Religion, Violence and Peace

The Promotion of Peaceful Coexistence between Hindus and Muslims in the Bollywood Film Industry

2011-11-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

India has been constantly beset by religious, linguistic, socioeconomic and regional clashes since its partitioning in 1947 (Dalmia 2011, 58). Contemporarily, religious riots are commonplace and in certain areas, such as Dharavi, violence has become accepted as the norm (Sardar 2006, 30; Sen and Wagner 2009, 306). The media plays a pivotal role in Indian society, as in the West, and has the power not only to transfer information to the masses but to mould people’s beliefs (Leab 2002, 120; Balraj 2011, 91). The efficacy of the media as a tool for positive or negative social change has been demonstrated in the twentieth century. Many scholars, for instance, believe that communism fell in the former U.S.S.R. partially due to the influence of Western music and culture on Eastern Bloc youth (Dalmia 2011, 58-59). The media was also used in the Balkans to spread nationalist propaganda and facilitated the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia (Rajgopal 2011, 237). In India, the Bollywood film industry has an enormous influence on popular culture (Chatterjee 2009, vii). Now the largest film industry in the world, it produces over 900 films per annum that are viewed globally by approximately three billion people (Mehta 2005, 52; Gokulsing and Dissanayake 2004, 10; Dalmia 2011, 58). Significantly, Muslims are well represented in the industry and many Bollywood films depict the suffering of Indian Muslims, demonstrate that Muslims can be loyal citizens of India and encourage Muslim youth to practice non-violent forms of Islam. After introducing the roots of religious conflict in modern India, this essay examines the message of Bollywood films and the stance that the industry takes against fundamentalist violent expressions of Hinduism and Islam.

Tension between Hindus and Muslims in India began to intensify during the lead up towards independence. Mahatma Gandhi, realising the limitations of what Western secularism could offer Indian society, worked tirelessly to promote Sarvadharma Sambhav, the peaceful coexistence of all religions (Sen and Wagner 2009, 304). Nevertheless, tensions continued to rise and violence erupted upon India gaining independence in 1947, resulting in the partitioning of Pakistan and East Pakistan from predominantly Hindu India (66). Since then, Hindu nationalism has remained a dominant force in Indian politics. According to Wellman and Tukono (2004, 292), a religious communities oppose competing communities in order to strengthen their sense of identity. Between 1999 and 2004, the Bharatiya Janata Party was in government and promoted the ideology of Hindutva, insisting that Hindus constitute the Indian nation as its original inhabitants and are the sole creators of its culture (Sen and Wagner 2009, 309, 313). This has fuelled numerous atrocities against India’s Muslims in the last decade, often perpetrated by ordinary citizens (30). For example, during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, Hindu women actively encouraged the rape of Muslim women and shielded rapists from the police (Banaji 2006, 132). Meanwhile, some Muslims from Jammu and Kashmir feel like they no longer have a place in India and have formed terrorist independence movements (Sardar 2006, 31). Consequently, violence has become a regular part of the daily discourse in some areas and regularly claims lives (Sen and Wagner 2009, 306). Clearly, India has not yet resolved the nation’s Hindu-Muslim divide and the promotion of peaceful coexistence is of prime importance to the country’s future.

Despite the fact that Muslims comprise approximately eleven percent of India’s population, they are still not entirely integrated into the mainstream of politics and public institutions (Sardar 2006, 30). This is a reflection of the aforementioned ideology of Hindutva, which encourages the idea that India is a Hindu nation and should be governed by Hindus (30). Yet, in bold defiance of this discriminating ideology, Muslims retain a very high visibility in the Bollywood film industry. For example, the current three highest-grossing male actors in India are all Muslims with the well-known Muslim surname Khan (Dalmia 2011, 61). Shah Rukh Khan, the most popular of these three megastars, has actually taken it upon himself to promote a respectable image of Islam to the public (62). The situation is much the same with Bollywood music. In 2010 the two biggest hit songs, “Munni Badnam Hui” and “Sheila Ki Jawani”, were choreographed by Farah Khan (58). Likewise, Bollywood’s most respected composer A. R. Rahman, who created the music for Slumdog Millionaire, is a devout Sufi and is known to pray regularly (62). This openness towards Muslims is also evident linguistically in Bollywood movies’ titles, songs and dialogues. Ever since the creation of the first Hindi talkies, Muslim Urdu writers have had a significant presence in Indian cinema (Trivedi 2006, 58). As a result of this influence, Bollywood films are generally made in a stratum of the vernacular that is readily understood by both Hindi and Urdu speakers (Trivedi 2006, 53). This is in stark contrast to the government’s sanctioning of Sanskritic Hindi, which is difficult to understand for Urdu speakers and the uneducated, as the official language of India (53). In fact, the dialect of Hindi that is used in Bollywood films is frequently so close to Urdu that some commentators question whether the films are in Hindi at all. Yet, even though the films are generally not in a highly Sanskritic Hindi, neither are they in a strongly Persianised Urdu (54). Rather, they are made in a colloquial Hindi-Urdu vernacular that crosses religious and cultural barriers in an effort to welcome people of both religions to enjoy the film (Trivedi 2006, 53). In light of the numerous Muslims in the Bollywood film industry as well as its openness to Urdu culture, Bollywood films are evidently a valuable platform for the promotion of peaceful coexistence between Hindus and Muslims.

Despite the fact that Muslims are so prominent in the Bollywood industry, some social commentators argue that its films reinforce the image of Muslims as the “other”, creating mistrust towards them and facilitating their ostracism in Indian society (Balraj 2011, 92). For instance, Muslims are frequently portrayed as either the victims or the perpetrators of crime in the Mumbai underworld (93). When dealing with politics, many Bollywood films blame the nation’s political problems on extremist Islam (Kabir 2010, 377; Dirks 2008, 134). In such films, Muslims are usually identifiable through their stereotypical clothing and grooming. For instance, whilst most men under forty in India have moustaches, Bollywood characters tend to be clean shaven, except for Muslims, criminals and some other characters who can be identified by their beards (Dwyer and Patel 2002, 84). However, even though India’s political problems are frequently blamed on stereotypically-dressed Muslim terrorists, many Bollywood films recognise the responsibility of the state in marginalising India’s minorities and depict the suffering they undergo on a daily basis (Gokulsing and Dissanayake 2004, 68). Bombay, released in 1994, is the story of forbidden love between a Hindu journalist and a Muslim woman. The tragic events of the second half of the film demonstrate the harm inflicted on all members of the community by racial hatred and religious riots (68). In the end of the film, people of various religions form a human chain against the rioters and demonstrate that a community must stand together to combat violence (Banaji 2006, 136-7). Whilst Bombay shows the harm caused to communities by religious hatred, films such as Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro, Garam Hawa and My Name is Khan portray the specific suffering inflicted upon Muslims in India and abroad due to negative stereotypes of their religion. In each of these films, the protagonists live in a hostile world and are ostracised by those around them simply on account of the religion they are born into (Gokulsing and Dissanayake 2004, 67; Balraj 2011, 93-94). These films’ portrayal of the suffering caused by religious hatred is highly significant as this issue is frequently overshadowed in Indian society by the problem of poverty (Saari 2009, 61). Whilst garibi hatao, the removal of poverty, is a noble cause, it is also essential people understand that religious discrimination is a major social problem in India that destroys many homes and needs public concern in order to create a better future for the nation (61).

Bollywood directors also combat the discrimination against Muslims in Indian society by including patriotic Indian Muslims or Pakistanis who are loyal friends to their Indian neighbours in their films’ narratives (Banaji 2006, 154). In Mission Kashmir, I.G. Khan is a heroic Muslim police officer who fights against separatists terrorists in Kashmir, has an unconverted Hindu wife Neelima, and frequently offers sentimental statements about the loyalty of Muslims to the nation (Kabir 2010, 379). Likewise, in My Name is Khan, although the protagonist is ostracised simply due to his Muslim surname, Khan, he heroically overcomes his difficulties and demonstrates that Indian Muslims are not the enemies but partners in the battle against terrorism (384). Lal (1998, 495), on this basis of films such as these, argues that Indian cinema has a greater tendency towards inclusiveness than otherness. This is very important to the promotion of non-violent attitudes towards Muslims as it challenges the concept that all Muslims are an imposition on Hindu India, an idea frequently promoted on Indian television and in the news (Sardar 2006, 30). According to Nepstad (2004, 298), religious terrorists have a strong tendency to portray the perceived enemy in Manichean terms as completely wicked. Peacemakers, however, realise that the line between good and evil lies within each individual, not between religious or ethnic groups (298). Thus, by including heroic Muslim protagonists in Bollywood films, the industry is undermining the notion that all Muslims are terrorists and promoting the peacemaking concept that a person’s goodness is not dependent on their religion.

