Do Abrahamic Religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) Cause War - Research Paper Example

? Your Outline Background..........................................................................................................3 Introduction..........................................................................................................3 Rise of Opportunistic Rulers of Religious Kingdoms..........................................4 Secular Expansion and the Abrahamic Religions in the Middle Ages.................7 Modern Control of Resources and Trade Routes.................................................11 Conclusion...........................................................................................................13 Works Cited..........................................................................................................14 Background This paper examines the role of religion in wars. It tries to identify the link of religion with war, misunderstandings and conflicts around the world. The paper justifies the standpoint that Abrahamic religions only cause wars through misunderstanding or misuse. Introduction The three Abrahamic Faiths are Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Van der Meer& Mandelbroote 2). They are all unified by the principles of monotheism or the belief in One God which was professed by their common patriarch, Abraham. The Abrahamic covenant between God and Abraham is the basis for all Abrahamic religions. However, there are differences in the beliefs and systems that Jews, Christians and Muslim accept as legitimate. Jews hold that the Abrahamic covenant was carried down onto Isaac (Abraham's second son) and then to Jacob (Isaac's second son) and then down to Jacob's (also known as Israel's) descendants. After years of the Israelite community growing, they merited to receive the Torah, a set of Laws given directly to the Israelites through Moses. The Jews hold the Torah (first five books of the Bible) to be authoritative and the generational interpretation of the Torah from the Prophets to the Rabbis as absolutes (Idel 7). Christianity on the other hand sprouted out of Judaism because the followers believed that Jesus Christ was the son of God and this was a position that most Jews rejected and never accepted. On the other hand, Christians also did not accept the generational interpretation of the Torah as Jews did but rather focused on the life of Jesus Christ as an ideal standard interpreted by the New Testament. Islam on the other hand came up as a result of revelations received by Mohammed, a descendant of Abraham through the line of his first son, Ishmael (Schmidt-Leukel 149). Although there are clear areas that Islam seems to build on Judaism and Christianity, Islam also maintains its distinct features and elements. Islam, Christianity and Judaism cuts across elements of spirituality, morality and nationalism (Oystein, 72). In terms of spirituality, all these Abrahamic Faiths profess some element of control over the supernatural and promises humanity a pleasant life after death. Additionally, these promises comes with some responsibilities that seek to make people live according to some standards and ideals prescribed by these religions. The Jewish have a set of traditions Halackha that must be adhered to at all times in a person's life. Christians have doctrines and principles of holiness that must be followed. Muslims also have the Sunnah which sums up the traditions and instructions as revealed to Prophet Mohammed. The institutionalization of these principles and practices amongst a group of people professing each of these three Faiths leads to the nationalism aspect of the Abrahamic Faiths. This requires the establishment of the structures of a modern nation, including a military that would protect the interest of a religious state. Based on this, I identify three main issues of misunderstanding and misuse of the Abrahamic religions that led to wars and various forms of violence throughout history. These three matters include the rise of opportunistic leaders in the original kingdoms of the founders of these religions, the secular expansion of the boundaries of these three religions and the modern control of resources and the Holy Lands. Rise of Opportunistic Rulers of Religious Kingdoms Tracing back to the root of nationalism amongst the Abrahamic Faiths, one finds out that the earliest founders of these religions, were guided closely by some divine powers in their use of military force. For example, Moses in Deuteronomy 2: 24 – 28 is seen as being instructed by God to offer peace to the Amorites. He sent a message to the king of the Amorites, Sihon saying “Let me pass through your land: I will go along by the highway, I will neither turn by the right hand or the left...” In other words, the greatest prophet in Judaism who is revered in Christianity and Islam was very careful in his use of force. Although God seem to have promised to give him the military powers to conquer these people, he gave them the chance to make peace and live peacefully with the Israelite community. However, these people refused to accept this arm of peace Moses and the Israelites spread to them. They rather waged a war and on the basis of self-defence, the Israelite community waged war and took the land and got a place to live in the Promised