Critical Discussion of the View that Religion is a Major Cause of Terrorism - Essay Example

Critically discuss the view that religion is a major cause of terrorism Terrorism is defined as an act of violence which is committed to fulfill political reasons. In other words terrorism is done to gain something in response to the actions committed. It can be noted that the rate of terrorism has increased since the 1950s and the main reason behind the increase can be said to be the critical thinking of the religious scholars or the religious individuals. Mark Juergensmeyer and other authors like Mahan and Martin give particular views on these acts of terrorism and their link to different religions. According to Mark religious violence has increased all over the world and different people who follow these acts defend them accordingly. Mark gives a brief review about the individuals and their acts of terrorism and how they defend their acts. Furthermore authors like Griset and Mahan give an overview of the link between religion and terrorism. They conclude that the "best way to understand terrorism is to examine the social, economic, political and religious conditions and philosophies existing at a particular time and space" (Griset and Mahan 2003). Moreover the logic behind the committing these acts can be said to be religiously affiliated. As the world comprises of different people with different religion and perspectives, these people tend to interpret their own meaning out of their religion. Some people tend to indulge in terrorist activities because of this interpretation. This essay would further discuss and analyze the logics of affiliating terrorism with religion and would conclude if it has an overall affect on terrorism or not. Acts of terrorism all over the world are done to sow a seed of fear amongst the common individuals. They are done to get the demands of the individuals accepted by the government. According to Juergensmeyer religion and terrorism has a deep relationship which pushes the individuals who believe in their religion to move towards terrorist activities. Mark Juergensmeyer in his book tells the readers that religious violence is an act which is theatrical and performance oriented. Religion has an underlying effect on individuals and due to the beliefs people tend to deny the reality and get into acts which are not accepted within the society. Cosmic war has been led by the very reason of the relationship between terrorism and religion. Terrorism is an act of violence committed only to fear individuals and to get certain demands accepted which are of the ones who commit the acts of terrorism. The basic aim of the organizations is to sow a seed of fear amongst individuals when committing the acts of terror. If certain individuals who see or suffer from the act of terrorism portray the act as of being lethal and deadly, then the aim of these organizations is fulfilled. It shows that terrorism is basically done to achieve public recognition in terms of terror. This follows the definition of religious violence as being theatrical and performance oriented. This shows that the acts are done to achieve such theatrical and performance oriented purpose. As explained by Mark Juergensmeyer in these words , "When we who observe these acts take them seriously- are disgusted and repelled by them, and begin to distrust the peacefulness of the world around us- the purpose of this theater are achieved" (J. pg. 128). It can be said that these acts though cannot disrupt the whole national government but they can disturb the people around the whole scene. Through these acts symbols are being left onto the civilians so they can fear the terrorists. Furthermore the terrorists also tend to set out a particular important date in the nation to target a certain place. This makes the civilians fear the acts of terrorism and consider the world as a non-safe place. This makes the media monitor the whole scene and portray it to the individuals as being a very threatening and deadly attack. Thus the attacks are even getting advertising for free just like other performance oriented acts. And so it can be said that religious violence is successfully achieved only when individuals and media portrays the event as some performance has occurred. The cosmic war plays an important role motivating the religious terrorists to commit more of these acts. The cosmic war can be defined as a war which takes into notice the realms of evils and goods existing in this world. Individuals in this war are fighting to attain their identity and dignity as per their personality. Thus this war can never be won as individuals of this cadre think that their respect and dignity has been affected and has been harmed upon. According to Mark this war can never be lost as in the physical world one aspect (i.e. good or evil) can never exist altogether. This further makes the religious violence to flourish and increase through out the world. Religions are the beliefs that individuals have in accordance to certain given sets of conditions. However nowadays, these sets of beliefs are being used or interpreted in the wrong way to commit unjustful and horrible acts. The motivation factor of religious violence also makes the individuals think that their acts are just. Mark explains this in an outstanding way when he tells the readers about the concept of martyrdom and satanization. The terrorists believe that martyrdom is a cause for them to fight for their rights and justice in this world. It is believed by them that martyrdom is a religious act and it can lead them to go to heaven. Martyrdom is viewed as self sacrifice by these individuals as described by mark and this self sacrifice can lead them to gifts in the after life. Furthermore terrorist organizations aim to entice children of younger age into these promises by telling them about the after life pleasures. While some of the terrorists choose this by themselves so that they can diminish the gap between the good and evil. As explained by Mark it can be said that martyrdom