Is Jewish, Christian, Moslem, Koranic/Biblical Fundamentalism the cause of World Conflict.
2007-12-21 05:50:56 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Also Catholic/Protestant.Hindu/Buddhist.Sunni/Shia
It seems that a small difference in belief is as bad or worse than a big one.
2007-12-21 05:51:54 · update #1
OK Glen O...I'll take a look...Thanks for the Info....
Arafat. Begin, Shamir, Meir, Gurion, Hagana, Stern gang, Hamas, Sharon they're all bad....
2007-12-21 07:52:44 · update #2
Absolutely. But I have to qualify this a couple of ways.
First, I think the better word is extremism. "Fundementalist" isn't really descriptive of the extremists and hawks in Judaism (my religion). Those who have very orthodox practices, well orthodoxy is about practices; fundementalism is about beliefs. But this isn't the place for a long comparative religions semantics essay. Also, many orthodox Jews oppose the really nasty forces in politics, while a lot of atheist Jews are the biggest hawks. Can't call them fundementalists, either, but they are extremists.
But, yeah, the problem isn't Muslims or Jews or Christians, it isn't Palestinians or Israelis, Arabs or Zionists, Americans or immigrants, pro-choice or anti-choice, Republican or Demorcrat. The biggest problem is the extremists, and lately the religious extremists are taking us to really scary places.
Evangelical extremists in this country have clear, stated wishes to turn U.S. into what the rest of us would call a theorcracy. When Christians were given primary authority over other communities it hasn't gone well.
Extremists, partly by definition, lock into what they want to believe and don't give nod to evidence from outside themselves (I like to tell this people they are confusing themselves with Gd by thinking they can take something they suppose and assume it must be true without evidence. It usually becomes a fun point in the conversation.) As a result, if you tell them George Bush is a born-again Christian it doesn't matter to a lot of Christians what evidence there is that he has repeatedly committed Treason, mass murder of American patriots sent to Iraq, made the terrorism threat worse, etc. They want to believe he's good.
Palestinians who were most militant didn't want to admit that Arafat was embezzling millions of the good will money sent to help their cause and left his widow and family tens of millions. A Palestinian my family is friends with --the kind of guy whose family comes to our house for dinner and vice versa and our kids play together-- tells of his brothers stories about being a personal bodyguard for Arafat and witnessing the graft. Moderates can see both sides of things, it's being an extremist that sends you to where no opposing view can be tolerated and must change.
A really scarry thing right now is how a lot of the right wing evangelicals believe end times are coming and they don't seem to care that they're making it a self-fulfilling prophecy and taking the majority of the human race down the toilet with them even though we don't believe their myths. It doesn't matter that our spiritual myths are more peaceful and optimistic, we don't get to live ours because they believe only theirs matters.
Please, PLEASE check out the scary cite below. It's a long article about "Dominionist" Christians and their wishes for (what once was) America. Note: I think the article is not perfect journalism, I disagree with some of what it says, but it's a great place to start research on this subject; especially the two books mentioned early-on.
-Glenn O.
2007-12-21 06:24:14 · answer #1 · answered by Glenn O. 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋
So many world conflicts are religious.
The war in Iraq, for example, began as a war of lies and ignorance by Bush. As the war has escalated the big push behind this war from the American side is the Christian right. What used to call themselves, very arrogantly, The Moral Majority.
In Iraq the war is conflicts between extremist factions of religious differences.
Israel. This war with the Palestinians is a religious war. The fighting within Irael are religion based; one sect against another.
Hitler's war got its great impetus from religious hatred.
Viet Nam was kept going by the Moral Majority.
Patriotism is another great cause of war. To love one's country is fine, to a degree. To say "my country right or wrong" is immoral to say the least. Countries that are too involved with themselves are always the most dangerous.
2007-12-21 06:55:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Fanatics of any kind can be a source of world conflict. Hand in hand with religious zealots are the political crazies. Both have been the main cause of misery and conflict since the beginning of recorded time.
Please keep it mind, most truly religious people, regardless of their particular faith are good, peaceful citizens that simply want a decent life for themselves and their families.
Peace be with you
2007-12-21 06:00:45 · answer #3 · answered by KyLoveChick 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's a tie between religious radicalism and power (land, and money).
I came to star your other question, but it was deleted. Your question was factual, informative and cordial. I think they might have gotten you on some of the "dialogue" in your details. Please don't be discouraged to post similar questions again. I'm adding you to my contacts to be sure I don't miss any of your great q's and a's. You're articulate and intelligent. Glad I've ran into you here.
2007-12-22 01:40:06 · answer #4 · answered by TJTB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the biggest threat to world peace is limited resources, and the continued inequal access to those resources.
Basically, it all comes down to land and how people get to use it - the religious stuff tends to be secondary to those considerations.
2007-12-21 05:54:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
While it is a very significant problem, greed and it's partner, the lust for power are the supreme causes of most wars and conflicts.
2007-12-21 06:03:05 · answer #6 · answered by HP 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Lumping all religions together and generalizing about them is completely ignorant. Most religions do a lot of good. There is only one which is doing tremendous evil in the world right now. I won't mention its name. Atheistic Communism has murdered a lot more people in the last century than even the worst practitioners of the worst religion.
2007-12-21 05:56:06 · answer #7 · answered by Jeff A 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
I believe it's the combination of brutally violent religion and the misinterpretations of scriptures that promote the majority of violence.
IF you read the Christian Bible, it says “love thy neighbor”. From my understanding the Koran says to kill the white devil. Essentially, if you live a lifestyle of brutal violence, then all you'll do is spread violence. But Christianity is about peace. Otherwise the greatest two commandments wouldn't be Love God and Love your Neighbor.
2007-12-21 06:46:25 · answer #8 · answered by xenoranger 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No, whether it is religion or politics or just plain simple greed, people will always find reasons to disagree. The biggest threat isn't any single ideology, it's intolerance of other ideologies. This question is a good example of that intolerance.
2007-12-21 05:59:47 · answer #9 · answered by Open Heart Searchery 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
It's certainly a factor, but I wouldn't say it's the biggest threat. The biggest threat is, and always has been, megolomaniacs who rise to power.
2007-12-21 05:53:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