The article “Soldiers for Christ” discusses three types of religions dealing with terrorism. This essay will discuss methods and motives of these three groups and whether their tactics include penetrating terrorist acts according to the definition of terrorism we outlined in class this term. It will also outline how convincing each group’s members justifies their objectives and the methods they use to attain them. The article first discusses Christianity which is said to be the religion associated with terrorism. Christianity, like most traditions, has always had a violent side.
The Ongoing Conflict of the Sunnis and Shi’ites Today, we hear all about the troubles and wars occurring in the Middle East and the surrounding area. These current conflicts are usually over religion. However, these religious animosities for one another didn’t just recently start. They derived from two centuries ago, with the oldest Middle Eastern conflict between the Sunni and Shia Muslims. In AD 620, the Islamic religion was created by the Prophet Muhammad.
In addition, religion formed strong spiritual bonds among the people as well (Craig 297). Political leadership also played part in the unification of the Islamic peoples, and played part in the government system over Islamic territory and conquered territories, setting up political ideals such as “little bloodshed destruction, or disruption in conquest; adoption of existing administrative systems with minimal changes…appointment of capable governors (Craig 298). Political administration within the Islamic empire played a major part in keeping peace and prosperity in the growing empire, thus making it a significant factor in the expansion of the Islamic empire from
Therefore, it can be said that religion can be used as a form of cultural defence against the rapidly increasing West. The use of religion as a cultural defence is very evident in modern times with the rise of Fundamentalism. Those from ethnic minorities opposing Western values so much that they are willing to kill others and themselves to prove this. The clash of civilisations has been evident between Islam and the West for hundreds of years but became known throughout the world after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Fundamentalists are using religion to defend their culture in a negative way and have thus created a stigma for ethnic minorities.
Pope Urban II’s speech was delivered in order to influence Christians to go on the First Crusade. His speech begins by explaining a situation in which a group of people are invading Christian lands and killing those by fire and pillage. The people responsible for this action come from the kingdom of Persians; he says that these people are “really not really Persians rather Turkic-Arabic speaking people.” They are taking Christians and bringing them back to their homeland, their own country. Not only are they killing Christians, but they are also destroying churches of God after disrespectfully making the altars unclean with their rituals. The pope proclaims that it is upon his audience to do something about this.
Muslim traders advanced and took control of established trade routes on both of the continents, according to Muslim Trade Networks, in order to expand the network of trade they already possessed. The established trade routes explain why Baghdad was chosen by the Abbasids as the capital and why the Sahara desert was not considered an obstacle in the eyes of the Arabs. They describe the many routes that Muslims had to other continents and cities so that trade and religion could unite the vast empire as said in Muslim Trade Networks. The Muslim trade routes made up a true “network” because it was connected over vast amounts of land and conquests. “Under the Abbasids, the center of the Moslem world was the city of Baghdad…not chosen by inadvertence…” says Document A.
There have been laws put into place to prevent racial profiling based on an individuals religion or religious appearance in four states, Alaska, California, Massachusetts and Arkansas. (Racial Profiling, 2009) Orientalism is a demeaning point of view a person, often from the western hemisphere, has towards individuals from Asian or Arabic Middle Eastern decent. A couple examples of characteristics are mysteriousness and religious extremism. The number of hates crimes towards Muslims and Arabs have risen since the 9/11 attacks. People are often judged and immediately associated with terrorist groups simply by looking a certain way.
Jesus predicts that a time was coming when the disciples will be expelled from the synagogues and those who kill them will do it thinking that they are offering worship to God. 2. Read the following passages and comment on their relevance to verses 1-2 (Acts 7:58; 9:1-2; 22:20; 26: 10; Philippians 3:6; I Timothy 1:13). All the above passages confirm the predictions of Jesus. This is evident where Stephen is stoned to death and many others are murdered and locked up in prisons.
He has used profound acts of hatred to wage a deadly war against all of Western Civilization in the name of Islam. Through his acts of terrorism, he has not only negatively influenced the United States, but also portrayed a violently abysmal image for all Muslims, and has become a denotation of abhorrence world wide. Osama bin Laden performed many attacks against the United States and
Spike Lee’s opinions on who killed Malcolm X is made clear to the viewer, of whom Lee intends to influence the opinions of. In a scene in which a man confronts Malcolm in act meant to lay a seed of doubt in his mind regarding Muhammad, several of the Nation of Islam’s guards promptly drag him away. Lee uses this scene to express who he believes orchestrated Malcolm’s assassination, in that the Nation of Islam will silence anyone who questions