Religious Conflict

The Big Question: Can secular society exist alongside traditional and fundamentalist religious sects and states? We are quick to notice fundamentalism abroad (i.e. numerous fatwahs sanctioned death sentences by Shia clerics and other fundamentalists) and not so quick to recognize it at home (abortion clinic bombings; Southern Baptist Convention’s calls for women to submit to their husbands’ authority, etc.). American evangelical Christianity and Islamic fundamentalism are the two most influential fundamentalist movements in the world. Fewer and fewer states are governed by an official church. Give reasons religions and states have problems.

Intrafaith vs. Interfaith What is the difference between intra- and inter-? Intrafaith Protestants/Catholics in N. Ireland (read the book) Shia/Sunni in Iraq More moderate monarchists/Wahabis in Saudi Arabia Interfaith Jews/Moslems in Palestine Moslems/Hindus (India/Pakistan, Sri Lanka) Moslems/Traditional Religions (Sudan)

Causes of Inter/Intrafaith Boundaries Convergence Expansion Two religions converge One religion expands into another and older culture becomes a local culture (Chechens/USSR & Russia, Bosnians & Kosovars/Yugoslavia & Serbia) Relocation Mormons, Amish Relocation and Expansion Colonization (Baptists in USA/Catholic Church in South America)

Responses to Inter/Intrafaith Boundaries Separation of Church and State Typical of many democratic countries Syncretism Voodoo/Santeria Isolation Socio-Economic Obstacles Political/Cultural Obstacles Demarcation Genocide

Demarcation: cultural landscape divides territory North Ireland

A five-metre high wall and fence runs from the junction of Springfield Road and Springmartin Road to near Upper Ballygomartin Road, west Belfast. It can be seen for miles.

The biggest Peace Wall in Belfast is the wall that runs along Cupar Way. It divides the East Belfast Loyalist area of Shankill Road from the Springfield/Fall Roads Catholic Area of West Belfast

Peace Walls

Israel/Palestine

Gaza Strip The population of Gaza Strip is about 1.7 million people, most of them descendants of refugees. One million of the population, as of March 2005, were considered refugees, although the vast majority of them were actually born in the Gaza Strip; the older generation fled to Gaza in 1948 as part of the 1948 Palestinian exodus following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, from some parts of Mandate Palestine that became Israel. The population is predominantly Sunni Muslim. With a yearly growth rate of about 3.2%, the Gaza strip has the 7th highest population growth rate in the world

Cycle of Violence

Gaza Barrier

Jerusalem/West Bank

Horn of Africa: Ethiopia How does religion cause conflict? Let us count the ways….

The strategic importance of Eritrea, due to its Red Sea coastline and mineral resources, along with their shared history, was the main cause for the federation with Ethiopia, which in turn led to Eritrea's annexation as Ethiopia's 14th province in This was the culmination of a gradual process of takeover by the Ethiopian authorities, a process which included a 1959 edict establishing the compulsory teaching of Amharic, the main language of Ethiopia, in all Eritrean schools. The lack of regard for the Eritrean population led to the formation of an independence movement in the early 1960s (1961), which erupted into a 30-year war against successive Ethiopian governments that ended in Following a UN-supervised referendum in Eritrea in which the Eritrean people overwhelmingly voted for independence, Eritrea declared its independence and gained international recognition in 1993 Eritrea

Somalia Since 1991 Somalia has been engulfed in anarchy. Years of peace negotiations between the various factions were fruitless, and warlords and militias ruled over individual swaths of land. In 1991, a breakaway nation, the Somaliland Republic, proclaimed its independence. Since then several warlords have set up their own ministates in Puntland and Jubaland. Although internationally unrecognized, these states have been peaceful and stable. In May 2006, the country's worst outbreak of violence in 10 years began, with Islamist militias, called the Somali Islamic Courts Council (SICC), battling rival warlords. On June 6, the Islamist militia seized control of the capital Fast Facts: Ethnic groups Somali 85% non-Somali 15%: Arabs, Bantu, Indian, Italian IMR – 104 (/00) Major infectious diseases (degree of risk: high) food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Rift Valley fever water contact disease: schistosomiasis Religious tensions Christian mission schools closed in 1972 and foreign Protestant missionaries were expelled in The 1960 constitution forbade proselytizing of any religion but Islam, a law which is still in effect

Kashmir

Kashmir is a disputed territory between Pakistan, India, and Pakistan. It has also been occupied by Sikh, Buddhist, Moslems, and Hindus populations. The term Line of Control (LOC) refers to the military control line between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which, to this day, does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary but is the de facto border. A cease-fire line, one that separates the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir from the Chinese-controlled area known as Aksai Chin, lies further to the east and is known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Punjab One of the areas of concern for the world in general, this area is disputed by two nuclear powers, Pakistan and India. Add numerous religious sects and ethnicities and you have…… (you’ve probably figure this out by now) Oh, and it is the headwaters of the Indus River

Yugoslavia On the route from Asia to Europe this region has been one of numerous conflicts. Much of the land is in the Balkans and its numerous rulers left a patchwork of ethnicities and religions. The term balkanization, stresses that tear a county apart, comes from this region and is the “poster child” of what you don’t want in one state (country). more on this later

Caught between two great empires is an unfortunate location, the physical terrain allowed for isolated local cultures and authoritarian governments held the will of people at bay.