Land. We notice that after the legitimate conquest of the Promised Land by Joshua and the establishment of the State of Israel by David, many Kings came after David who were not very religious. These kings sought to consolidate their hold on Israel for their personal gains and they rather turned to idol worship instead of the original purpose. There is therefore evidence that some of these kings misunderstood the teachings of Moses and David and used Judaism and concepts of the Torah to gain legitimacy as leaders of Israel and rule. Christianity on the other hand, started as a religion very much separated from secularism and the issues of nationalism. Peace was the most important feature of the early Christians since it appears that Jesus trained his disciples only to become missionaries and not indulge themselves in any form of nationalism and politics. Christians were urged to remain peaceful even in the face of serious persecution which saw the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the killing of most of his disciples and apostles. However, in view of all these, Christianity never changed its position on seeking a peaceful method of spreading the creed to other people. In the Roman Empire, Christians were killed for their Faith for over 100 years. On October 28, AD 312, Emperor Constantine met with Bishop Miltiades, the Bishop of Rome and this led to the institutionalization of Christianity and the declaration of Christianity as a national religion for the Roman Empire (Collins 3). However, many historians disagree on whether Emperor Constantine was a true believer of Jesus Christ or just an opportunist leader who wanted to unify his empire through a religious system (Collins 4). If the latter is true, then the institutionalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire was not for the purposes preached by its founder but an opportunistic drive by a politician to consolidate and hold on to an empire created by purely secular ideas and concepts. Judging from history, Prophet Mohammed was a man of many gifts; spiritually, morally, militarily and in terms of leadership. When Mohammed started preaching Islam, the idol worshiping tribesmen of the Arabia sought to kill him (Oystein 79). He had to escape from Mecca to Medina where he gathered a lot of followers, built a military power and conquered Mecca (Momen 89). Clearly, Mohammed's action can be seen as a form of self-defence in his bid to survive. However, he spent a lot of his time trying to teach people the spiritual, moral and ethical elements of the revelation he had received from God through different ways and means and thus violence was just a small portion of his work as a missionary of God. After the death of Mohammed came the era of the Al-Khulafa'u Rashidun or the Rightly Guided Caliphs in Orthodox Islam (Spuler 20). This succession of four Caliphs were chosen by a council of followers of the Prophets or nominated by their predecessors. However, after these four Caliphs died, there were breaks and divisions because most of the leaders who came up were not at the level of the Rightly Guided Caliphs in terms of spirituality and other considerations. This led to strives and the division of the Islamic Empire and numerous wars about the control of lands, territory and power. This shows clearly that some of the parties involved in this conflict were using violence and war in the wrong sense. In conclusion, it is clear that the vision of the leaders of the Abrahamic religions were more of a spiritual quest. However, some generations along the line, there were rulers and leaders who lost track of the primary aim of the religion and then focused on secular and less religious activities. And thus, the use of religious symbols and ideas to wage wars and to unify kingdoms were more of a misuse rather than a positive thing for the religions. Secular Expansion and the Abrahamic Religions in the Middle Ages Christians, Muslims and Jews have lived peacefully in different parts of the world without much conflict. However, from the matter explained above, it is clear that most leaders who came after several generations of the establishment of leaders caused some kinds of wars and violence albeit internal, built the conception of religious wars amongst nations and peoples. For many years, Muslims, Christians and Jews in the known world (Europe, Africa, and Asia) had lived together peacefully and in harmony (Almond 1). However, the advent of the formation of world empires led to the expansion of borders based on common characteristics which later included religion. By 570 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and expanded their scope over the State of Israel (Oystein 50). This led to the destruction of the first temple which kept the Jews united. Clearly, this was not a religious war, however, there was the destruction of a major religious element in an Abrahamic Faith by people who had little connection with religion. Jerusalem was rebuilt by the help of the Persians and this led to the consolidation of the Jewish Faith in Israel. However, in AD 70, the Romans (who were then secular) fought a war against the Jewish people to take over the land of Israel. The Jews built nationalism and mobilized forces for this war on the basis of religious identity. This therefore saw the secular Jew fighting on the side of the