is an important cause of religious violence in this world. Satanization, another important factor in increasing religious violence is a mean through which enemies are viewed as non human by the terrorists. The terrorists create enemies by themselves by noticing the acts of these humans which they then subject to be as violent or non violent. This makes the terrorists justify their act of killing to be ethical as the person they killed was violent and inhumane. It has been analyzed that the major cases of terrorism are committed by male only. This is because of three major factors as analyzed by Mark which are patriarchy, socialization of men and the creation of male-self-image. Religion provides a way to men through which they can achieve dignity and honor. As some men are still unemployed and having bad times all over the world they set out to look for a way through which they can redeem their dignity. A patriarchy system is a system build up on the honors of men and is dominated by them, however when they cannot achieve this they tend to look for other ways of achieving honor. "Terrorist acts, then, can be forms of symbolic empowerment for men whose traditional sexual roles- their very manhood-is perceived to be at stake" (J. pg. 199) Socialization and self images created by men also play a role in increasing violence of men. As women in the world begin to get more rights men tend to get humiliated by it. And thus they settle on other acts such as of terrorism and violence. And as they suffer economic instability it forces them more towards acts of terrorism so as to redeem their status in the society as perceived by them. Different approaches to the religions are causing individuals to believe in the acts of terrorism. More individuals everyday are resorting to these acts as they believe that their religion allows such acts. However the wrong interpretation can be blamed mostly for such beliefs and causes of terrorism. On the other hand there have been opposite and equally justifying views which prove that religion is not the major cause of terrorism but rather the disguise used by the terrorists. According to them these foul players do not get provoked by the very reason of religion but they rather use religion to justify their acts in front of other individuals. The determinants of terrorism are outlined as poverty, politics, cultures, race and other social, economical, demographic and cultural factors. According to the supporters of this view religion is used as a justification for rather personal interests which can be of self determination, nationalism and other similar viewpoints. However these supporters also to a certain extent agree that religion has played an important role in increasing the over all violence rate all over the world because of the misinterpretations done by individuals in order to commit these acts. John Esposito describes this factor in these words 'political and economic grievances are primary causes or catalysts, and religion becomes ameans to legitimate and mobilize'. Further another research which was done to find out the major cause behind the Buddhist movement in Tokyo showed that religion was not the only cause which made the group carry out the actions which they did. As explained by Ian Reader that religious factor would not have been enough to take the group in the direction that it did'. All the viewpoints given in by the experts show that religion can not be pointed out as the only cause which force individuals to resorting to the acts of terrorism. Although according to different scholars and researchers, every religion in the world teaches peace and harmony, there are some underlying points in each and every religion which if interpreted can be viewed to be an influencing factor towards committing the acts of terrorism. There are certain traditions and points in every religion through out the world which can be used as a justification for the commitment of these acts. But every religion in this world has a restricted line drawn towards the people who are innocent, however individuals who tend to disguise themselves under religion while committing violence tend to count any individual of this world as innocent. The researchers and scholars have unanimously agreed that religious alone cannot provoke the individuals to carry out these acts but rather a set of conditions may force these people to indulge and commit these kinds of activities. Nowadays there is an increasing debate on the topic as to if religion has a direct impact on the surge in terrorism. This debate cannot be put to an end, however one side can be given more weight age. According to the whole research done above, one is able to review both the sides of the debate. Although religion solely cannot be blamed for the increasing terrorism in this world, but partly it can be said that because of the justification that it provides, people are tempted to join hands with such terrorist organizations. The factor of satanization and martyrdom can be viewed as one of the major factors which make the individuals indulge in these kinds of actions. However on the other hand it can also be said that two or three factors after amalgamating with the factor of religion make up a perfect cause to the increase of terrorism in this world. Thus in the end it can be concluded that although religion is not the only cause of terrorism, but it is a cause of increasing terrorism. Bibliography Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the Mind of God. 2003. University of California Press. Berkely, Ca. Griset, Pamala L., and Sue Mahan. Terrorism in Perspective. Thousand Oaks [u.a.]: Sage Publ, 2003. Griset, Pamala L., and Sue Mahan. Terrorism in Perspective. London: SAGE, 2007. Martin, Gus. The New Era of Terrorism: Selected Readings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004. Martin, Gus. Essentials of Terrorism: Concepts and Controversies. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2008. Martin, Gus. Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. Read More