Religion and International Relations - Literature review Example

Religion and International Relations Religion and politics go hand in hand ever since the beginning of time because it is one of the key things that ties population together and constitutes culture of a region. Fox and Sandler (2010, p.1) have argued that the pertinence of religion in international politics have been triggered by the terrorist attack on the Twin Tower, as it was the first time the Western world had witnessed conflicts that were motivated by religion. Although the concept of religion is as old as mankind, it is interesting to note that policymakers and legislators have vastly ignored the roles of religion in the governance of a nation and even international relations. The schism between the East and West has increased by twofold because of this very reason that they fail to incorporate religion in their dialogue, leaving no space for people from these two different worlds to interact (Fox & Sandler 2010, p. 2). The substance of this prose will not only examine the importance of religion in international relation as discussed in light of scholarly theories but it will also discuss the techniques through which they can use to include religion and use it to create a more harmonious society. Although religion has been used multiple times in political context, but despite its frequent usage it is impossible to put down this phenomenon in to a proper definition. Religion is often seen as a set of ideas or notions that are vastly negated by scientific research and are perceived to be irrational (Philpot et.al 2009). Religion is widely believed to be irrational, which underlines the negative sentiments against this institution. However, sadly not everyone especially in the Eastern sphere agrees with that notion which turns out to be the main source of conflict. This is because Religion is responsible for shaping worldviews; as mentioned earlier, since religion constitutes culture it is also a part of an individual’s identity. Religion is also used to legitimize basic human rights and political processes. Moreover, most religions have transformed into huge organizations, like the Catholic Church there is an added pressure to appease and include religions (Fox & Sandler 2010, p.2). Even historically there is a strong tie between correlation between nation and religion is that it is what helped the people relate to one another. It was a binding force as it brought people together and helped them demarcate right from wrong. Religious views led to establishments on various superstitions and myths, and with the rising popularity of science, it just sparked more debates and people became wary of religion, but with terrorist attacks the sentiments became more hostile towards the idea of religion. However the conflict is triggered because most of the scholarly work done on the matter is vastly done from Western-centric perspective and which is why this blatant ethnocentricism in religious views has further deepened the conflict. However, as the society becomes more and more culturally diverse and even aware, there is an added pressure on authorities to take religion into account as per the constitutional clause that entitles every individual to freedom of speech, expression and practices. The most unfortunate fact is that because of the controversial nature of the topic, religion is more or less treated as a tabooed subject. The modern rejection according to Fox & Sandler (2010, p. 10) comes from the stigmas attached with religion that is extremist, radical and backward. There is a need for more open dialogue on the subject and an increase in literature from all three sides; which is the pro-religion side, the anti-religion and one from a neutral perspective. Policymaking is a crucial affair as individuals need to take into account diverse needs of the people and religion becomes even more of essence as not just 9/11 but there are plenty of conflict existing in present day that are triggered by or has it s base in religion, which will be discussed in later parts of the prose. The case attained significant amount of media scrutiny after China invaded Tibet and the entire event reached the peak of violence during the late 1950’s (Petit, Ford and Jain 2008). Since China had its roots in Communism that invoke conformism amongst people, therefore China is officially atheist, so when they invaded Tibet, which was vastly Buddhist. China was eventually charged with culturally genocide as the Chinese government viewed organized religion that was undermining the government and also becoming rebellious force amongst the people. Therefore, the Chinese government began forcing Tibetan monks to renounce their call for independence for Tibet and began using highly oppressive measures against them. The monks were routinely arrested and put in jails for lengthy period of time, and then were forced to pledge their allegiance to the government and renounce their faiths. They demanded the monks to publicly announce their denunciation of Dalai Lama and also admit that Tibet was now a part of China. The event itself took a bloody turn when the government began a systematic eradication of all the groups. The Tibetan invasion and the Chinese atrocities stemmed from lack of tolerance on part of the government groups. The government began to exclude Buddhists from government activities and ever since then there came a huge divide between the people and the government, for the Chinese authorities and policies did not know how to accommodate the needs of diverse religious factions for as a communist government, they consider government as the absolute authority over matters that conflicts with the fundamental Buddhist or rather general religious belief that in turn is based on the worship a single or multiple entities. Therefore, the crisis deepened to the extent that the United Nations got involved and then later on there was a recent criminal investigation done by the Spanish court into the oppressive policy and the alleged genocide by the Chinese government. These accusations have naturally left a huge blot on China’s international reputation and they have realized that their subsequent sinicization of Tibet was indeed a bad policy. Eventually the Tibetans gained their independence in 1987 and since then, there is tension between China and Tibet; particularly because there oppressive policies are denied by the authorities and also because the Tibetan leaders and media demonize China a lot. Therefore, a foreign policy that would assuage their relationship is absent for now. The Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the mainstream conflicts that discuss and underline the pertinence of religion in political and government affairs. The main source of conflict between the Jews and Muslims started with the division of Palestine in two states in 1947. The main conflict was by Zionists who wished to establish a home in their “promised land” which was a divine allocation to them according to their holy book. There are a number of important landmarks within the country that hold very high regard and sentiments for both Muslims and the Jews. Besides the Zionists agenda to establish a home base, the conflict was deepened by the Balfour declaration in 1917 after Palestine came under British rule; according to which the Great Britain had promised to secure a national home