religious because it was seen as a divine thing to do. In spite of this effort, the Romans took over and destroyed the Temple. Bar Kocbha led a religious revolt in 132 AD against the Romans that sought to use violence to end the Roman occupation and forces were mobilized through a religious campaign. This failed indicating that it was an effort that sought to take advantage of the religious system of the Jewish people to wage a war. The failure of the Bar Kocbha revolution led to the dispersal of the Jewish people around the world. These Jews often lived in small communities and had very limited collective powers due to their small numbers throughout the world. Due to this dispersion, Jews could not really mobilize themselves to wage any war until about two thousand years later. However, Jews became victims of various degrees of religious and fanatic teachings and doctrines that portrayed them as the killers of Jesus Christ and a negative people which led to various forms of violence in the guise of Anti-Semitism throughout the world (Oystein 44). Most of the elements of Anti-Semitism like the Pogroms, Holocaust, Inquisition and Expulsions were usually popular propaganda that was spread by falsehood and other people who sought to discriminate against Jews. They often capitalized on the fact that Jews were different and maintained a very distinct religious and social identity that made them different from the rest of the people in the wider community they lived in during the exiles. “A Crusade is a special war or military expedition carried on under that standard [Cross] as the characteristic symbol of its object either of conquest or vengeance or of the conversion of people to the Christian Faith by force of arms.” (MacIntyre 75). A Crusade is a military expedition that was fought specifically in non-Christian territories where Christians sought to fight and destroy non-Christian territories and lands. The first Crusade was fought by Emperor Constantine to convert people using the Cross as the primary symbol for the war (MacIntyre 80). From the discussion above, it is doubtful if Emperor Constantine actually sought to promote Christianity or to expand and preserve his Empire. However, as the Roman Peace deteriorated, most kingdoms in Europe became more independent but they remained under the control of the Catholic Church. Thus with time, the Church, under the Pope became more and more powerful by becoming more secular than religious. In March 1095, Pope Urban II sent troops to Byzantium (present-day Turkey) to help the Eastern Church to defend its territory against a Muslim invasion (Madden16). This effort was successful and gave the Papacy some extra powers in secular matters. A few months after that, in November 1095, Pope Urban II called for Christian armies and warriors to be sent to Jerusalem to re-take the city of Jerusalem and establish a Christian state there. This led to a series of Crusades which were to meant to eliminate Muslim presence in places they considered to be Christian. This led to the conception of Christianity as belonging to Europe and the notion that Islam should be restricted to the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Church was therefore very fond of mobilizing Crusades to ward off Muslim 'intrusion' in places like present-day Spain, Turkey and Ukraine which were seen as weak point of the Holy Roman Catholic Empire. The Church came up with several concepts related to the Crusades like the Remission of Sins which stated that any Christian warrior who died in the Crusades was destined for the forgiveness of sins and a place in Heaven (Madden 21). This was clearly a misuse of Theology to expand the strength and power of the Catholic Church. This came under so much attack by Northern Europeans during the Protestant Reformation. Muslims also have the concept of Jihad which is very similar to the Crusades. Jihads are holy wars that were waged from the era of Prophet Mohammed down to the years of the European Crusades. Jihad is “divided into two general categories: wars of public interest and wars against polytheists and apostates” (Zawati 8). In other words, these are wars that have high religious significance and are initiated under the guidance and authority of religious leaders and seen as backed by heaven. Technically, Jihads are not bad. This is because nations that were converted to Islam by Jihads seem to be very much happy about their practice of Islam. This therefore suggests that Jihad is a positive aspect of Islam. On the other hand, Jihad is open to misuse by people who do not understand its worth. There is clear evidence that several militant groups and organizations have sought to mobilize military power on religious grounds. These leaders, most of them opportunists get people to lay down their lives for military campaigns that has little or no connection to the religious elements that the original jihads of Prophet Mohammed sought to spread. Such jihads can be seen as criminal ventures rendered in the name of religion. In conclusion, the Jewish people used religion as their basis for resistance against world empires that sought to dispossess them of Israel. This led to more violence which ultimately saw them dispersed around the world in small communities. The result of this was that they were susceptible to be taken advantage of by Christians and