Fighting Violent Religious Extremism - Research Paper Example

Fighting Violent Religious Extremism through Self-Governance and Economic I. ment of purpose Religious extremism is a global social problem that is affecting many countries including the United States. Religious extremism has led to countless deaths, injuries and loss of property in many parts of the world. The September 11th terrorism attack on the World Trade center in America, the civil violence in Somalia that is led by the Al-Shabaab outlawed organization and the ongoing conflicts between Israel and Palestinian are all attributed to religious extremism. Both air and ground bombardments of the extremist groups and toppling of the extremist regimes like the previous Saddam Hussein government have failed in ending religious extremist violence. This paper will discuss the origins of the extremist groups and offer solutions to ending religious extremist violence (James and Mason 10). II. Background and history of religious extremism Unlike the popular beliefs, religious extremism and violence is not an element of any religion. Although Islam religion has Jihad, the religion prohibits the use of violence and terrorism. The root cause of religious extremism is false radical doctrines that cause frustration and anger among the extremists. Religious extremist groups are willing to use violence to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, America has numerous hate groups and religious extremists that are always willing to use violence to achieve their terrorism objectives. Religious extremist groups make powerful denunciation of people with different lifestyles and dehumanize the non-believers in their religion. These groups make idealizations of past eras and devalue the events of the world since they intensely focus on life after death. These groups try to maintain the traditional roles of women and use violence to those who disagree with their beliefs. One common belief of all religions is the purpose of preservation of human life and living according to the will of God. Islam is committed to attaining peace through commitment to God’s will. Muslim Brotherhood, the most influential political organization in the Muslim world, has embraced radical ideologies by asserting that the Arab world is currently corrupted by Western influences. Modern Islamic extremist groups include Hamas, Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda. Islamic extremist has been triggered by the US occupation of Iraq, the globalization of the Western culture and the ongoing Palestinian-Israel conflicts where countries dominated by Christianity beliefs are supporting Israel in the occupation of the contested regions (James and Mason 40). Christian extremist groups also exist with the objective of using violence against members of other religions in order to transform the US to a biblical law government. Christian extremists groups have in the past used violence against citizens who live against the biblical teachings like gay people, pro-abortion groups and stem cell researchers. The goal of the Christian extremist groups is to impose their moral values in the US constitution and eventually create a “Christian America” that is ruled by Christianity beliefs and teachings. The aftermath of the Holocaust that claimed the lives of more than 6 million Jews led to the formation of Jewish religion extremist groups. The clash of cultures and faith between the extremist Muslims and extremist Christians has threatened the global peace since numerous terrorism attacks have been facilitated by the extremist groups. Islamic extremist groups have the objective of dismantling democratic governance and capitalist ideas and replace them with communist values. The return of the Palestinian State to Muslims and the total destruction of Israel is one of the objectives of religious extremism in the Israel-Palestinian crisis. Religious extremism is a part of the greater social problems experienced in the society. Historically, Islam religion was peaceful due to excellent living conditions and flourishing economies. Christians were historically violent due to the clash of Christianity doctrines like the Roman Catholics and Protestants. Religious extremism is rampant in countries that lack political freedom or adequate economic resources. Islamic extremism can be traced back to 1920 when the British military occupied Egypt since many extremist groups sprung up to oppose the Western occupancy. For instance, most of the Middle East countries where Islam is the dominant religion lack democracy and the citizens experience economic hardships due to misuse of public finances by the ruling dictatorial regimes. Countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan hardly hold free elections while the ruling authorities continue to violate the basic human rights of the citizens. Such countries have no freedom of the press where the aggrieved citizens can express their grievances to the authorities (James and Mason 100). Several strategies have been used to combat and end religious extremist movements. For instance, the US government has spent heavily in military intervention in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan where Islamist extremist groups have repeatedly attacked US citizens. The toppling of Saddam Hussein dictatorial regime by American forces galvanized the Islamic extremist violence against US citizens. III. Issues The primary theoretical framework for understanding religious extremism is the development of social problems like the inner-city crime, overcrowded households, lack of social amenities, lack of adequate employment opportunities and political freedom suppression by the ruling regime. Industrialization and urbanization has led to changes in the social structure. The movement of people to different parts of the world in search of business opportunities, education opportunities or travel has led to a religion clash due to different cultural backgrounds. Many of the social problems can be traced to the migration of individuals to cities and increase in the global population that has resulted to competition for the scarce economic resources. Most of the religious extremist members live in poor housing conditions and lack economic opportunities. Violent crimes and other social problems like global drug trafficking have led to increase in drug abuse in the many cities in the world. Most of the Islamist extremists in Afghanistan have relied in drug