (Buddhists and Secularists vs. Muslims); bloodshed in Chechnya (Orthodox Christians vs. Muslims); the Kosovo crisis (Christians vs. Muslims); Northern African genocide (Christians vs. Muslims); internal strife in India (Hindus and Sikhs vs. Muslims), social upheaval and terrorism in Holland, France, England, and Spain (European secularists vs. Muslims); and of course the United States’ problem with terrorism and global conflict (both Christians and secularists vs. Muslims) and you will see a common pattern emerge, and that pattern invariably involves Islamists.

There is something more going on here then just cultural clashes, or oppression of Muslims, or marginalization of Muslims for such aggression to be mostly emanating from the Muslim world. For most other major faiths have at one time been the group that has been transgressed and bullied, and yet we don’t see this same level of militancy coming from Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, or Christians. There has to be another reason for the preponderance of Muslim related mayhem, and it must exist outside culture, money, and politics. I believe it is their very religion.

Answer 2

Sam Harris would agree.

I think it is a major issue. Religion is the root cause for terrorism. Without strong belief these people would not go after there holy land like a pack of starved wolfs for a peace of rotten meat. I think lack of a good energy source is also allowing these mad people have control over countries. Oil money allows crappy governments to function. Iran has a crappy economy with oil money.

Answer 3

You could make a fairly solid argument, I believe, that faith/religion/ecumenism is the defining issue of EVERY century. What people believe, and where to go from there, seems to be pretty central to people's lives.