Muslims who used principles of religion as justification for their hatred of Jews. The Catholic Church and Muslim Authorities after the Caliphs used the concept of Crusades and Jihads to expand their political influence around the world in the Middle Ages. This led to several military ventures that were questionable in their connection to the religious ideals on which the were initially based. Modern Control of Resources and Trade Routes Almond (1) states that Jews, Muslims and Christians have lived in peace all over Europe, Africa and Asia for generations. Between 1540 and 1860, there was “a repeated Ottoman sympathy for Protestant complaints over Catholic ones and clear bias when it came to protecting Protestant communities over Catholic congregations” (Almond 159). There is evidence that between AD1000 and 1300, Hungary was divided into three sections: Hagsburg which was Catholic, Protestant Hungary and Muslim Hungary (Almond 143). This shows that religious harmony has been attained in the past over a sustained period of time. This suggests that concerns other than religious ideas influenced military campaigns. This reflects the era when the Ottomans were controlling huge areas from the Middle East to Southern and Central Europe. These Ottomans ruled the Christian and Muslim communities with a high degree of fairness and respect for Christian values. This suggests that there was more to harmony in these areas than just religious concerns. The Ottomans seem to have been more interested in economic gains rather than just religious domination and the forced conversion of Christians to Islam. They therefore focused more on military campaigns that brought the nobles and leaders more taxes rather than religion. “In the Ottoman Army for the Balkan Campaigns of the 16th Century for example, we find mixed Muslim and Christian soldiers serving together in extremely small companies” (Almond 5). This shows clearly that violent wars fought under religious guises in the post-1500s were more nationalistic than religious. “Most common cause of war is not religion but human beings” (Tzvi). This clearly shows that in the modern world. There are more causes of wars than just religious expansion and other spiritual concerns. Tzvi goes on to explain that the World War 2 was more of a secular matter that sought to expand the interests of European powers and had little link to religion. Jews were slaughtered in the 2nd World War not because their practice was irritating the Germans. It was purely because they were accused by Hitler in the Mein Kampf as being the cause of Germany's loss in the 1st World War and their domination of world politics through the control of power in the Soviet Union. When the 2nd World War is compared to the Spanish Inquisition, Jews were given the choice to convert to Christianity or die. In the case of the Holocaust, Jews had made tremendous efforts to assimilate into Germany but they were still killed and not given the option to convert. This shows that economic reasons are put ahead of religious reasons in modern times. Religion in modern wars were used more as an identification tag for economic enemies and not for religious purposes. The Second World War led to the creation of a refugee crisis for Jewish people. These Jews lobbied for a homeland in Palestine which was then under British colonialism. This led to violence in 1947 and 1948 by people identified as Jews and people identified as Muslims. These people were not every religious. They were more like secular people with religious roots who wanted to control the Holy Lands. This led to so much violence and killings that was strongly supported by religious jargons and ideas. However, Tom Price states that “And the news that constantly beams into our homes and cars reminds us that the most violent and seemingly intricable contemporary conflicts (9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, Middle East, Bosnia, Sri Lanka) have taken place across lines of religious differences”. It might appear like that. However, most of these wars are fueled by corrupt establishments that are ran by atheists who have little knowledge about the religions they claim to represent. Purzcki & Gibson (22) state that the fact that there is a strong correlation between religion and violence might explain the logic of wars and the trend of events but they do not explain the causation of these violent events. Conclusion In conclusion, all the Abrahamic religions began by founders who had strong religious themes but these ideas were abandoned by secular leaders who took control of the religious movement and incorporated secular ideas that reflected their personal aims and ends. This led to a trend where religion was used as a tool for the mobilization of war efforts. Inherent opportunistic events like the small size of Jewish community, the European military might and Muslim military mights led to Antisemitism, Crusades and Jihads respectively. These wars were aimed with interests like economic interests and desires in mind and where lined to the misuse of religious doctrines like remission of sins and the justification of wrong. 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Is Jihad a just war?: war, peace, and human rights under Islamic and public international law. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 2001. Print. Read More