The portrayal of modernised Muslims as the protagonists in Bollywood films not only encouraging Hindus to accept Muslims as a vital part of India, but critiques fundamentalist Islam to the films’ Muslim audiences. Bollywood films are in fact very popular in Muslim countries (Dalmia 2011, 59). Although the films were banned in Pakistan between 1965 and 2008, they were still watched through satellite and smuggled video tapes (59-60). When the ban was lifted on Indian films, people flooded to cinemas to demonstrate their support for the industry (60). In addition to Pakistan, Bollywood films are also widely watched in the Middle East, which is the industry’s third largest overseas market, and a Bollywood theme park is currently being constructed in Dubai (59). The extreme popularity of the films has aroused the concern of Islamic fundamentalists, who are worried about the influence the films have on Muslim youth (58). According to Sen and Wagner (2009, 299), religious fundamentalism is inversely related to modernity and secularism. In the case of Islam, terrorist organisations demand an extremely strict version of the faith and require people to make a strong stance against Western influence (Nepstad 2004, 297). In stark contrast to these fundamentalist characteristics, Muslim characters and actors in Bollywood demonstrate a willingness to adapt to modernity and compromise with contemporary culture (Dwyer and Patel 2002, 83). An example of this is the aforementioned Mission Kashmir, in which the protagonist I.G. Khan espouses a benevolent expression of Islam that is exulted above the fundamentalist form practiced by the film’s terrorist villains (Kabir 2010, 379). In addition to critiquing violent expressions of Islam, films such as this also challenge Indian Muslims to remain loyal to the interests of the nation, in direct contrast to the philosophy promoted by terrorist organisations which demand that people be primarily loyal to Islam and sanction the breaking of laws (Nepstad 2004, 297). A moderate form of Islam is also promoted by members of the Bollywood film industry in their off-screen lives. For example, Shah Rukh Khan has embarked upon a personal crusade against Islamic fundamentalism, speaking of the true Islam of Allah and the false Islam of the Mullahs (Dalmia 2011, 62). Likewise A.R. Rahman uses Sufi prayer to attain a sense of relaxation and containment, promoting the message that religion is about personal spiritual elevation, not fighting (62). The ability of these films and actors to have a tangible influence on Muslim society is demonstrated by the fact that Bollywood film stars are publicly idolised in Pakistan and many Pakistani weddings are now Bollywood-themed, imitating the clothes and setting of a wedding in a film (60). It is hard to image that people could idolise Bollywood’s actors and emulate its cultural form without being influenced by its message (60).

The Bollywood film industry, with its far-reaching influence on popular culture, has a great potentiality to facilitate social change in India (Kumar 2008, xv). In contrast to the lack of Muslims in India’s mainstream political and public institutions, Muslims are very well represented in all aspects of the film industry (Dalmia 2011, 61). Even though Muslims are at times represented in Bollywood films as the “other”, many storylines describe the suffering caused to Muslims in India and have patriotic Muslim protagonists. This alerts audiences to the fact that religious discrimination is a real problem in Indian society which needs to be addressed and challenges the belief that Muslims are an imposition on Hindu India (Saari 2009, 61; Sardar 2006, 30). The exaltation of benevolent patriotic Muslims in the industry also encourages Muslim youth to pursue non-violent forms of Islam in preference to that which is being promoted by certain Mullahs (Dalmia 2011, 58, 61). Nevertheless, despite the Bollywood film industry promoting the coexistence of different faiths in India, religious violence continues to claim many lives in large metropolises (Sen and Wagner 2009, 306). Unfortunately, the benefit of Bollywood’s message is weakened by the fact that other forms of the Indian media, at times with the support of the government, vilify India’s non-Hindu population and blame them for the nation’s troubles. A similar message has been promoted through the Hindutva ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which maintains that India is a Hindu nation and should be governed by Hindus (Sardar 2006, 30). Literary and cultural productions can facilitate political and intellectual efforts to promote peace, but they rarely singlehandedly change a nation (Kumar 2008, xv; Dalmia 2011, 58-59). The Bollywood film industry has a powerful message of peaceful coexistence for Hindus and Muslims, but this needs the support of politics and other forms of media in order to realise a radical change in Indian society.

Works Cited
Balraj, Belinda Marie. 2011. “My Name is Khan and I am not a Terrorist”: Representation of Muslims in ‘My Name is Khan’. Journal of Language and Culture 2 (6): 91-95.

Banaji, Shakuntala. 2006. Reading ‘Bollywood’: The Young Audience and Hindi Films. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chatterjee, Partha. 2009. Introduction. In Hindi Cinema: An Insider’s View, Anil Saari. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Dalmia, Shikha. 2011. Bollywood vs. jihad: which is the bigger threat to fundamentalist Islam: the Pentagon or Mumbai? Reason 43 (4): 58-62.

Dirks, Nicholas B. 2008. The Home and the Nation: Consuming Culture and Politics in Roja. In Bollywood Reader, edited by Rajinder Dudrah and Jigna Desai. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Dwyer, Rachel, and Divia Patel. 2002. Cinema India: The Visual Culture of Hindi Film. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Gokulsing, K. Moti, and Wimal Dissanayake. 2004. Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change. Oakhill: Trentham Books.

Kabir, Ananya Jahanara. 2010. The Kashmiri as Muslim in Bollywood’s ‘New Kashmir films’. Contemporary South Asia 18 (4): 373-85.

Kumar, Priya. 2008. Limiting Secularism: The Ethics of Coexistence in Indian Literature and Film. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Lal, Vinay. 1998. The Impossibility of the Outsider in Modern Indian Film”. In The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema, edited by Ashis Nandy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Leab, Daniel J. 2002. Film and Religion. Film History 14 (2): 119-120.

Mehta, Suketu. 2005. Welcome to Bollywood. National Geographic 207 (2): 52-69.

Nepstad, Sharon Erickson. 2004. Religion, Violence, and Peacemaking. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43 (3): 297-301.

Rajgopal, Shoba Sharad. 2011. Bollywood and Neonationalism: The Emergence of Nativism as the Norm in Indian Conventional Cinema. South Asian Popular Culture 9 (3): 237-46.

Saari, Anil. 2009. Hindi Cinema: An Insider’s View. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Sardar, Ziauddin. 2006. Haunted by the Politics of Hate. New Statesman,30 January, p. 30-31.

Sen, Ragini, and Wolfgang Wagner. 2009. Cultural Mechanics of Fundamentalism: Religion as Ideology, Divided Identities and Violence in Post-Gandhi India. Culture & Psychology 15 (3): 299-326.

Trivedi, Harish. 2006. All Kinds of Hindi: The Evolving Language of Hindi Cinema. In Fingerprinting Popular Culture: The Mythic and the Iconic in Indian Cinema, edited by Vinay Lal and Ashis Nandy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Wellman, James K. Jr., and Kyoko Tukono. 2004. Is Religious Violence Inevitable? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43 (3):291-29-296.

Can Religion contribute to Peacebuilding?

2011-11-13T22:03:00.000-08:00

If we sit at the foot of the whole universe to learn we come to understand that everything in the universe, religion, secularism, homeless people, people with a disability, trees, rocks, water, everything has something positive to teach us as well as the potential for destructive power. Secular actors who have participated in every revolution from the French revolution to the present ecological revolution have done so believing that it is secular actors who will bring salvation to the world (Beck, 2010: 20-21). The scientific enlightenment sprung up as secular academics and actors believed that the world would find liberty and emancipation through rationality and science, which would be irresistible to all (Beck, 2010: 21). Secular Actors predicted that religion would slowly decline as science and rationality transformed the world into a place of peace and harmony (Beck, 2010: 30). The United States Government continues to exclude religion from national and global peace-building activities, seeing only the destructive qualities that have emerged from religion in the past and present (Smock, 2008: 7). Governments and secular academics seem to lump all religions and levels of religious expression and practice into one destructive basket, ignoring its positive peace-making qualities.
Cavanaugh (2003) argues that creating a division between religious violence and secular violence is unhelpful as both sides participate in violent forms of behaviour. Both religious institutions and the secular world condemn certain types of violence however continue to pursue violent behaviour as a means to an end. Both religion and the secular world also pursue peacemaking activities as a means to an end. Why should religious forms of peacemaking be excluded, when religious practices may have something to offer that the secular practices don’t offer?
The following essay seeks to argue that religion and spirituality have the potential and the power to participate in creating a more peaceful world. Before looking into the wider global scene, this essay first defines and explores concepts such as religion, spirituality, peace and the qualities that peace builders embody. Forgiveness, reconciliation, nonviolent activism and education are also explored as religious methods through which nonviolent forms of spiritual practice can be implemented to promote peaceful relations in the world.
Definitions and Complexity:
A simple definition of Religion, “involves the allegiance of an individual to the specific beliefs and practices of a group or social institution, whereas spirituality is the personal, subjective experience of the divine” (Goldenberg & Blancke, 2011: 397). Abu-Nimer (2001: 690) found in his multi-cultural group research that it is typically Westerners who separate religion and spirituality. One of the problems in talking about religion is that human beings interpret their own religion in a variety of ways which are not always in alignment with the original teachings of the founder (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 56). How people understand the Great Mystery will determine whether they see God as an anthropomorphic being or the underlying spiritual life force of the universe, this will then determine whether their spiritual practices are geared towards a ‘this worldly’ or ‘other worldly’ orientation and differing definitions of salvation and liberation all impact on how religious individuals socially and personally engage in the world. These variables in Religion create complexity when discussing religion. Whilst most religions use different names, to denote the supreme deity, they all seem to concur that the nature of the supreme deity is a mystery. Hence forth I will use the term Great Mystery to denote God, Allah or as Buddhists would say Ultimate Reality.