trafficking proceeds to finance terrorist activities against Western countries that prohibit drug abuse. For instance, Al-Shabaab extremist group mainly sprung due to lack of domestic government and employment opportunities. Al-Shabaab has kidnapped Western aid workers in return for ransoms and prosecuted the Christians who have been suspected to be spying for the allied forces (James and Mason 90). Religious extremism is associated with low income populations especially in countries with no political freedom. Civil oppressions by the government and human rights violations lead to frustrations when the citizens have no freedom of free speech. For instance, lack of democracy in Libya and Morocco has led to formation of Islamic extremist groups that target Christians. Poverty in countries like Tunisia and Syria led to formation of extremist groups that were responsible for civil strikes and disturbances. Al-Shabaab terrorist organization was mainly formed for financial gains from the collecting of taxes from sea vessels in Port of Kismayo. Al-Shabaab is also responsible for collecting illegal taxes for fishing and charcoal business and piracy in the Indian Ocean. Religious extremes are a minority in the total population of the religion. Most of the members of each religion are peaceful. All religions condemn the use of violence to advance political ideologies and attain financial gains. The members of each religion can implement effective strategies and programs to address religious extremism. IV. Complicating factors Fighting for political freedom leads to many negative consequences. The fight for political pluralism has led to many deaths in many parts of the world. For instance, more than ten thousand people were killed when the US invaded Iraq. However, the Iraq war has not ended the deep ethnic and religious tensions that have existed in Iraq. Power and wealth is not evenly distributed while more than 80 percent of the citizens are illiterate. In the Iran-Iraq war, more than three hundred thousand people were killed while more than one million were injured or wounded. In the Desert storm operations of 1991, more than one hundred thousand Iraq soldiers were killed while more than 88,500 tons were dropped by US air forces. After the September 11th attacks in America by Al-Qaeda, the US invaded Iraq in order to crush Islamic extremists that had planned the attacks. The war led to toppling or Iraqi government and subsequent occupation. The war has increased the religious tensions between the Muslims and Christians since many Islamic extremism groups have claimed that the US is aiming at imposing secular governments in all Middle East countries (James and Mason 70). Religious extremism has hindered the economic development of many countries. Investors fear investing their capital with unstable political governments or where insecurity has been compromised by religious violence. For instance, though Somalia prides itself with some of the most attractive sand beaches in the world, investors cannot invest in that country due to political risks and fear of attacks by the Al-Shabaab. Another compromising factor is the negative reaction of the population to military intervention in combating religious extremist groups. Military attacks enhance political imperialism since the peaceful citizens die or sustain injuries whenever the military intervenes. Military interventions facilitate more religious violence against the citizens. Some countries have enacted laws that prohibit political and economic interests due to national interests. For instance, President Hosni Mubarak amended the Egyptian constitution in order to hinder democracy by providing that all candidates interested in political leadership should seek nominations under only one party. Israel has prohibited political freedom in order to maintain the security of the country that has been threatened by Islamic terrorists and Palestinian extremist groups. President Hosni Mubarak controlled much of the oil industry in order to prevent the rise of opposition groups and prevent democracy in his governance. V. Possible solutions There are several solutions that can end religious extremism. All countries should support political freedom and respect for basic human rights. Democracy helps in airing the citizen grievances and facilitates the recognition of the rights of minorities. Stable dictatorial governments in the Middle East have led to poor economic development and prohibition of freedom of speech. Most of the Islamic extremism groups were formed in order to oppose the government policies or topple the ruling regimes. Another effective solution is encouraging economic development in the countries faced with religious extremism. Poverty, poor living conditions and lack of education encourages other social problems like drug abuse and crime thus leading to the formation of the religious extremist groups. The use of military intervention can strengthen religious extremism. For instance, the US intervention in the Iraq war led to the growth of Afghanistan mujahedeen group that later transformed to Al-Qaeda. The US government should analyze the impact of military support carefully to countries that aim at combating the religious extremist groups through military intervention. The US government involvement in Somalia in 1993 strengthened the negative perceptions of Somalia youths about the United States. VI. Recommendations Although interfering with the sovereignty of foreign countries presents a lot of political risks for the US, the realistic method of fighting religious extremism is ensuring democracy and rule of the law in those countries. The US government should require the foreign countries to implement policies that aim at entrenching democracy and ending dictatorial regimes. For instance, Muslim Brotherhood which has been an Islamic extremist group lobbying for the end of Hosni Mubarak regime, has become more bureaucratic regime after the toppling of Hosni Mubarak’s regime. VII. Anticipated outcome Enhancing political and economic freedom in countries with religious extremist groups will not completely result in violence. The situations that enhance religious extremism like dictatorial regimes, unemployment, and government corruption, poverty and human right abuses should be eradicated in order to reduce the scale of religious violence (James and Mason 200). Works cited: James, Otto and Mason, Paul. Religious extremism. London. Evans. 2010. Print Read More