How Religion Can Lead To Violence

Religion has often been the root cause for violent acts. Focusing on the interpretation of moral claims about good and evil, religion encompasses tradition, history, and faith and as such it reflects the social construct of a culture that views a particular religion as indisputably true. Extreme religious commitment is often expressed in the form of extremist behavior and terrorism as religious beliefs are mainly based on faith rather than reason. In this context, the higher objective truth echoed by religion may require confrontational solutions when put at stake.

Religious violence is closely related to the nature of the religious imagination, which has always had the predisposition to project images of cosmic war. Many fanatic believers feel that they are God's only representatives on Earth and as such they need to be God's defenders. This means that when a religious conflict arises it cannot be resolved through dialogue. Instead, disagreements escalate and social tensions occur as a result of absolute solutions. Moreover, religious violence can be seen as an intellectual course of action that reflects context-dependent meanings. This explains why religious extremists emphasize greatly on the symbolic aspect of their acts.

Often, fanatic believers adopt a religious faith because they need to feel secure in a dangerous world. In this context, religious extremism is characterized by a group, which considers itself as being terribly suppressed and demoralized, and asks for freedom through the annihilation of the group of oppressors. When their religion is disputed, they react emotionally and often violently. Religious violence is expressed through physical abuse, vandalism, torture or even murder. Moreover, the act of suicidal attack reflects fervour of social integrity, which is used to stimulate interest about global social and political shifts.

Many religious fanatics believe that there is only one religion: the one revealed by God to humanity. This top-down approach leaves no doubt that the best religion is the one each one believes at and at the same time any other religion is a bottom-up faith, meaning all other religions are created by humans in their need to express their love for God. In this context, it is impossible for a religious fanatic to accept that, apart from own religion, the top-down religion, there are other religions, equally respectable and top-down, which should be respected.

This top-down concept is applied in all religions. Islamic religious extremism is driven, not only by fanaticism, but also by the urge to overcome poor education, poverty, and political instability in the Middle East. Encompassing the fervour of destroying anything anti-Muslim, Muslim religious violence mirrors the power of Allah. Similarly, Jewish terrorism performs extremist attacks against Palestine as they cannot accept any peaceful settlement with the Muslims. Something similar happened in Christianity. Called from the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire to conquer Jerusalem, the Crusades were military conflicts between the Christian Europe and the rest of the world, namely Muslims, Mongols, Magyars, and Slavs.

Apparently, no one can tell what is the right religion and if there is a right religion. However, in the name of religion, innocent people are brutally beaten and killed. Although it may seem contradictory, religion repeatedly leads to violence. God bless us all.