Peace:
“In a peace movement there is a lot of anger, frustration, and misunderstanding. The peace movement can write very good protest letters, but they are not yet able to write a love letter” (Hanh, 1987: 79). If we are constantly against what we see in the world we are not at peace (Hanh, 1987: 9). If we want to see peace in the world and are for peace then we have to be what we want to see in the world. It is pointless saying that we want to see peace in the world if we are angry, frustrated and have misunderstood. These emotions are born from ignorance and are destructive (Hanh, 1987: 41). Harvey (2008) a sacred activist, also conveys a similar idea that “Activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions” (Harvey, 2008).
So that our Buddha nature can be made manifest when dealing with problems in our lives, Buddhism teaches us that we must transform destructive emotions into constructive emotions such as love, forgiveness, compassion and understanding, (Hanh, 1987: 41). Secular and religious values are exactly the same according to Abu-Nimer (2001: 692), however spiritual and religious values also include ‘faith in God’ and practices such as pray, meditation, prophetic vision, inner spiritual healing and transformation and inner peace-building. In order to reach a place of peace inside of oneself, this generally involves spiritual healing practices which transform destructive emotional states into constructive emotional states. The secular world helps people to find forgiveness through counselling but does teach skills such as meditation, prayer and spiritual healing practices that can empower individuals to transform destructive emotions on their own (Enright, 2001).
Most religious faiths express the fact that the spirit of God exists in all beings and that we must love our neighbours as ourselves (Osman, 2004: 60; Gopin, 2004: 116). When meeting face to face with one’s enemies, it is important to love and honour the other and work towards finding the divine essence or divine grace in the other. This principle is expressed by Gopin (2004: 116) a Jewish Rabbi and by Jesus when he teaches “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those abuse you” (Luke, 6: 27-28, Bible: 1171). Paul also preaches in Rom, 12:21 (Bible: 1269) “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’. In the Baha’i spiritual tradition it is through knowledge of God that one can see true beauty reflected in the heart of others (Pelle, 1991; 17).
In demonizing the other or using deconstruction in order to highlight the corrupt nature of the other, which are paradigms used by fundamentalist religious denominations and by secular political academics, the us versus them paradigm is created. The ‘us versus them’ paradigm is a defense mechanism which is used to prove the superiority and truth of one’s own group teachings and values (Abu-Nimer, 2001: 687-698). It generally emerges as people feel threatened and insecure in the face of difference, wanting all others to be the same as those in their group. Abdu’l Baha (in Pelle, 1991: 17) states that fault finding and back biting are hateful characteristics of man that are driven from a space of fear.
Qualities of Peace-builders:
A principle expressed in both Judaism and by Native American Indian peace-makers is that sometimes one has to “give up power to gain power” (Pesantubbee, 2004: 36) or another way of saying this is one has to “lose a little face in order to do something sublime” (Gopin, 2004: 119). In essence humility, not pride is another essential quality of a peacemaker. Peacemakers in Native American Indian tribes are generally seen as wise elders and are expected to consider the words they will speak very carefully, as words hold power that can harm (Pesantubbee, 2004: 34; Walker, 2004: 539). Talking sticks are used in Native American Indian peace circles as a talking stick gives the one who holds the stick an opportunity to speak from the heart without interruption, whilst the others in the circle must listen respectfully from their heart space. Silence is built into peacemaking circles in order that people in conflict have time to reflect on what they have heard so that they may choose their words carefully before they respond (Walker, 2004: 539). Peacemakers are also said to have tough skin, meaning that a peacemaker will not be wounded or affected by harsh angry words that are being misdirected at them by someone who speaks sharply from a space of fear (Pesantubbee, 2004: 36).
Forgiveness:
Most religions teach divine principles that limit the self-centred ego. The self-centred ego promotes qualities which are fear based such as self-interest, revenge and pride. If one can surrender to the sustainer of life ‘the Great Mystery’ then one can develop a moral consciousness and loving qualities (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 59). According to Gopin (2004: 115) and Walker (2004: 541-542) the spiritual healing process involves thoroughly indulging past memories, grieving, listening, talking, sharing, periods of silence and allowing emotions to be expressed instead of suppressing ones emotions in fear of uncontrolled emotions preventing rational conversation. Any form of healing work, spiritual or otherwise takes a great deal of time and inner struggle. As Gopin (2004: 120) states it is foolish to believe that after one attempt to heal one is healed. Wounds are generally deeply buried and when released create anxiety, fear, resentment, anger, grief and confusion, which takes a long time to work through before constructive emotions and homeostasis can occur in one’s psyche. If the wounds are transferred inter-generationally, then the wounds exist in the fabric of the social consciousness of large groups of people and are even more difficult to shift, as hatred is taught to the young children of the social or religious group from an early age (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 62). It is senseless to believe that one can simply sign a peace treaty with one’s social/ religious enemies and all will be well.
Forgiveness involves a process in which something has gone wrong between human beings or between human beings and the divine or human beings and nature or as some religions will say such as Buddhism, a pattern of the universe has been made disharmonious (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 56). Each religious tradition is different as some have strict rituals, methods and traditions surrounding forgiveness, whilst other religions allow forgiveness to be “extended by anyone at any time” (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 60). The Jewish prophets, Jesus, and the Qu’ran taught that the nature of the Great Mystery is the nature of forgiveness and forgiveness involves a transformation of the heart (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 57; Neu, 2011: 134). In Buddhism, Tao and Hinduism forgiveness is a vital part of the dharma (teachings). Forgiveness helps one to maintain inner harmony and happiness and is a process that is practised in order to remain in alignment with the dharma (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 57).
If individuals follow their religion for external reasons rather than for internal communion with the Great Mystery, then they will be more likely to seek revenge and retaliation (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 61). Most religions teach that if we forgive, then God will forgive us of our own sins and we are healed (Neu, 2011: 132). However forgiveness can be seen as costly by some, as forgiveness and spiritual healing require immense effort, without any prospect of immediate returns (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 63). Most religions and science agree that forgiveness leads to personal transformation. Psalms, 51: 10 (Bible: 626) reads “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me”. Most religions talk about dying to be reborn, in which spiritual practitioners are willing to confront physical death as well as death of the ego in order to be rebirthed in divine life and service. This often involves a process of spiritual crisis, spiritual healing and transformation (Walsh, 2007: 71). Indigenous people partake of death and spiritual rebirth as part of their rites of passage and initiations (Walsh, 2007: 71).
Forgiveness may be a difficult process; however forgiveness has great value (Neu, 2011: 130). In forgiving, the victim makes a commitment not to pass or fling their own inner pain onto others (Enright, Freedman & Rique, 1998: 54). Forgiveness grinds the negative spiral of revenge and retaliation to a halt and changes the person doing the forgiving (Appleby, 2000: 195). Forgiveness can be unilateral if the perpetrator shows no signs of remorse (Larocco, 2010: 13). If the victim holds onto emotions of anger towards their perpetrator it means that the perpetrator has control of the victim’s life and the person continues to see themselves as a victim rather than finding the gift which exists within forgiveness (Enright, 2001: 10-15). If the victim forgives, the victim affirms to themselves that they are refusing to accept the perpetrators power of negation and dehumanization (Larocco, 2010: 3). With patience and the exploration of feelings that the perpetrator has evoked, the forgiver may reach a place in which they have positive feelings for the perpetrator, as the forgiver moves from a focus on themselves to a focus on their perpetrator (Enright, 2001: 27-28). The healed person may even seek to work with the perpetrator in the hope that the perpetrator will find personal transformation (Enright, Freedman & Rique, 1998: 55). Conflict when tempered with forgiveness and understanding represent opportunities for growth, empowerment and are life transforming (Randolph, 2000: 256).
Scientific research indicates that forgiveness leads to health benefits such as a reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, guilt, increased coping mechanisms, resilience and closeness to the Great Mystery and others (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 66; Enright, 2001: 13-15). Research also indicates that those who hold onto deep anger have blood pressure problems and have a greater risk of suffering heart disease (Enright, 2001: 51-53). The logic of forgiveness does not require compensation or reparation (Griswold, 2007: 63). Unconditional forgiveness leads to greater health, were as the need for an apology and repentance from the perpetrator generally leads to poorer mental health and continuing distress (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 66). Those who do practice forgiveness also seem to be more humble, empathic, loving and grateful (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 67). Men seem to be less willing to forgive then women. Religious and Secular forgiveness programs appear to be equally effective in regards to mental health outcomes (Farhadian & Emmons, 2009: 68).
Reconciliation:
Forgiveness is required to maintain not only individual inner harmony but also harmonious communal relationships. Forgiveness is seen as a necessary first step towards reconciliation. Reconciliation is a mutual process (Wink in Appleby, 2000: 197). Without forgiveness both sides of the conflict are simply sitting in the place of an armed truce waiting to recommence the fight (Enright, 2001: 30-31). President Nelson Mandala and Archbishop Desmond Tutu who worked towards forgiveness and reconciliation in South Africa, had the capacity to do so due to their using the African Spiritual Philosophy of Ubuntu. Ubuntu emphasizes relationships, interdependence, interrelatedness, generosity, peace, social cohesion, justice, compassion, diversity, caring, hospitality, communal spirituality and interconnectedness (Govier, 2002: 96-97; Edwards & Thwala, 2010: 228). Ubuntu works on the understanding that life is possible through relationships and healthy cohesive relationships are a collective rather than an individual matter (Edwards & Thwala, 2010: 226). Health involves right relationship with the Great Mystery, Mother Nature, other human beings and the ancestors. Health, peace and social cohesion are a community responsibility and are maintained through spiritual rituals and ceremony (Edwards & Thwala, 2010: 226-227; Walker, 2004: 537).
The African Indigenous Church (AIC) worked towards promoting spiritual healing practices and reconciliation in 1912. The AIC formed a part of the African National Congress which was successful in buffering and preventing violent political outbreaks between warring parties during Apartheid struggles (Edwards & Thwala, 2010: 216). In 1968 the Catholic Church in Boliva served as mediators for more than twenty years in every major clash between the Government and the miners. The Catholic Church was seen as the only body who could act in a reconciliatory role during the social and political antagonism (Appleby, 2000: 217). In African countries that have recovered from oppressive political regimes, religious leaders have been called upon “to help determine and implement appropriate instruments of transitional justice” (Appleby, 2000: 220). These are all examples where religious leaders have been called upon to help promote peace-building, where secular attempts alone have failed to create peace.

