The Role of Religion in The Radical Islam Issues

From the Crusades to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Isis, religion is regularly faulted for a few of the world's most noticeably awful clashes. While a few utilise their faith to legitimise acts of violence, religion is not at the root of such encounters. Religions have the societal impact of partitioning individuals into "us" and “them” which is clearly depicted in Topic 4 - Religion, Stimulus 1 post “Religion is the most evil thing in this world because of it wars have happened people have died and it continues who has the best religion thats what its about”. Generally talking, religion has only ever separated mankind. There are so many religions and sub-religions that it fair leads to isolation of individuals with distinctive convictions and inevitable strife. It is the most common comeback from nonbelievers to individuals of faith that religion is the primary cause of wars. Without faith, numerous say, there would have been no 9/11 attacks, no Israeli-Palestinian strife, no Troubles in Northern Ireland, and no Islamic State. However, it is not religion that executes violence, it is individuals. And particularly a certain mentality that seeks to utilise a philosophy or a religious defence to control people's thinking and control the most essential freedoms.

“Politics, not religion is to blame for the violence in today's world” (Armstrong 2016). Violence frequently breaks out between religious groups. However, it is a mistake to fault religion for violence. Tragically, fighting is a widespread human potential that would still exist in the event that we were all nonbelievers. Religion has a inclination to reflect political and financial realities. Not only does religion educate ideals, it catalyses ethical activity. Violence exists since man is a social entity given to shaping groups, tribes and countries that merge into a culture. Individual character is looked for and created inside this group culture. We work out goodwill toward those inside our group and hostility against those exterior the group. This in-group benevolence and out-group threatening vibe produces strife and war as bunches clash over mainstream issues of control, region, rare assets, and character itself. Religion enters the blend when individuals make it apart of their group identity. Through these dynamic steps, politicised psychological warfare are delivered inside today’s society.

“Religion is the principal label, and the most dangerous one, by which a ‘they,' as opposed to a 'we' can be identified” (Dawkins 2013). However, the Institute for Economics and Peace report found that having less religion in a country doesn’t make it more peaceful. The extent of atheists in a nation had no bearing on levels of peace. Nations with the highest levels of secularism, primarily communist or previous communist states like Russia and the Czech Republic were not necessarily the most tranquil. North Korea, which has one of the least rates of individuals practising religion, was one of ten 'least peaceful' nations in world last year, according to the report. Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein, who gassed and bombed the Kurdish people yet made a show of praying to Allah on television displays a defamed image of the religion giving society a perspective that the entire religious group would commit the same actions. “Religion, unfortunately, provides a useful cover and powerful motivator for the evil-hearted, religion can be so markedly different in the hands of the power-hungry, as opposed to the altruistic and virtuous, really says more about human psychology than it does about religion. That's why so many human conflicts unfortunately involve religion” (Woodcock 2015).

“Radical Islam is anti-woman, anti-gay, and anti-American. I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, and Jewish people are the targets of persecution and intimidation by radical Islamic preachers of hate and violence” (Trump 2017).This statement itself empowers society to perceive the islamic religion as the cause of conflict within our communities. The place of religion in society has become increasingly controversial in recent years. In the past few centuries, most stable societies have been underpinned by a single religion. However, often, in the case of different sects, there has been a division within society on religious grounds. In addition, many of the conflicts amongst religions have been triggered as a result of a clash of cultures and traditions or the expansion of populations or political spheres of influence. Given the need to come to some understanding of things that are not understandable within society, it becomes clear that the birth of religion was a consequence of the gradual realisation by the human race of its awareness of cause and effect.

Religious contracts can cause, and have caused, all manner of conflict, violence and evil between individuals and communities. Nevertheless, this by itself, proves very little about the correct or misleading acts of religious belief in general. After all, countries frequently go to war in the name of justice and honour but this does not mean that justice and honour are bad ideas. It is not uncommon for people to commit murder in the name of love but this does not mean we should abandon the idea of love. In reality, religious conflict tells us less about religion and more about human nature. Humans are capable of turning on each other for all kinds of reasons being historical, racial, cultural and personal as well as religious.