Recent Religious Movements - Essay Example

RECENT RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS The contemporary world has witnessed remarkable changes at a very fast pace, particularly during the second half of twentieth century, which has not only affected one single area of the world, but has left its indelible impact upon the people belonging to all corners of the globe. Religious extremism is also one among these developments, which appeared in the aftermath of imperialism and post-colonialism and consequent movements launched and organized in the name of race, gender, ethnicity and religion in different parts of the world and subsequently changed into social and political movements, which forced the governments revise their foreign policies in so many western and eastern countries at international level. The most dynamic religious movements are launched by the Jewish and Islamic fundamentalist parties, which has split the whole world into extremist groups and factions, who are always engaged in terrorist activities and hostilities against their rival factions on the one hand, and against the peaceful citizens of the world on the other jeopardizing the very peace and stability of the world at large. The most significant and influential social and political movement that made imperative alterations in the social and political establishment includes Marxism. Named after eminent German socialist thinker and philosopher of nineteenth century i.e. Karl Marx, the movement got the masses realized at global level regarding their rights and privileges that must have been established on equal foundations on the noble principles of social justice, brotherhood and equality. It was Marxist perspective that gave birth to all social movements in Asia, Europe and Africa during the twentieth century. The people of Africa and Asia stood up against imperialism and demanded freedom from the western imperialism. The movement influenced the American society in such a way that the minority groups particularly the African Americans strived to break the shackles of slavery and successfully won the battle against prejudice and racial discrimination after a long and tiresome struggle against the dominating majority group i.e. White Anglo Saxon Population (WASP). Karl Marx views conflict as inevitable in every culture and social set up, which is necessary for its progress and prosperity. Since Marxist perspective was a reaction to the exploitation of the lower stratum at the hands of the upper classes, all the future movements related to it also united to eradicate inequality from society. “Marx notes how the separate individuals form a class only insofar as they have to carry on a common battle against another class; otherwise they are on hostile terms with each other as competitors. (Giddens and Held, 1982, p 20) Feminism also got inspiration from Marxism and blames male-dominating society responsible for the creation of Feminist movement. “Historically, radical feminism started with the assumption that the sexes are adversarially poised, that men have power over women, and that society and its various social relationships can be best understood in terms of their relationship to that situation.” (Eisenstein, 1983) Establishment of Feminist Jurisprudence, Gay Liberation Front, Black Civil Rights Association and other such organizations and groups---all are the outcome of Marxist perspective, where exploitation of powerful stratum is rejected and challenged by the weaker groups. Almost same is applied in respect of religious movements launched and organized during the second half of last century. The contemporary religious movements seek their roots in political movements described above. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 also got inspiration from anti-imperialist political surge, as the religious leader of the Revolution i.e. Ayatollah Khomeini aimed to rescue Iranian society from the cruel clutches of injustices and inequality. The Islamic Revolution of Iran appeared in the reaction of the exploitative Imperialistic political system prevailing under the monarchical rule of Muhammad Reza Shah Pehelvi (1941—1979) in the country. The revolution cracked Capitalistic nuisance from Iranian society by changing the very scenario of the country’s political and economic systems, and serves as the cresset to show the path of glory and light to the seekers of truthfulness and social justice. Being one of the most significant incidents of the second half of twentieth century, the Iranian revolution not only influenced the Iranian state by turning it from Monarchy into an Islamic Republic, but also left its indelible imprints on the international politics and strategies. The Shah of Iran claimed to turn Iran into the fifth most powerful nation in the world, but the plenty of oil revenues and other resources brought only fast inflation, enormous migration into urban vicinities, housing scarcity and a widening gulf between different income groups. “Wages