Logic and Religious Extremism - Assignment Example

Logic: Religious Extremism “Many Africans are concerned about religious extremism, including within their own faith. Indeed, many Muslims say they are more concerned about Muslim extremism than about Christian extremism, and Christians in four countries say they are more concerned about Christian extremism than about Muslim extremism.” (The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, POLL April 15, 2010, a Project of the Pew Research Centre) The Project The survey on religious beliefs and its effect on social and political order, undertaken in the Sub-Saharan Africa has been supported by grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, which aims to increase peoples knowledge of religion around the world. The text given above is one of the important findings of the survey. Rational and Scientific Validity The source of the historical data is World Religion Database. There is a scientific validity to the survey as it involved interviews with more than 25000 people belonging to 19 countries, in more than 60 languages and it reflects the people’s beliefs, attitude towards other faiths, concerns and tries to assess the social and political order. Reasoning A thorough analysis with reference to religion has been made with reference to the present state of the social order. However, the analysis is lagging behind with regard to the important aspect as to how it could be useful in repairing of the social order. The analysis of traditional religious practices provides strong clues to the reasons for the present status of the social structure. Also, motives or reasons for religious extremism with reference to the region are not touched upon. “In The Wealth of Nations, Smith (1965, pp. 740- 766) argued that self-interest motivates clergy just as it does secular producers;” (Iannaccone, L.R. and Berman, E). The report states unemployment, crime and corruption as bigger problems than religious conflict, though in some countries religious conflicts are the major problem. However, the people connected to activities of religious extremism and suicide-bombers were mostly unemployed youths from poor background according to the newspaper stories. The report has not however underlined the relationship, if any, that exists between religious extremism and unemployment or poverty. Role of religion Working out a common minimum rules for the society comprising of various ethnic groups, communities and religion is the precursor to reforms. Once this is achieved, the religion could be effectively sidelined to the personal domains of the individuals which will result in minimum conflicts among the various groups. If the religion takes up the back seat in the social order, creation of new political order is possible for the growth and development of the democratic institutions. The environmental changes in the society due to revolutions in communication and synergic effects of convergence of technologies would expose the societies to the world, and for the smooth integration at international level, the government should be progressive and establish control over the religious activities as in the case of Tunisia. However, political compulsions dictate the strategies of the governments. Unless there is flexibility in religious thinking, in tune with the changes, growth and development of the society would suffer. Traditional Religious Practices Christians and Muslims also have traditional beliefs and follow traditional practices in their life. Therefore, in could be inferred that the religious belief is ingrained in the society for a long time before the advent Christianity or Islam to these societies. Religious authorities have limits. Without violating the fundamental rights of the citizens, the practice of religion should be restricted to personal life or places of worship, and its interactions in the society should be controlled. Judgment The report ended with a note of optimism and progress. The people in general are satisfied with their improving economic conditions and optimistic about their future. Though one should appreciate the optimism, we should see whether it is borne out of the repairs taking place in the social and political order. The government should involve in repairing the social order when there is breakdown. Religious conflicts in the social order undermine the growth and development of the society. Reforms such as voting rights to women, abolition of slavery, etc. elsewhere in the world faced stiff resistance from the society initially. Ultimately, the political will succeeds. In the parliamentary system of democracy, the number games play spoilsport, and the governments under political compulsions would like to strike deals to ensure its survival. Many a times it results in compromises on policies. Coalition in government formation in various countries is the order of the day. Only stable governments with strong leadership are in a position to implement the policies in the interest of the public without succumbing to the political pressures from various quarters in dealing with the sensitive issues such as religious reforms. Religious extremism is the challenge not only to African countries but to the world at large to-day. The paper failed to discuss about the moves made by the governments of these countries in this direction and its impact on the societies or solutions to the religious conflicts. The degree of the efficacy of the government action may vary from country to country. But, public debates, progressive steps by the governments should pave for a concerted action in