Non Violent Activism:
Wink (2007: 180-182) argues that Jesus taught non-violent resistance, a form of resistance that was confrontational but not lethal. Jesus understood Gods nature as non-violent and those who choose non-violent methods of resistance were already displaying qualities of the Kingdom of God (Wink, 2007: 181). Jesus taught methods to help people remain empowered, where structural change in the oppressive Roman Empire was not readily available. One of the methods Jesus taught his followers was that “if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also” (Wink, 2007: 183). A backhand slap to the right check was a sign of a person in power attempting to humiliate an inferior. By turning the other cheek the oppressed person was indicating to the oppressor that they could not be demeaned or humiliated (Wink, 2007: 184). Wink (2007: 189-191) argues that Jesus offered oppressed people methods to liberate themselves from victim mentality.
Ghandi often reminded his followers that religious traditions have always emphasised nonviolence and truth as the foundation of peace. Ghandi taught that nonviolent resistance was a method that could be used to counter injustice (Appleby, 2000: 141). Ghandi’s spiritual concepts were drawn from all the major world religions and included Ashima or nonviolence, sanctity of life, prayer, meditation, divine love, ascetic practices and repentance (Appleby, 2000: 141). Other religious movements that used Ghandi’s nonviolent resistance methods include the People’s Power Revolution in the Philippines.
Filipino Catholic priests and nuns served as monitors during the 1986 national elections in the Philippines. The election results were fraudulent as widespread vote tampering occurred during the election in which Ferdinand Marcos claimed victory over Corazon Aquino (Appleby, 2000: 208). The Catholic Bishops denounced the results of the election. Later nonviolent resistance and protection were given to the military by Catholic Church members, as the military worked to expel Marcos from power and place Aquino in Government. Aquino acknowledged that it was the Catholic Church who led the nonviolent revolution which ousted Marcos from power (Appleby, 2000: 208). It becomes clear that spiritual teachers and religious groups are able to promote peacemaking through the practices of election monitoring, conflict mediation, nonviolent protest, empowerment and advocacy for structural reform. There are also those spiritual workers who work behind the scenes praying for the spiritual transformation of their enemies, praying for peace and praying for the healing of those who have been damaged through unlawful practices.
Religious Education and Peace-building:
Other ways that religion can help to build peace in the world is through changing attitudes in the education system. The Baha’i spiritual model of education for unity has been tested in Switzerland over nine consecutive summers with astounding results for teachers, students and staff who participated in the program (Bushrui & Malarkey, 2000: 91). The Baha’i model is founded on the principle of the “Oneness of Humankind” and “prescribes unity in diversity” (Bushrui & Malarkey, 2000: 92). Baha’i introduced spiritual education which synthesis’s teachings from all the world’s religious traditions. Unlike comparative religion, the spiritual teachings focus on the common themes and threads of all religions, whilst remaining true to the teachings of each particular religion (Bushrui & Malarkey, 2000: 99). Not only is equality and justice promoted but also cooperation, balance, humility, detachment, service from the heart, health, healing, creative and performing arts and scientific research (Bushrui & Malarkey, 2000: 93). The aim is to help students and staff transform themselves from within, so that holistically balanced people are created through the Baha’i education system who think of others first and who are aware that they belong to a group consciousness that works towards community building and universal peace (Bushrui & Malarkey, 2000: 93-94). The uniqueness of each individual is cherished and nurtured (Bushrui & Malarkey, 2000: 100).
Similarly researchers are exploring the benefits of Indigenous forms of spirituality and how these forms of spirituality create community building, health, harmony and balance, within the individual, the community and environmentally (Edwards & Thwala, 2010: 215-223). Indigenous spiritual knowledge systems are now being taught and researched at independent research institutes and are core components in some University courses (Edwards & Thwala, 2010: 229). If education institutions can integrate universal spiritual healing principles from all the world religions and work towards helping their students and staff to spiritually transform their own inner worlds before acting externally in the world around them, this will surely help to build a more peaceful and prosperous world.
Conclusion:
It becomes quite clear that different Religions have been successfully involved in peace mediation; reconciliation and nonviolent activism around the globe when political actors have turned to corrupt methods to achieve their goals. The case of Nelson Mandala and Archbishop Tutu working together in South Africa to end apartheid was a heart-warming case in which the political and the spiritual worked together in an attempt to create healing and positive social transformation. Religions such as Buddhism, Mystical Christianity, Hinduism, Islamic Sufism, the Jewish Kabbalah and Indigenous spirituality all offer spiritual healing and transformation practices which help one to transform destructive emotions, find guidance from the great mystery within oneself and empower people to see the good and the divine operating in each and every person as well as in all things happening. If we can view each situation as an opportunity for growth, as an opportunity to find love, understanding, compassion and the divine within ourselves and all things, then no matter what is happening we develop faith in a higher power which helps to bring individuals and groups to a greater space of inner peace, empowerment and calmness. This does not prevent one from acting in the world it simply means that when we do act in the world we act from a more centered, compassionate and loving space.
Whilst the secular community teaches forgiveness, which is a powerful form of spiritual transformation, secular communities do not necessarily teach the skills which empower individuals and communities to participate in their own spiritual healing practices. We need to take note of the success of religious institutions such as the Baha’i who teach Education for Unity and the Indigenous cultures who teach a philosophy similar to Ubuntu. These communities teach service from a heart filled with love and community building rather than secular Liberal notions of individual self-interest. Possibly the secular community needs to learn to “loss some face in order to do something sublime”, that is to sit with their religious peers to learn, instead of seeking to dominate and destroy. The areas that require further research are how constructive religious and spiritual philosophies and spiritual healing practices can be incorporated into our education systems and work places in order to teach inner spiritual transformation practices. If we can use spiritual healing practices to help us to transform our anger, hate, arrogance, prejudice, violence, sense of victimhood and shame into love compassion and understanding prior to our acting or being active in the world around us, we will create a more peaceful, stable, equal and loving social world in which to live.

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Islamic Violence in the Media: Redefining Stereotypes - Fraser Barton

2011-11-07T00:55:00.000-08:00

Since the establishment of religion and religious practices, a symbiotic relationship has subsequently been formed between religion, peace and violence (Bulliet 2002). Whilst such attributes often exist within religious institutions in disproportionate levels, almost all religious practices have established some aspect of their religious heritage based around acts of peace and violence (Dunn 2007). Often these qualities are seen as the defining point of such belief structures, with varying degrees ranging from wilful peace-building to fundamentalist violence evident throughout belief systems. Due to the existence of such violence, it is important to understand the relative impact these actions, often conducted by the religious minority, have upon the religious adherents and the basis of faith for which such behaviour is related. Through the actions of the religious minority, it becomes possible for outward displays of violence to surpass all religiously positive actions and sentiments associated with the religious collective (Bulliet 2002). In times this can occur to the degree by which stereotypes and prejudices may be inadvertently formed through selective exposure. It is therefore necessary to consider the belief framework which can foster such violent actions, yet simultaneously promote acts of peace (Yurdakul-Bodemann 2004). It is the visual nature of such contradictory practices which defines and shapes the overall perspective of the religion and its followers to the religious outsider. Such a distortion is exemplified in the portrayal of religion and religious events within media sources (Yenigun 2004). Throughout the past decade, a significant increase has been seen in the stereotypical portrayal and representation of Muslims throughout western media (Yurdakul-Bodemann 2004). Often such representations are not directly inclined towards marginalisation or suggestive of stereotyping, yet through selective exposure coinciding with religious violence their presence can be established.