remained derisory”, Calvocoressi (1981: p 354) views, “supply of goods was inadequate and housing was shamefully insufficient before revolution in Teheran.” This situation was really perturbing for the mainstream of the population and aggravated a profound resentment among the workers, peasants and middle classes, which exploded in a hot-blooded revolutionary mass-movement to overthrow the curses of western imperialism and monarchical political system. In addition, Shah had endorsed favoritism in respect of promoting officials in military and other armed forces. “All that”, Mahajan states, “created turbulence and turmoil among the civil and military bureaucracy and establishment in the country, which supported the revolutionary leaders in exile.” (1995: p 835) The same situation created other religious movements like Hezbollah and others. Named after “the Party of God”, Hezbollah is a Muslim political, social welfare and paramilitary organization of the small Middle Eastern state of Lebanon, which is interested in the uplift and security of Lebanese people at large. Established in mid 1980s as the military organization, the main objective behind the founder leaders of Hezbollah was to apply force in order to defend the motherland from the external threats particularly from the neighboring Zionist state of Israel, which has been in constant conflict with the Arab countries of the region on ethnic and religious basis. “Hizballah”, according to global security.org, “is an Islamic movement founded after the Israeli military seizure of Lebanon in 1982, which resulted in the formation of Islamic resistance units committed to the liberation of the occupied territories and the ejection of Israeli forces.” Hezbollah appeared to the limelight first time during the first Israel-Lebanese conflict in 1984, and with the help of Iranian and Syrian aid, it resisted the Israeli invasion with an iron hand. The summer war of July 2006 boosted up the morale of the organization, where it foiled the attack of the well trained and well equipped Israeli forces during the thirty three days indecisive war. The organization also got inspiration from the Iranian Revolution of February 1979, which resulted in the abdication of the Shah of Iran and gave birth to the new Islamic sovereign democratic system in the country. The religious background of Iranian leaders and Hezbollah are also one and the same, due to the very fact that both of them follow the Shiite sect of Islam. Hezbollah was founded to eliminate the elements of nineteenth and twentieth century colonization campaigns of the western powers in order to subjugate the Asian and African states under their control. The big powers launch social movements in poor countries in order to keep them destabilized. Traitor social movements go in line with international law, while patriotic ones refute the concept and resist the existence of trans-national law. In the same way, some of the resistances are taken as valid, while many of the movements working in contradiction to the interests of international powers are kicked out by declaring them as illegitimate and illegal in nature and scope. “International system of law” Rajagopal views, “resembles the imperialism of colonial type, where the freedom movements active against the interests of imperialistic states of the globe, were crushed with an iron hand.” (2003: p 19) Hence, the organizations that appear as freedom loving group determined to unyoke the nation from the shackles of slavery and foreign interference, are declared as traitors by the big powers. The same is the case with Hezbollah, which can be stated as the outcome of the conflict between rich and poor cultures and civilizations. Anti-Muslim feelings in the USA and political and social movements against the Muslims paved the way towards creating extremist terrorist groups in the USA. Since America has become a multicultural country, there exists competition, conflict and even serious feelings of alienation and hatred among different races and ethnic groups. “For nearly 30 years,” Schaefer quotes, “new events have fuelled anti-Arab and anti-Muslim feelings within the United States and contributing to stereotyping.” (2003: p 230) The co-operation and understanding between them all is essential for the peace and solidarity of various groups and communities. It may surely be supportive in developing of a progressive and prosperous America at large. History is replete with the examples of apartheid and racial discrimination in the USA. The literature produced by the African American writers and poets, gave birth to the famous Harlem Renaissance Movement. The motive behind these writers was not mere expressing of their grief; rather, the aims of such writing material appeared as receiving additional gains out of the so-called miseries their previous generations suffered for decades. Another great political event of the terrorist attacks of 09/11/2001 at the renowned World Trade Center, New York, USA, drastically changed the