In the Name of God - Assignment Example

In the Name of God Religion makes believers more open to giving up their rational thought process and blindly accepting the will of an authoritative figure. Just as the believers can be instructed to love their neighbor, they can also be incited to hate by a religious or political figure they perceive to have authority over them. Many example of genocide, the mass killing of innocents due to their particular ethnicity or religion, have occurred throughout the history of the world. The term "genocide" itself is somewhat recent, however, and was coined following the well documented atrocities perpetrated against a religious group, the Jews, prior to and during WWII. What could motivate humans to enslave, torture and kill other humans, especially in the name of religion? On the surface it doesn't make sense. Religions generally promote concepts of love, acceptance and forgiveness. Yes, there are also instances of horrific acts justified by most all ancient religious texts but, still, the main theme is generally of tolerance. The motivations for, along with the act itself of genocide doesn't seem to make sense until one peeks just under the surface. As the former Eastern European nation Yugoslavia broke apart in the early 1990's into what are today Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina had not yet been able to secure recognition from the European Union. The delay was due to a lack of racial purity in that emerging country, unlike the circumstances in its neighbor nations. Three ethnic groups were prominent, Bosnian Serbs (Orthodox Catholic), Bosnian Croats (Roman Catholic ), and Bosniaks (Muslim). Former Yugoslavian Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, in an effort to unite the Serbs, absorbed the small nation of Kosovo under his control by gaining a huge public following. He accomplished this by using his political influence to fill media positions with his politicalsupporters. Kosovo was a prime location to begin his vision. Passions already ran high among Christian Serbs who were being oppressed by the majority Muslim population. Franjo Tudmjman, a Serbian and Croatia's leader, wished to expand Croatian territory. After fighting between themselves, Tudmjman and Milosevic decided to join forces to conquer then to divide Bosnia Herzegovina. The problem was the Muslim population in that country made for a very difficult takeover. Ethnic cleansing was publicly made state policy by both leaders. During the 1990's, fortunate Muslim Bosnians were simply expelled from the country while thousands who were not so lucky were executed. In addition, tens of thousands were beaten, raped and/or sent to concentration camps where they were starved and tortured. "There was a clear policy by the Serbs to exterminate Muslim Bosnians as a group..." (Guess, 2009). Though the differing ethnicities in the former Yugoslavia shared a common Slavic heritage, today, they are deeply divided by religious affiliation. Leaders were successful in propagandizing religion to create a false rivalry and turn former neighbors, friends and families against one another, to the extreme point of genocide. This wasn't a religious war. It was a land-grab using religion as a weapon. Religion is a tool of the powerful. It has been used by priests, princesses and politicians to control the thoughts and actions of the masses for more than a millennia. It is such a powerful tool because those who believe have been mentally conditioned to think that whatever they want to believe must be true. Because this is an irrational condition, people can be desensitized by means of propaganda to the point of accepting and encouraging the killing of others on a mass scale. Those perceived by the masses as the authority figure use a herd mentality to rally support for a cause, a cause seldom religious in nature yet fueled by religious fervor. The herd mentality extends to other areas of similarity among peoples such as ethnicity and location which perpetuates and reinforces the leader's spirited rhetoric. Associating the commonalities of a shared religion, national pride, culture and common region all being pitted against a shared enemy is inflammatory and often successful, particularly when spouted by a charismatic, popular leader. "Just as religious belief systems are an element in the impulse to heal they can be an element in the impulse to kill. There is a dark side to religious belief systems, which are often fused with ethnic and national identities." (Waller. 2007). Religious indoctrination makes people more susceptible to suggestion, allowing others to think for them and not employing critical thinking methods. According to a poll, 41 percent of all U.S. adults believe they are living in the end times as described by the Bible. 77 percent of Evangelical Christians believe the same. ("Startling," 2013). If religious belief alone can convince this many of such a ridiculous notion, imagine what a popular political leader can accomplish by combining a shared religious connection with national and ethnic pride. It's a powerful tool that often leads to misery on a grand scale. Religious belief is not inherently a bad phenomenon nor does it cause people to hate. In fact, good deeds in the name of religion has provided much good to the world's people. Religion does, however, oblige followers to willingly give up control of their rational thoughts to what they perceive as an authority figure. The person or group in authority often utilize "us" versus "them" rhetoric to gain what they want aided by the mind control system already put in place by religious belief. Seldom, though, is the goal a religious victory. It's simply a tool used to manipulate those already manipulated. References: Guess, Barbara. (2009). The Causes of the Bosnian Genocide. Humanities 360. Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/the-causes-of-the-bosnian-genocide-45562/ Startling Numbers of Americans Believe World Now in the “End Times.” (2013). Religion News Service. Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://pressreleases.religionnews.com/2013/09/11/shock-poll-startling-numbers-of-americans-believe-world-now-in-the-end-times/#sthash.3m2X2iOf.dpuf Waller, James E. (2007). Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing Oxford University Press. P. 182 Read More