This essay will focus primarily upon the disproportionate relationships which exist between the Islamic religion, religiously motivated Islamic violence, acts of Islamic peace and the emphasis upon which each is placed throughout media sources. The socio-political fallout towards Muslim individuals as well as the relative impact by which public perception can be shaped through such media reports will be analysed to highlight a propensity towards ‘Islamic’ violence, occurring to the detriment of the individual and the religion as a collective. Through such analysis it will be shown that despite the existence of depictions of Islamic-related violence present within all forms of media, sources of Islamic peace are equally evident although deliberately portrayed to a lesser extent. It is this marginalisation towards acts of peace and fellowship which will be the focus of this essay, along with assessing the impact of widespread media focus upon Islamic violence. Despite such occurrences it will be shown that shifts towards peace building are present in a post September 11th climate, spearheaded by the Islamic faith in an effort to combat such media negativity, counter stereotypes, and establish and realign public perception towards the positive aspects of Islam.
Throughout the last decade, political, social and religious issues surrounding Muslim individuals have become religiously dominant throughout all forms of news media (Ghazali 2008). This distinct increase in Islamic exposure predictably follows the religious implications surrounding the September 11th terrorist attacks (Ghazali 2008). The declaration of religious war by the Muslim world, proclaimed by Osama bin Laden, provided the necessary framework to initiate religious exposure through the media en masse. Through this release, it is evident that the rise in such exposure has subsequently resulted in media-induced stereotyping and misrepresentations of Islam in general. Media representations of Muslims and Islam have coincided with the marked rise in anti-Islam and anti-Muslim sentiments as a response to the increase in media-reported Islamic related violence (Ghazali 2008). Despite this increase, Islamic media attention cannot be seen as a recent occurrence, with Islamic issues having frequented western media throughout history (Ghazali 2008). What can be seen as unique and in correlation to the increase is the degree of coverage afforded to international and internet sources, with previous geographical confines being dismissed as media technology evolves.

Despite claiming a lack of bias or religious prejudice, the omnipresent nature of news media remains highly influential in shaping public perception towards Islam in the wake of Islamic related violence (Akel). This influence and perspective restructuring is achieved by media sources through various methods. Primarily by controlling the religious issues in which it focuses upon (with a proclivity towards violent, newsworthy issues) coupled with semantic manipulation of Islamic terminology, successful perspective restructuring within audiences is accomplished. It is through such a restructure in which the foundations of stereotyping and racial prejudices become engrained within the individual. This was particularly evident in media reports surrounding the 2001 Sydney Muslim gang-rapes and more recently, although in a non-violent sense yet still retaining prior violence-induced stereotyping, in the persistent influx of Asylum seekers (Rane, Ewart & Abdalla 2010). A significant factor surrounding the continued association between violence and Islam is the degree of exposure in which Islamic issues are afforded. Reports on Islamic issues far exceed that of any other religion, with the majority of Islamic exposure accompanied by aspects of violence (Media Tenor International 2008). Through persistent coupling with violent undertones, whether the issue is conflict related or not, unconscious stereotyping is compounded further (Media Tenor International 2008). Such issues are then reinforced through the media’s classification of Islam as a solitary body, effectively discarding the degree of plurality for which it encompasses and classifying Muslim’s as violent by association (Smock & Huda 2009).
Through the media’s role in portraying aspects of religious violence, manipulation of the distribution of Islamic-related violence becomes evident. It is through this selective reporting that media sources are able to focus attention towards the desired violent issues, avoiding critical non-violent aspects of the religion (Dunn 2007). A significant degree of control is also seen through the association of religious terminology with acts of violence. A classic example of how exposure has influenced not only public opinion, but has redefined religious boundaries is through the notion of media-induced Jihad (Akel). Through its initial association with Islamic violence, the role of Jihad has manifested itself deep within media representations and has since become far removed in western definitions from its original Islamic meaning (Abdullah). The media has projected such an image of the term Jihad and coupled with its misrepresentation and association with violent Islamic extremists, have effectively redefined its implications. Jihad is now known to the western world as a violent holy-war against all non-Muslims, when in fact through media intervention, its intended meaning is all but unknown to westerners (Akel).
Collectively, with disproportionate emphasis being placed upon violent actions and little to no recognition towards Islamic-related peace building, it is undeniable that the persistent stereotyping and social stigma surrounding Islam is effectively compounded by media selectivity. This is further reinforced through the interpersonal and intercultural implications which arise as secondary issues, further inhibiting accurate representations of Islamic religious structure from being formed. An example of such an issue is the development of term ‘Islamic fundamental’ and its persistent association with Islamic violence and increasing prevalence throughout media sources (Yenigun 2004). Through the continuance of such an association, the term fundamentalist and the attached ideologies have become almost exclusively associated with Islamic belief (Yenigun 2004). Although the construction of such a term was ultimately borne out of Islamic-related violence, the stereotyping of the word with the religion as a collective has resulted, despite the many internal contradictions present between adherents and fundamentalists. The sense of redefinition and reclassification coincides with that seen in the misuse of the media with the term Jihad (Akel). What is of particular importance in assessing both terms is the acknowledgement of the ability of the media to facilitate religious restructuring. Whilst such restructuring does not occur within Islamic confines, religiously foreign individuals are the target of influence. The issue surrounding religious misrepresentation and restructuring ultimately begins within the religiously ignorant, those who formulate and act upon false stereotypes built upon foundations of extraneous religious violence.

The impact of such stereotyping upon the individual often marginalises the role of the religion in favour of a reductionist perspective, whereby religion is somewhat removed from the context and Islam its representation is reduced to a primal basis of anger and violence (Rane et al. 2010). The danger of this is again in the perspective of the outsider, who becomes unwilling and eventually unable to interpret Islamic variance relating to violent actions. Campaigns against the inability to discern fundamental violence from structured belief are being undertaken by competing Muslim media outlets, although financial and global constraints are rendering the attempts ineffective (mesic.pdf). Media misinformation coupled with unintended disinformation has seen the greatest impact upon Muslim individuals. Reports concerning war or terrorist actions are often misrepresented as being Islamic based. Issues surrounding religiously irrelevant events such as the Gulf War and in recent times the Libyan Civil War have been falsely represented as being religiously motivated, resulting in further reinforced stereotypes and unwarranted social instability for Muslim individuals (Akel).
Although media-induced stereotypes have been and will continue to become firmly instilled by selective media reporting, steps are being taken to promote public awareness of the issues facing Muslim individuals. Islamic followers are challenging the stereotyping present throughout media representations of their faith and ideology in an effort to address such inaccuracies and redefine reporting styles (Ghazali 2008). One of the greatest challenges facing Islam is the initiation of religious outreach and interfaith dialogue as a bridge towards peace, reconciliation and stereotype eradication (Ghazali 2008). In an effort to increase positive inter-religious relationships, Muslim individuals (primarily in America) are showing increasing motivation towards political activism as well as increased social and interfaith activities in an attempt to dispel racial stereotypes (Ghazali 2008). This has been deemed a necessary step in a combined, combative effort to reshape public perception towards Muslim individuals (Abdullah).

It is evident that media holds an innate ability to manipulate and misconstrue issues surrounding political and social issues directly relating to Islam. Islamic social and religious directives are currently underway in an effort to form open lines of inter-religious communication and detract from stereotypical allegations of violence (Smock & Huda 2009). This is ultimately the key to positive peace-building between unrelated indifferent faith structures. Western society is not devoid of racial and religious stereotypes cultivated by eastern countries. In essence, communication between religious and social institutions is vital to allow accurate and necessary representation and avoid external (Media-related) impressions to become distorted stereotypes (Smock 2002). Prior existence of such interfaith agencies has yielded promising results, with its implementation at all levels of religious and social stratification deemed necessary in establishing peace-building and cross-cultural harmonisation (Smock 2002).
The future of religious misrepresentation within the media is confined to the extent in which religious, racial and social cohesion will allow it to progress. Critical reassessment is necessary by media sources in fully establishing the extent of religious and social conflict which is arising as a direct result of media-influence religious tension. Steps are already being undertaken by the Muslim communities in an effort to utilise media sources to reverse the development of Islamic stereotypes, instead promoting peace, fellowship and religious education (BBC News 2007). Advertising campaigns were undertaken throughout Britain promoting Islamic peace following the 2005 July subway terrorist attacks (BBC News 2007). The media campaign targeted peace, integration and assimilation in an effort to counteract the mass development of racial prejudices which followed the terrorist attacks (BBC News 2007). Further utilisation of media sources by Islamic individuals with geographical coverage comparable to that of western media would provide contrasting perspectives to counterbalance biased western media should it choose to continue.

With the multitude of issues surrounding the media’s misrepresentation of Islam, it is evident as to how concentrated religious violence can indirectly result in religious self-harm through the facilitation of subjective information transfer. Although many steps are being taken towards peace and reconciliation through accurate and diverse representations of the religious and societal contributions of Islamic followers, it is still necessary for western media sources to acknowledge an indirect contribution towards the resultant, unjustified religious violence. Through this acknowledgement, essential framework for rebuilding religious ties and establishing the necessary conduit for religious dialogue becomes available to all parties. Furthermore it becomes necessary to no longer overshadow peace-related religious practices with cyclical religious violence, whereas effectively silencing all religious-related violence can in turn reduce unjust stereotype formation and help maintain healthy inter-religious relationships.