for the Jews within that region. Therefore, the Jews believe that their home is not only entitled to them by divine will but also through political support that was given to them by a super power at that time. The Palestinian Muslims on the other hand claim the land belongs to the prophets that are also a part of Judaism as well. The land has been the reason for many crusades and is even holy to Christians for the land is believed to be the ground for the crucifixion and resurrection of their messiah Jesus Christ. Although, there had been a number of Crusade in olden times, but after that the first wave of violence began in the modern world with the construction of the Tunnel to the Temple mount revered by both Muslims and Jews, at a place where they were two mosques built for Muslims. Muslims fervently opposed the idea because that was the very spot, where the Islamic messenger was raised to the Heavens. There was no chance for dialogue, for even though both Islam and Judaism are essentially from the same Abrahamic origin, the Jews do not recognize Muhammad as a messenger or Prophet of God and therefore, both the Jews took up arms to gain control of the territory. The fact that Jerusalem was a point of convergence for all the three primary religions of the world, but now it is the prime source of conflict because there is no all-encompassing policy of ruling that would create peace between the three extremely diverse yet similar factions (Fox & Sandler 2010, p. 138). The ongoing violence in Gaza is also considered to be genocide of Muslims in the region. Christianity itself conflicts too much with Judaism and there has been a lot of debates and protest against the use of force in Gaza. Christians in general are opposed to the Jewish settlement, but the support of United States of America for the occupation of Gaza and the rising Anti-Islamic sentiment has given rise to extremely skewed view of the entire event. Therefore, for a foreign policy that integrates religion requires that the people are actually aware of the fact and the nature every religion. To reach an agreement on Palestine-Israel conflict, there have been a number of dialogues and intervention to actually stop the killings and in early 1990’s, this objectives was achieved to a certain degree. In the 1993, a Declaration of Principles was signed by both sides that was an agreement that was drafted out in Oslo and signed in Washington by both Palestinian and Israeli authorities, in which they agreed upon establishing an autonomous interim self-government structure that would adhere to the demands and needs for both sides. However, the agreement was only for a certain period of time and there was no permanent arrangements had to be made immediately on the same principles. In following years, efforts were made to provide an equal say to the people of the district and to find a middle ground. However, due to social unrest it was impossible to achieve that goal because the general intolerance towards each religion was overwhelming. This is why awareness and education of the masses is important. The authorities and international intervention from United States are working to create both a Palestinian state and an Israeli one side by side and the negotiations are underway, but a tolerant environment is a prerequisite for change. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2013) For policymaking, the first thing that they need to do is to adopt a more secular approach towards religion. It is important to understand that even though the dynamic and the perception of deities may vary but all religion work on similar notions that promotes respecting the sanctity of life and basic attributes that is important for the establishment of a harmonious and decent society. This part of the prose will focus primarily on the three dominant religions in the world that is Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, and will also discuss Judaism for both Islam and Christianity also have their roots in Judaism. It is pointed out that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have many aspects that are similar and they believe in the same prophets except for Judaism does not recognize Jesus as the messenger and Christianity does not recognize Muhammad as a prophet and claim Jesus was the son of God; the latter conflicting with Muslim view of religion. Other than these few discrepancies all three of these religions work on similar principles and commandments, but even then they do not see eye to eye because of the stigma that comes with each religion. It is already mentioned that the Anti-Islamic sentiments roots from the terrorist attacks and some misconceptions about the religion. Despite the fact that the terrorist attack was done by one organization that does not even represent the entire Muslim population, but even then as per the principle of collective responsibility the entire Muslim world was held liable for it. Therefore, the first thing that the authorities need to do is to be aware of the disparities but focusing more on the similarities. For international relations, religion is an inescapable aspect of life because religious research and values will never stop being instilled into people as it has a deep root into people’s lives as their identity. Tibetan independence is a clear example that no matter how much the communist regime tried to oppress them but it is practically impossible to subdue them completely. Religious fervor is indeed a powerful tool to bring people together, but then religious conflicts like Israel and Palestine actually indicate that there is a need to find a neutral ground to appease diverse factions. Although, the Jews have claim over the land because of their book but the Muslims and Palestinians have also been staying in that region for all their lives and therefore, it is not fair to evict the existing people for the sake of divine scriptures. For more harmonious governance, a secular approach is the best. Therefore, religion should be studied so that the individual can become more aware of the sensitivity of the people and the policies can be drawn out accordingly. (Fox 2006) In conclusion, the importance of religion is undeniable not only historically but because it has very deep roots in their sentiments. Therefore, various factions need to feel like they are being safeguarded. For successful international relations authorities should remain objective, but provide due respect to religious and spiritual practices and include every individual in their government processes. These are basic constitutional rights granted within a country as well; therefore it has to be implemented even internationally for a greater harmony and successful dialogues between nations. Works Cited Fox, Jonathan. The Multiple Impacts of Religion on International Relations: Perception and Reality. Israel: Bar Ilan University. Web. . 2006. Fox, Jonathan & Sandler, Shmuel. Bringing Religion into International Relations. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. 2010. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Israel Palestine Negotiations. Web. . 2013, Philpott, Daniel et al. Religion and International Relations: A Primer Research. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame. Web. . 2009. Petit, Robert; Ford, Stuart & Jain, Neha. Exploring Critical Issues in Religious Genocide. Web. . 2008. Read More