the continent as a whole in the long run. Evaluation of the Report Evaluation of a report is based on its analytical approach and interpretations of the analysis made in the report. Critical Analysis of Social Order The impact of the religions and religious beliefs in the societies (96% saying religion is very important in their lives), growth of Muslims and Christian communities living between the Sahara Desert and the Cape of Good Hope by about 20 times and 70 times respectively after 1900 , the democratic systems and values prevalent, traditional African religious practices, conflicts between the communities, religious tolerance, and other issues such as unemployment, crime and corruption are critically analyzed. People in general are concerned with Muslim as well as Christian extremism. The following are the important factors emerge from the survey. Interpretation There are many positive surprises thrown in the survey. Some are sentiments of the people like support for Biblical or Sharia. Tunisia for example is an African country with Islam as a State religion with freedom for other religions. “Tunisian legal history is similar to the history of many other Muslim countries, characterized by a diminishing role of sharia.” (Voorhoeve, M., 2008). Similarly Biblical law is not adopted in all the Christian countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is clearly among the most religious places in the world Support for Biblical (60% among Christians) or Sharia (63% among Muslims) law is widespread. Therefore, the above findings in survey should be viewed in its proper perspective, and the governments and political institutions should take steps in educating the society in this respect. Creating public opinions common for all the religions is very important. Scope for expansion of the religions through conversions from other faiths is very limited. This observation augurs well for the society. Conflicts in a multi-religious society arise usually out of conversions to other religions by the people in the society. Unemployment is a major social problem. Somavia, J. said, ‘what Africa required from multinational organisations was "partnerships rather than conditionalities" to help reduce poverty and create decent jobs.’ (2007) It is a question of integration and government’s economic policy and its relationship to religious extremism is not explained. The standard of living has improved in the recent years. The people are adapting to modern western culture, though it hurts morals according to them. The last two aspects speak about the societies’ outlook, and willingness to change. The governments and the religious bodies should understand the needs of the society and formulate the policies which aim at controls over the religious activities and introduce reforms in the legal system. Conclusion The survey is very comprehensive and brought out the sentiments of the people of the region on all aspects related to their faith and their views on social matters. There are clear indications in the survey and the opinions expressed by the people that the Christians and Muslims don’t hate each other. They prefer peaceful coexistence. In fact it is said that they trust people who have different religious values than their own. In any society there are groups which try to disrupt the equilibrium in the society in the name of religion at the cost of peace in community with various ulterior motives. However, the survey observes, “People say violence against civilians in defense of ones religion is rarely or never justified.” Therefore, the repair in the social order is required to be strengthened. There is phenomenal support for democracy among public in these countries, and the society also encourages people for practicing their faith feely. This should facilitate the governments to introduce proper controls over religions in the structure of the society. According to Huntington S.P., the difference between developing and developed states, he claims, is not ideology but the degree to which they are able to maintain public order. (1968). Needless to say that it is only the strong government which can put in place effective controls and maintain public order. References The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, (POLL April 15, 2010) “Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa”, 2010-06-05 http://pewforum.org/executive-summary-islam-and-christianity-in-sub-saharan-africa.aspx Voorhoeve, Maaike. "Sharia and National Law in Tunisia" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the The Law and Society Association, Hilton Bonaventure, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 27, 2008 . 2010-06-05 http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p236212_index.html By Komolafe, Funmi. “Poverty News Blog How to Tackle Poverty, Unemployment in Africa, By ILO” April 25, 2007. 2010-06-05 http://povertynewsblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-tackle-poverty-unemployment-in.html Huntingon, S.P. (1968), POLITICAL ORDER IN CHANGING SOCIETIES, New Haven and London: Publisher Yale University Press Iannaccone, Laurence R. and Berman, Eli “Religious extremism: the good, the bad, and the deadly” 2010-06-05 http://econ.ucsd.edu/~elib/rex.pdf Ake, Claude. “Notes for a Political Economy of Unemployment in Africa” 2010-06-05 http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Journal%20of%20Political%20Economy/ajpev1n2/ajpe001002006.pdf IRIN “MAURITANIA: Fears of rising religious extremism in tolerant democracy” 05 June 2010-06-05. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76536 Read More