References:
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Akel, B n.d., Islam and the Western Media, Website Article, Islam for Today, viewed 02 November 2011, http://www.islamfortoday.com/media.htm.
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Bulliet RW 2002, ‘The Crisis within Islam’, The Wilson Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 11-19.
Dunn K, Klocker N, and Salabay T 2007, ‘Contemporary Racism and Islamophoabia in Australia: Racialising Religion’, Ethnicities, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 764-781.
Ghazali, AS 2008, Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America, Eagle Enterprises, Modesto
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Available at: http://www.usip.org/resources/islamic-perspectives-peace-and-violence .
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The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Girardian Perspective

2011-11-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been waged since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and it has spawned many opinions and theories about the role of religion in the conflict. Many scholars have tried to analyse the situation in order to find the root of the conflict and to try and explain exactly why there is no resolution in sight. This paper will examine the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in relation to René Girard’s theories of mimetic desire, mimetic rivalry and the scapegoat mechanism and find that each of these theories is significant in the conflict. In order to demonstrate the significance of mimesis and the scapegoat theory, they will be applied to three components of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The essay will firstly provide an overview of the theories of René Girard before delving into discussion of the conflict. Then, mimetic desire will be examined in relation to the Zionist movement and the creation of the Jewish homeland. This will then be followed by an analysis of the selection of Jerusalem and the West Bank for the Jewish State in relation to mimetic rivalry. Lastly, the scapegoat mechanism will be discussed in relation to the assassination of the Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin. These three examples corresponding to Girard’s three theories will reveal the importance of the mimetic desire and rivalry as well as the scapegoat mechanism in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

René Girard’s works on mimetic desire have influenced many current-day scholars and it seems to have universal application potential. Girard’s theory addresses human desire and hence, the relationship between desire and violence (Stirling, 2004, 11). For the purpose of this essay, the discussion of Girard’s work will cover three main areas: mimetic desire, mimetic rivalry and the scapegoat mechanism. These areas are all very closely related and the first to be explained will be mimetic desire. As Girard states, “the subject thus looks to the other person to inform him of what he should desire in order to acquire that being” (Girard, 2005, 145-146). This means that humans desire what others have and as an extension, what others desire (Kirwan, 2005, 15).. Fundamentally, Humans desire something not due to its intrinsic value, but because others desire to possess it (Reynolds, 2009, 84). This leads to the idea of mimetic rivalry. After the subject has learnt to desire a particular object, conflict can result (Stirling, 2004, 17). At first, the model is admired for possessing the desired object, thus giving the object value. However, the subject will desire the model’s object which will imbue the model with a greater sense of being and when the subject tries to acquire the object, the model will move in order to stop the acquisition (Stirling, 2004, 18). The result of the rivalry is a cycle of increasing competition which exponentially increases the desire. This process then escalates and spreads like a contagion through mimesis among group members until it threatens destructive chaos (Reynolds, 2009, 85). It is at this point that the group will look for a scapegoat. The scapegoat mechanism is a solution to the cumulative tension brought about by mimetic rivalry. The scapegoat is the victim onto whom the group transfers their violent impulses without worry of corresponding competition. The person is identified, blamed for the troubles and then ‘sacrificed’ by either killing or expelling as a substitute for the mimetic rivalries (Reynolds, 2009, 85-86). As has been explained, Girard’s three theories about mimesis are extremely important in order to examine all types of conflict.

The original source of the religious violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the creation of the Jewish state of Israel, stemming from the Zionist movement which displays Girard’s theory of mimetic desire. In order to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one must understand the history and context of the Zionist movement. Zionism is a Jewish political movement that supported the establishment of a Jewish national homeland (Gurock, 1998, 298). There are many different sorts of Zionism, though they all share a common trait, the claim to Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, based on religious and historical ties to the Land of Israel (Simoni, 1997, 346).The movement was eventually successful and on 14th May 1948, the State of Israel was formed as the Jewish homeland (Taylor, 1971, 10). However, the Palestinians and the Arab states rejected Israel being created in western Palestine and demanded a single state leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. This created a domino effect of religious violence. The Arab armies invaded Israel and the conflict lead to the flight of 711 000 Palestinians from Israel and the exodus of approximately 850 000 Jews from the surrounding Arab nations. The Israeli government then passed a law which prevented the expelled Palestinians from returning to claim their property or live in their homes (Shavit, 2004). Many people would also label the expulsion of Palestinians as ethnic cleansing (Pappe, 2006, 129). Basically, the establishment of the State of Israel in the heart of what was a previously Islamic land marked a major turning point in Islamic anti-Semitism (Judaken, 2008, 542). However, the conflict stems from mimetic desire of the land. Essentially, both the Jewish people and the Palestinian people desire the same land. The key issues of the conflict continue to be security, water and control of Jerusalem (Sela, 2002, 492). The Zionist movement was also brought about by the desire of the Jewish people to have what people of other nationalities possessed—a homeland. As it can be seen, Girard’s theory of mimetic desire is very influential in this case as mimetic desire can be seen in two instances, both in the idea of the nation and for the land possessed by the Palestinians resulting in mimetic rivalry and culminating in religious violence.

The ensuing conflicts that followed the creation of the Jewish nation-state, Israel, can be easily described by Girard’s theory of mimetic rivalry. For the purposes of this argument, the holy city of Jerusalem will be the object of both Palestine and Israel’s desire and hence, the source of conflict. Jerusalem is a holy city in all three Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Jewish people want ownership of this land as to them; it is their holiest city while in Islam, Jerusalem is their third holiest city (Friedland & Hecht, 2000, 8). This means that both nations claim to have a religious interest in the holy city that they keep fighting over; however, the mimetic rivalry furthers the conflict over Jerusalem. ‘Ownership’ of the city has changed frequently since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. In the 1948 war, Israel captured West Jerusalem whilst East Jerusalem was taken by Jordan. Israel then seized East Jerusalem in 1967 and the Basic Law then referred to Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘undivided capital.’ However, internationally, Jerusalem is not recognised as Israel’s capital, and most treat East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory being held by Israel under military occupation (United Nations). In this case, and as displayed in Girard’s theory, each protagonist blames the other for the conflict (Stirling, 2004, 18). This change of ‘ownership’ is clearly displaying Girard’s theory of mimetic rivalry, as previously stated; there is a cycle of ever increasing competition increasing desire of the object exponentially threatening to unravel into chaos (Reynolds, 2009, 85). As one Jewish commentator stated, “Jewish control over the scared city was essential” many regarded it as heretical to give up the least bit of Biblical land (Juergensmeyer, 2003, 37). However, at least a part of this sentiment could be explained by mimetic rivalry and the desire to keep the other party from possessing the sacred land. However, in the 1990’s, peace talks were becoming increasingly effective, until the Oslo Accords and the assassination of the Prime Minister in 1994. Alas, yet again, the violence began and the world saw some of the most brutal, violent attacks in modern history. René Girard’s theory of mimetic rivalry can be easily seen different phases of occupation of Jerusalem since the creation of the state of Israel.

The scapegoat mechanism can be seen many times throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; however the case that will be used is the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. The assassination was a reaction to the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords. The Accords called for withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the Gaza strip and West Bank, affirming the Palestinian right of government from within those areas (Mattar, 2005, 67). November 4, 1995 Rabin addressed a crowd of 100,000 telling them that he believed Israeli’s believed in peace and they were ‘ready to take a risk for it’ (Juergensmeyer, 2003, 48). Shortly after exiting the stage, a student shot the Prime Minister at point-blank range. As the student, Yigal Amir, was being apprehended he claimed to have ‘no regrets’ and that he ‘acted alone and on orders from God’ (Juergensmeyer, 2003, 48). Yigal Amir had seen a Rabbi and was informed that his actions would be justified by the ‘pursuer’s decree’ of Jewish legal precedence which morally obligates a Jew to halt someone who represents a ‘mortal danger’ to the Jewish people. Rabin presented this danger as he was allowing the Palestinian authority to expand into the West Bank (Juergensmeyer, 2003, 49). Many Zionists believed that the creation of a Palestinian government on the West Bank posed a danger not only to Israel, but to Jews in general and Judaism as a religion (Juergensmeyer, 2003, 53). The assassination of Rabin acted as a scapegoat mechanism within the Jewish community. The mimesis was still taking place over Jerusalem and the Israeli population did not want to concede even some ownership to the Palestinians and hence, the Prime Minister was “sacrificed” for the greater good of the Jewish community in the eyes of the Zionists. In Girard’s theory, it is common for the victim to exhibit stereotypical qualities that mark the victim as different or standing out from the others in the group (Reynolds, 2009, 89). In this case, Rabin was willing to concede some holy land to achieve peace, whereas, others in the Jewish community were not. Girard’s scapegoat theory can be applied to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, one of the many lives lost within the religious violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This paper has examined the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in relation to René Girard’s theories of mimetic desire and rivalry as well as the scapegoat mechanism to find that each of these theories is significant within the conflict. In order to demonstrate this significance, the three theories were applied to three components of the conflict. Mimetic desire was discussed in relation to the forging of the Jewish sovereign state. It was found that mimetic desire was seen twice in this instance: the first time being the mimetic desire of the Jewish people to have what other nationalities had, a nation state; secondly, the desire to have the land that was occupied by the Palestinians, in particular, Jerusalem. The occupation and constant fighting over the city of Jerusalem was then examined in regards to the theory of mimetic rivalry. It was found that the constant fighting and taking of Jerusalem by one state then the other, only lead to a cycle of mimetic rivalry which intensified over time and is continuing even today. Lastly, the scapegoat mechanism was analysed in relation to the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It was found that Rabin acted as a scapegoat for the Jewish people and their unhappiness to give up control of some of the West Bank to the Palestinian authorities. The three examples that corresponded to Girard’s three theories have shown that mimetic desire; rivalry and the scapegoat mechanism are extremely significant in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are still active within the conflict today.

