We
must find a new approach to religion!
Do we allow religious conflict to continue, or do we look for ways to
resolve it?
By Kim Michaels
It is an undeniable fact that throughout history religion has caused
numerous conflicts, divisions, violent clashes and even wars. Some of
the most ruthless acts of discrimination and violence have been committed
by people who felt they were fighting for the absolute cause of doing
God’s will, saving other people from Hell or saving the entire
planet. It is also a fact that religion can cause people to develop
extreme intolerance towards those who belong to other religions. It
can even cause people to feel that it is better to kill non-believers
than to allow them to go to Hell by remaining outside the one true religion.
It
is time to do something about religious conflicts. Let us begin by considering
what might happen if we don’t do anything about this problem.
Where will religious tension lead us?
It does not take a genius to see that religious conflict is on the rise.
The events following the 2001 terrorist attacks have escalated the tension
between Christians and Muslims, even between Christian and Muslim nations.
And there are still other religious conflicts looming around the globe.
It seems as if the world has become a powder keg and that one event
can set off an explosion which no one can control. Where will this take
us?
We live in an age in which people are brought closer by economic ties
and advances in communications technology. The positive potential is
that we have the opportunity to create a more harmonious world because
we can get to know each other. However, the negative potential is that
the closer ties between us lead to greater tensions than in the old
days of more primitive communications. Back then, we knew other people
were different, but it was easy to ignore. Today the differences are
more visible, and thus the potential for intolerance and tension is
greater.
Ghettos and cities around the world have shown us that if you put two
groups of people together in a small space, the risk of conflict increases.
The entire world is becoming a smaller space, and consequently the risk
of conflict is escalating.
We cannot simply
sit idly by while religious conflict accelerates. We are committed to
doing something to reduce the tension. So let us now look at how to
respond.
How
do we respond?
How do we respond to this increased tension? There are several common
reactions:
-
Numbness.
Some people make themselves so numb that they don’t feel anything
about religion or religious conflict. They just don’t deal
with the issue, hoping it will go away by itself.
-
Denial.
Some people deny that there is any problem with religion. They refuse
to look at any evidence to the contrary.
-
Finger-pointing.
Some people say that the problem is not religion in general, but
specific religions that are false religions. Some people believe
the problem is every religion besides their own. They refuse to
see that almost every major religion has, at one point or another,
spawned extremist groups.
-
Crusading.
Some people go on a crusade to prove that their religion is the
only true religion, and if all people would simply accept that one
true religion, then we would have peace. They ignore the fact that
it is precisely this attempt to establish a one-world religion that
has caused most religious conflicts.
-
Rejection.
Some people reject all religion as fundamentally flawed. They either
become atheists or scientific materialists and deny, ignore or rationalize
away their own spiritual needs.
Will
these responses improve the situation?
While all of these responses are understandable, the real question is,
“Are they effective?” Will they help reduce
religious conflicts, or will they allow them to flourish?
Imagine that someone has a cancerous tumor. What is the best way to
deal with this problem? Is it to:
-
Make
the person numb, so he no longer feels the pain or see any need
to do something about it.
-
Deny
the existence of the tumor.
-
Point
the finger to a different body part and say that this is where the
real problem is located.
-
Promote
aspirin as the universal cure for all diseases.
-
Reject
all disease as being unreal and a product of an overactive imagination.
Obviously,
none of these approaches would cure the cancer. So what could potentially
cure the cancer of religious conflict? What if we looked for the cause
of the problem.
Read the next page: What causes
religious conflict?
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Copyright
© 2005 by Kim Michaels |