very scenario of the world politics and the direction of international relations at large. Costing thousands of precious lives of the people belonging to the divergent regions of the world, the horrible attacks served as the great surprise for the whole globe, and the people heard the shocking news in a perplexed state of utter astonishment, fear and bewilderment. Maintaining religious motives behind the attacks, the incident not only forced over 150 countries altered their foreign policies, in order to eradicate terrorism, violence and bloodshed from the very face of the Earth under the US commands and instructions, but also laid the foundation of the future political scenario on the basis of this horrible catastrophe. The attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 have incalculable consequences for domestic politics and world affairs. Reliable predictions about these consequences are impossible. However, it may be worthwhile, even at this early point, to reflect on what these acts of violence reveal about the adequacy of our theories of world politics. (Keohane 2001) The political and strategic analysts from different corners of the earth were consulted, and debates and discussions were arranged haphazardly in order to investigate into the motives behind these attacks and the causes and consequences at social, political, economic, geographic, regional, religious and racial levels. The religio-political rivalries of the USA, from international perspective, were assessed and estimated and it was concluded that the so called terrorist organization under the title Al-Qaeda could be involved in these attacks. The evidence we have gathered all points, Bush views, to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as al Qaeda.  They are the same murderers indicted for bombing American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and responsible for bombing the USS Cole. (2001: retrieved in the Whitehouse.gov) Al Qaeda is not a new threat to the imperialism, nor it is against any type of technological advancements or modernism; on the contrary it is anxious to capture the resources of the world at large in the name of ethnicity as well as religion. The nefarious designs of this condemnable terrorist organization i.e. Al Qaeda include putting the world peace in jeopardy in order to introduce their own political set up based on terrorist Sunni system all over the world. The Sunni Muslims terrorist organizations i.e. Taliban and Al Qaeda, are the by-product of injustices committed by the western societies; it is therefore these organizations hate and abhor Jews, Christians, Shiite Muslims and the allies of the western powers. The nefarious designs of Al Qaeda and Taliban planned to massacre the innocent humans without any cause even. To conclude, it becomes obvious that all religious movements contain political and social background, and most of them have been formed in order to gain political dominance in their societies. Hence socioeconomic and political environment always gives birth to religious groups and factions, the aim behind all the developments is mere seeking control and reign over the rival racial and religious groups existing in the same environment. REFERENCES: 1. Anghie, Antony. (2005) Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law. Cambridge University Press, p 19 2. Calvocoressi, Peter. WORLD POLITICS SINCE 1945. Sixth Edition. Longman Publishers, London, 1981. p 354 3. Eisenstein, H. (1983) Radical Feminism: Humanism and Womens Studies. Volume 14 4. Giddens, Anthony and David Held. (1982) Classes, Power, and Conflict: Classical and Contemporary Debates (Berkeley, University of California Press, HT675 C55 p 20 5. http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/NRM.htm 6. http://www.bookrags.com/history/islamindonesia-ema-03/ 7. John Gray. Al Qaeda and what it means to be Modern ISBN 1565848055 2003. 8. Louis Klarevas. (2004) Political Realism: A Culprit for the 9/11 Attacks. Europe, Vol. 26 (3) - Fall 2004 9. Mahajan, V.D. (1995) International Relations since 1900. S. Chand & Company Limited, Ram Nagar, New Delhi, p 835 10. Quintan Wiktorowicz & John Kaltner. (2003) Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaedas Justification for September 11 Middle East Policy Council Journal Volume X, Summer 2003, Number 2. (Retrieved in http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol10/0306_wiktorowiczkaltner.asp) 11. Robert O. Keohane & Joseph S. Nye. (2001) Power and Interdependence. 3d ed. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman. p 12. President George Bush’s Address to the Joint Session of Congress (Quoted in http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html 13. Defence Journal, "Afghanistan - not so great games", April 2002. Did The Planned Oil Pipeline Through Afghanistan Influence Americas Decision To Invade And Install A New Government There? (Quoted in Atchison Intelligence Group: retrieved in)http://www.thedebate.org/thedebate/afghanistan.asp) Read More