Bibliography

Friedland, Roger & Hecht, Richard D. To Rule Jerusalem. USA: University of California Press. 2000.

Girard, René. Violence and the Sacred. Great Britain: Continuum. 2005.

Gurock, Jeffery S. “American Zionism: Mission and Politics.” In American Jewish History. USA: Routledge. 1998, 288-301.

Judaken, Johnathan. “So What’s New? Rethinking the ‘New Anti-Semitism’ in a Global Age.” In Patterns of Prejudice 42, no. 4 – 5 (2008), 531-560.

Juergensmeyer, Mark. "ZION betrayed.” In Terror in the Mind of God: the Global Rise of Religious Violence. USA: University of California Press. 2003. 45-60.

Kirwan, Michael. Discovering Girard. UK: Darton, Longman & Todd. 2005.

Mattar, Philip. Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. USA: Facts on File. 2005.
Pappe, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. England: Oneworld Publications. 2006.

Reynolds, Thomas E. “Beyond Violence in Monotheism: Interfaith Possibilities in René Girard’s Theory of Mimetic Rivalry.” Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 19, no. 1 (2009), 81-101.

Roshwald, Aviel. “Jewish Identity and the Paradox of Nationalism.” In Nationalism, Zionism and Ethnic Mobilization of the Jews in 1990 and Beyond. Edited by Michael Berkowitz. Netherlands: Kominklijke Brill NV. 2004, 11-25.

Sela, Abraham. “Jerusalem.” In The Continuum Political Encyclopaedia of the Middle East. New York: Continuum. 2002. 491-498.
Shavit, Ari. “Survival of the Fittest: An Interview with Benny Morris.” In Logos Journal 3, (2004), http://www.logosjournal.com/morris.htm

Shimoni, Gideon. The Zionist Ideology. USA: Brandeis University Pres., 1997.

Stirling, Mark. “Violent Religion: René Girard’s Theory of Culture.” In The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, edited by J Harold Ellens. USA: Praeger Publishers. 2004, 11-50.

Taylor, A. R. “Vision and Intent in Zionist Thought.” In The Transformation of Palestine. Edited by I. Abu-Lughod. USA: North-western University Pres., 1971. 8-15.

United Nations. “The Status of Jerusalem.” In The Question of Palestine and the United Nations. http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/palestine/ch12.pdf

The Uniting Church promoting Violence or Peace?- An Interview with Reverent Ross Mackay

2011-09-29T21:43:00.001-07:00

The Uniting Church promoting Violence or Peace?- An Interview with Reverent Ross Mackay

Today the topic of religious violence, and thus peace, is of continually growing importance and relevance to every person, especially considering the growing trend of terrorism claimed in the name of religion (Nepstad, 2004). In accordance to Nepstad (2004) religion can be a force of both violence and peace. To investigate this dichotomy I interviewed Reverent Ross Mackay, a Minister for the Uniting Church in Australia. The Uniting Church was established in 1977 through the union of three major Christian Churches in Australia. It is a church that prides itself on being multicultural and endorsing the rights of religious freedom, and equality. (Uniting Church Australia, 2011 & thetransitlounge, 2007). Reverent Mackay was thus chosen as an interview subject as I wished to investigate the topic of religious violence and peace from the perspective of the Uniting Church.
To begin with I wished to investigate Reverent Mackay motivation for joining the Uniting church, rather than some other Christian order. To him the Uniting Church, unlike many of her sister orders, is based on the fundamental premise that all people have a right to worship and fair treatment. This is supported by Hannah- Jones (2003) who found that previously unaccepted groups of individual, such as women, could be ordained by the Uniting Church. Similarly the Reverent gave a further example of this in says that a Uniting Churches in the city of Logan have excelled in promoting multicultural acceptance and acceptance of people with varied backgrounds. Reverent Mackay believes that these practices are essential to the Church’s goal of promoting social justice and equality (Uniting Church in Australia, 2011). He stated that “The uniting church allows for congregations to have a homosexual minister if that is their preference, this is a fantastic freedom that other churches don’t have.” Acceptance is importance to him as he believes that exposure to varied groups of individuals helps to teach those in the church community to be more open and accepting of diversity. This in turn prevents misunderstanding and discrimination, which in turn promotes peace within the community.
Insight had been gained into how the Uniting Church internally maintained social justice and equality, however a lot of religiously motivated violence occurs between different religious groups (Nepstad, 2004). I wished, therefore, to see how the church attempted to maintain equality and peace between themselves and other religious groups. One tool proposed to be useful for peace building is Interfaith dialogue (Smock, 2008). When asked to comment on the involvement of the church in interfaith dialogue, the Reverent stipulated that the Uniting Church regularly engages in interfaith talks as a means of increasing positive relations and identifying similarities between themselves and other religious groups. Reverent Mackay also believes that interfaith dialogue and interfaith cooperation in religious education in schools would be beneficial in preventing misunderstanding between youths of different religions. The reverent said that he “would love to have a rabbi and an Islamic Imam come to do RE with me.” He believes, however, that more conventional Christian dominations would not approve of this. The Uniting Church and its Ministers, more so than other Christian denominations, therefore appears to facilitate religious cooperation and understanding by endorsing interfaith dialogue and interaction. This, the Reverent believes is integral in preventing religiously motivated violence.
Forgivness and Justice was the next topic I asked the Reverent about. These concepts are one that have been strongly linked to religious violent conflict (Volf, 2000), usually in the form of retaliatory violence in the name of justice. The reverent stipulated a need for a distinction between God’s justice and man’s justice:

“Gods justice says that for me I need to judge myself against Jesus and try to come to that standard of forgiveness. Man’s justice would say I need to judge myself against someone else and come up to that level. So that is, if someone steals from me, they go to jail, that’s our justice. Jesus said to his disciples, take your coats with you, if someone needs it give them your coat and your tunic as well…I mean there has to be some form of go to jail thing, as otherwise people who were really selfish would run amuck totally. But at the same time, we seek to do god’s justice.”

He argues that when exacting justice Christians must attempt to emulate Christ and in doing so, be willing to place the needs of others before their own needs. He further proposes that forgiveness must be people’s primary objective, stating that “you can be a victim and be forgiving the person while they are still hurting you, Christ did that on the cross”. The biblical reference of Jesus on the Cross emphasises why forgiveness is of primary importance before justice can be sought. This is an interesting concept supported by the works of academics such as Volf (2000) and other religious leaders such as the Jewish Rabbi John Sacks (Fetzer Institute, 2009). They suggest that this structure of forgiveness than justice can be a means of preventing retaliatory violence. It can therefore be argued that this concept of forgiveness before seeking justice, taught by the Uniting Church, is helpful in preventing violence.
Religious violence and fundamental extremism is an ever present and controversial topic in today’s society. I asked the Reverent what his opinions where on religious fundamental extremists and their use of examples of violence within religious texts to motivate violent action by their followers. Religious fundamentalism and violent references within religious texts has been strongly associated to the use of violence (Post, 2005 & Omar, 2005). Despite this, religious leaders such as Imam Omar, (2005) and many academics (Post, 2005 & Rogers, Loewenthal, Lewis, Amlot, Cinnirella & Ansari, 2007) have argued that religion is rarely the primary cause for violence. They instead say that so called religious violence is usually motivated by the interplay of political, cultural and social factors, which individual attempt to resolve under the guise of religious conflict. Reverent Mackay agrees saying:

“you can always find something in there [religious texts] to justify what you do if you read a particular section. But read in its entirety in the understanding of Jesus, it is very hard to promote violence. So the people who are fundamental are pushing their own agenda, mostly out of fear.”

To him, religions in their essence are not violent. It is the interpretation of religious texts out of context and the interplay of other, non religious factors that result in violence occurring.
My interview with Reverent Mackays makes me believe that the Uniting Church may indeed be able to play a role in facilitating peace, social justice and preventing religiously motivated violence. The Uniting Churches doctrine of acceptance and equality serves to lesson discrimination and endorse social justice. Furthermore, the practice of interfaith dialogue and the Reverent’s desire to have interfaith interaction in schools, encourage interfaith cooperation. Furthermore the doctrine of forgiveness before justice is promising, I believe, for encouraging peace as it lessens the likelihood of retaliatory violence. It is true that religious texts can be used facilitate violent action, but it is argued that religion and religious doctrine is very rarely the root cause of supposed religious violence (Post, 2005 & Omar, 2005). Therefore, I believe that the Christian religious principles, taught by the Uniting Church, can be used to deter religious violence and facilitate peace building and social justice.

