Religion in times of War
I was looking through the Aljazeera website today and found an article that caught my attention. It seems there are always news of someone dying everyday. This article is different from other articles because it deals with religion.
“Christian priest shot dead in Iraq”
Summary: On Saturday April 5, 2008, Youssef Adel from the Saint Peter’s Church in Iraq was killed by a silencer. He died at the gate in front of his home. His wife did not realize he was shot until he fell to the ground.
Members from religious group are experiencing high death counts. Before the US-Iraq invasion, the number of followers from the Iraqi Christians and Chaldeans total to 800,000 members. Since the invasion, the number has been sliced in half because of the low level of safety due to poor security. Many members have fled the country in hopes to finding a country with better security.
Source: Aljazeera.net
This article is significant is many ways. A priest is a respected position in the community. They spread hopes and joys to believers and many look to them for guidance in life and difficult situations. In some way, they are the parent to those who attend church. This incident occurred because the killer knows this. The death of a priest hurts a person internally more than the death of someone who is not a priest. So why have the killer decide to attack priests? The war between them is not based on religion so it can’t be a religious war. But attackers know that when they attack someone who is close to the community, they are decreasing the community’s morale. By taking a priest away, they are killing the community psychologically.
Religion is an important tool in this war. Al Qeada uses religion to give bring in more followers and to motivate their army. One of the questions that many have is why do people dedicated their lives to being a suicide mission? Why would a person give their life to a mission that whether they succeed or not, they will perish? I found out in a news channel couple months ago that one of the tactics that Al Quaeda use to recruit people to go on suicide missions is by promising them that their family will be taken care of financially once they agree to go on the mission. They tactic attracts many individuals who are poor and cannot provide food and shelter to their daughters and sons. The other tactic that they use is by preaching the principles of their religion in the name of God which in this case is Allah.
Religion is a powerful tool that can move people in a positive direction. It gives followers hope in time of despair. It gives them motivation to believe in a better future when the present is not full of suffering. But at the same time, religion is a powerful tool that can move people in a negative direction. It makes follower feel despair when the better future is not within sight when they need it the most. It makes followers do deeds that prevent a better future from appearing.
I find the role of religion interesting in war. The justification of war, salvation it provides, or in some cases the complete absence of it. Some of the greatest conflicts have resulted because of religious tensions but the majority of people seem surprised to hear that it is a major weapon in the current war. I knew of the religious influence of the war before I deployed but to experience it firsthand is bewildering. The role of religion is strictly separated in our country but everything in society in Iraq revolved around Islam. There is absolutely nothing wrong about that but it is confusing. It was difficult to know what to do against an enemy that fights you for being an infidel when you are fighting them for being a terrorist. The clashing ideals quite frankly didn’t seem to fit. The idea of using Islam as a tool to recruit members is a desperate measure by terrorist organizations. I say this because the majority of ‘terrorists’ apprehended were not extreme religious fundamentalists. They were poor desperate citizens being exploited through their faith. The idea of religion as a holy concept takes on a whole different meaning and complicates situations incredibly when real enemies use it to fuel the cause of a radical and privileged minority.
[...] Comments 1. Loi – Religion in Times of War [...]
Its incredible when thinking how much religion influences war. So many conflicts and wars have occurred because of religion. When talking about Genocide, religion plays a huge role. Its just mind blowing that differences in religion can cause a genocide. I don’t think this will ever change. Religion will always play a role on war in the present and future.
One of the popular reasons for war is on the basis of religion. Religion has a funny way of using people, or should i say that people have a funny way of using religion. It is Gods will that we are here and he is taking care of us and if he did not want us to be here then we would not.
This more or less reminds me of the 1700’s but it still is here and has been here on the earth for the reasons of war.
Many men have died in Gods will but have they really. It is kind of like a post of Alyse called colors. In a sense the thought of doing something for a higher purpose can bring a sense of comfort to people.
Although those who tell to fight in the name of God and use religion on a way to win peoples lives to fight in their war are the sick ones. How could you use something like religion to recruit and know that you are lying to them.
Religion is a funny issue to me when it comes to war I am really not sure how to think about it. Some become more religious and some through it out with the garbage because they have seen so many bad things happen to people.
[...] Religion in times of War [...]