Refugees match to religious conflicts Origin Destination

Al Qaeda to ISIS/ISIL Shahada: There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God Shahada (simpler form) over the Seal of Mohamed

Iraq Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath Party, a sectarian Sunni based political Party held control of Iraq which had a Shi’ite majority. (How do rulers do this?) This lead to the occupation of Iraq and a civil war based on the two Iraqi sects.

Wahhabism is a religious movement or sect of Sunni Islam variously described as "orthodox, ultraconservative, fundamentalist, and puritanical describes an Islamic "reform movement" to restore "pure monotheistic worship”. Began in Saudi Arabia Cause of the uniformity of dress among men and women in Saudi Arabia forbids the traveling or working outside the home by a woman without their husband's permission sometimes "punished by flogging" during Wahhabi history include performing or listening to music, dancing, fortune telling, ambulets, television programs (unless religious), playing backgammon, chess, or cards, drawing human or animal figures, acting in a play or writing fiction (both are considered forms of lying), recorded music played over telephones on hold, the sending of flowers to friends or relatives who are in the hospital smoking

Soviet-Afghan War At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. This event began a brutal, decade-long attempt by Moscow to subdue the Afghan civil war and maintain a friendly and socialist government on its border. The Soviet war in Afghanistan lasted nine years from December 1979 to February Part of the Cold War, it was fought between Soviet-led Afghan forces against multi-national insurgent groups called the Mujahideen.

Jihad is an Islamic term referring to a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād is a noun meaning "struggle" or "resisting". Mujahideen is a term that Muslims use to describe those they see as Muslims who struggle in the path of Allah. In recent years, Mujahideen has been most closely associated by the west with radical Islam, encompassing several militant groups and struggles.

Al Qaeda (literally “the base”)is an extremist Wahhabi organization that traces its origins back to the Afghan- Soviet War of the 1980’s Founded by Osama bin Laden and others its purpose to remove the Judo- Christian influences in Moslem dominated countries/regions of the world. Al-Qaeda is also responsible for instigating sectarian violence among Muslims. Al- Qaeda leaders regard liberal Muslims, Shias, Sufis and other sects as heretics and have attacked their mosques and gatherings They believe that the killing of civilians is religiously sanctioned, and they ignore any aspect of religious scripture which might be interpreted as forbidding the murder of civilians Characteristic techniques employed by al-Qaeda include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets

Notable Attacks In August 1998, Al-Qaeda operatives carried out the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 200 people and injuring more than 5,000 others The most destructive act ascribed to al-Qaeda was the series of attacks in the United States on September 11, Five commercial airliners were hijacked. Two of these were crashed into the Twin Towers which later collapsed, destroying the rest of the World Trade Center building complex. The third was crashed into the Pentagon and the fourth in a field during a struggle between passengers and hijackers to control the airplane. The fifth was due to take off but due to air space being shut down from earlier hijackings it never took of successfully and the hijackers fled the airport, this planes final destination was due to be the statue of liberty The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 27 Britons, 7 Americans, 6 Swedish citizens and 3 Danish citizens). A further 240 people were injured.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL ),also translated as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) also known by the Arabic acronym Da ʿ ish and self-proclaimed as the Islamic State (IS),[a] is a Sunni, extremist, jihadist rebel group controlling territory in Iraq and Syria.  Formed from AQI (AL Qaeda in Iraq)  Originally wanted to create a caliphate* in Sunni areas of Iraq  When civil war broke out in Syria they enlarged the area they felt they should control  Later ISIS has claimed sovereignty over all Moslems *is a form of Islamic political-religious leadership which centers around the caliph—i.e. "successor"—to Muhammad. The succession of Muslim empires that have existed in the Muslim world are usually described as "caliphates”. The Levant

ISIS Atrocities  Crucifixion  Beheadings  Use of white phosphorus against civilian and military targets  Genocide  Stolen artifacts The documented incidents include 1,700 captives executed in Tikrit, Iraq, and 650 in Mosul, Iraq. Some 1,000 Turkmen massacred, including 100 children. More than 2,000 women and children kidnapped. “Systematic hunting of members of ethnic and religious groups.” Women raped and sold. Young boys executed. Girls enslaved for sexual abuse. Children recruited as suicide bombers. More than 1 million refugees, half of them kids. -testimony before the U.N. Human Rights Council

Destruction of religious minorities The Sinjar mountain area is a ring of villages and one of the few true homes for the Yezidi people. The Yezidi’s ancient faith, which combines elements of Christianity, Sufi Islam, and Zoroastrianism, is considered heretical by ISIS and puts them at great risk. Numbering about 300,000 adherents, they were given 24 hours to leave their homes and surrounding areas. Fortunately Kurds and outside forces protected them, but they are still at risk. Yazidis are monotheists, believing in one God, who created the world and entrusted it into the care of a Heptad of seven Holy Beings, often known as Angels. Preeminent among these is Tawûsê Melek (frequently known as "Melek Taus" in English publications), the Peacock Angel.

Syncretism Merging of two religions Mimicry vs. Appropriation Why would a group that has been colonized mimic a religion? Discuss how this may appear on the landscape.