References
Fetzer Institute (Producer). (2009) Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - Consider Forgiveness. retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7zb4KgEaog&feature=relmfu
Hannah-Jones, A. (2003). Comepting claims for justice: Sexuality and race at the eighth assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia, 1997. Journal od the History of Sexuality, 12(2).
Nepstad, S. E. (2004). Religion, Violence, and Peacemaking Journal of Scientific Study of Religion, 43(3), 297-301.
Omar, R. (2005). Overcoming religiously motivated violence Cross Currents, 55(1), 77-82.
Post, J. M. (2005). When hatred is bred in the bone: Psycho-cultural foundation of contemporary terrorism Political Psychology 26(4).
Rogers, B., Loewenthal, K., Lewis,C., Amlot, R., Cinnirella, M., & Ansari, H. (2007). The role of religious fundamentalism in terrorist violence: A social psychoology analysis. International Review of Psychiatry, 19(3).#
Smock. (2008). Religion in world affairs: Its role in conflict and peace. Washington: United States Institute of Peace.
thetransitlounge (Producer). (2007, 17th September 2011) The Uniting Church in Australia 30th Celebration. retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBn5KMTO9G8
Uniting Church Australia, (2011). About the Uniting Church Australia Retrieved 27th September 2011, from http://www.uca.org.au/about.htm

Islam: Peaceful or Violent?

2011-09-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

In its original essence Islam means peace but in a modern context Islam and peace seem to be mutually exclusive terms. On the 29thof August 2011, I interviewed Mufti Junaid Akbar the leader of Masjid Taqwah, a mosque located at Bald Hills, to discuss how Islam is identified and perceived by the Australian society both internally and externally in correlation with the success of interfaith dialogue due to these societal perceptions. Religious violence is often married with phrases such as “terrorism”, “fundamentalism” and “fanatic” with an immediate association towards Islam due to the creation of a global conscious. Thus, the media has an ability to indoctrinate “Islamophobia” into society by framing, labeling and stereotyping Muslims with negative connotations driven by moral panic and fear. By isolating Islam as a violent religion the media creates a barrier for interfaith dialogue in the pursuit for peace and as a result, Mufti Junaid Akbar advocates that education of the truth of Islam is essential in developing an understanding that is critical to obtain interfaith dialogue through encouraged participation.

Religion and violence are intrinsically related in a continuous relationship that is derived from several factors including globalisation, misinterpretation and exclusivity. Volf (2000, p. 862) argues that “the resurgence of religion seems to go hand in hand with the resurgence of religiously legitimised violence… [as] religions are by nature violent.” However, when asked to describe religious violence Mufti Junaid Akbar maintained that violence within Islam is intolerable which asserts the misunderstood and misconstrued identity of what Islam is, even to a practicing Muslim. It can be argued that the construction of a religious identity promotes notions of exclusivity and isolation that act as a catalyst in mobilising causal factors of religious violence that essentially “define, propel and sustain conflict” (Smock 2008, p. 2). Essentially, globalisation or a worldly communal consciousness supports this exclusivity and allows understandings that were previously contextualised to be decontextualised giving rise to identifiers of fundamentalism (Swatos 2005, p. 332). Mufti Junaid Akbar asserted that those Muslims who are labeled fundamentalists are not Muslims as they do not understand the means of revelation which is corroborated by Oommen (1994) stating that fundamentalism is “text without context.” To support this claim I presented Mufti Junaid Akbar with a passage from the Quran in Surah 9:5 that states “fight and slay the Pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in ever stratagem (of war).” As an isolated text it has an undeniable violent nature however it has not been contextualised with the Quran commentaries that Mufti Junaid Akbar presented in the Quran’s defense to place this passage in the original historical context. Evidently, religious violence is constructed through global means of exclusivity and identity that is essentially misinterpreted and misunderstood but it often exploited through global media mediums that asserts the cohesive relationship between religious violence and Islam.

Islamophobia is driven by the media’s ability to capture and frame moral fears and panic and position Islam in a negative light. Dalrymple (2004, p. 18) argues that Islamophobia is “the principal Western statement of bigotry against ‘the Other’.” In addition, Edward Said (cited in Lebling 1980, p. 119) describes the functions of ‘the Other’ which “has sought to reduce the richness of Arab life and civilisation to a set of easily manageable and unchanging stereotypes.” Thus, the fear of ‘the Other’ being Islam or Muslims has been indoctrinated by the media’s ability to frame and capture this fear that propagates an “us” and “them” dichotomy (Hopkins 2008, p. 46). This dichotomy gives rise to mediatisation which refers to “the tendency to acquire information about politics and to receive political messages form a plurality of sources in the mass media … that are in competition with each other for the attention of consumers” (Alonso, Keane & Merkel 2011, p. 204). Evidently, the mediatisation of Islam presents Islam in the public sphere as a phenomenon to be feared, exploited and discriminated against that essentially initiates Islamophobia within Australia. The media was a reoccurring issue Mufti Junaid Akbar raised and strongly expressed his opinion on the media’s portrayal of Islam in the following statement:

All the media does is show negative information about Islam. It will not inculcate a harmonious society, it will cause a lot of friction between the multi cultural people who live in that society… putting fear in the people, there is no message there... There is no chance that the Muslims are going to take over Australia. We want to live here like any other normal person in peace… You can’t deal with the media because they are very powerful. In the UK riots Muslims played a good part in solving that problem but you didn’t see that.

Mufti Junaid Akbar’s opinion is in corroboration with the assumptions many Australians have about Muslims that “their [Muslims] beliefs are antithetical to Australian values; that they [Muslims] cannot assimilate; that they [Muslims] are inherently violent and condone extremism” (Rane et al. 2011, p.129). Evidently, the media utilise xenophobic and Eurocentric notions to frame Islam as a religion associated with violence that effectively indoctrinates particular opinions in Australian society that have the potential to prevent interfaith dialogue due to either ignorance or a lack of understanding.

However, the education of Islam has the potential to overcome the negative representations of Islam and encourage community engagement in interfaith dialogue that is essentially an intrinsic component of peace. Smock (2008, p. 1) highlights the importance of interfaith dialogue as it “aims to defuse interfaith tensions that may cause future conflict or derive from previous conflict.” Interfaith dialogue is not a new phenomenon as Mufti Junaid Akbar stated “wherever the prophet has a chance to solve the problem by dialogue he solved it by dialogue.” As a pre-service teacher I discussed education as a gateway to interfaith dialogue with Mufti Junaid Akbar who is also a teacher and asserts the importance of interfaith dialogue in peacemaking but also admits the difficulty in achieving interfaith dialogue due to the lack of participation and sees education as a powerful tool in changing this difficulty. Holden (2006) conducted research on Islamic perspectives of Year Ten and Eleven students that highlights this difficulty with fifty percent of students believing Muslims are terrorists which inevitably leads to a lack of understanding, injustice and prejudice towards Islam. To combat these statistics Shatiq and Abu-Nimer (2007, p. 18) argue that interfaith dialogue can be achieved by “fostering strong educational programs in Islamic studies within the context of a pluralistic society.” By contextualising Islam through education the inherent meaning of Islam as being a religion of peace may be achieved to be a ground for interfaith dialogue (Yaran 2007, p. 88). Mufti Junaid Akbar strongly emphasised that the importance of education as it teaches true wealth which is identified in the following excerpt:

Wealth is something that never separates from a person ever... As soon as a person dies those things a person struggles with their entire life are the first to be separated from them… So in reality true wealth remains with a person in this world, in the grave and in the hereafter and that is the wealth of belief…True wealth is belief in God and virtuous acts which will never be separated from you.

Evidently, the promotion of true wealth by investing in the belief of virtuous acts enables the achievement of interfaith dialogue. As a result, education can be a successful gateway in achieving interfaith dialogue by encouraging the participation needed to foster understanding.

The identification of Islam as a violent religion is a reflection of the global consciousness created by the misinterpretation and misunderstanding of Islam on a spiritual and scriptural level. Clearly, globalisation plays an essential role in the mediatisation of religion that asserts Islam as a violent religion that reflects xenophobic and Eurocentric ideologies that creates a distinguished “us” and “them” dichotomy. The identification of Islam as the “Other” strongly effects the outcome of interfaith dialogue as participation is limited due to the negative connotations associated with Islam. However, inclusive and appropriate education of Islam is an essential tool in changing the current dichotomy and allowing interfaith dialogue to become more susceptible and successful in Australian society. Evidently, Mufti Junaid Akbar reinforced hope in the attainment interfaith dialogue by highlighting the misconceived internal and external issues surrounding Islam and realigning these misconceptions with the true essence of Islam.

Reference List
Alfonso, S, Keane, J & Merkel, W 2011, The future representative democracy, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Cavanaugh, WT 2006, ‘Does religion cause violence?’, Public Lecture held at St. Mary’s Church, Upper Coomera, pp.1-18.

Dalrymple, W 2004, ‘Islamophobia’, New Statesman, vol. 16, p.18.

Holden, S 2006, ‘Religious Relations’, Teacher: The National Education Magazine, March, p. 18.

Hopkins, L 2008, ‘Muslims, Turks and anti-Muslim discourse’, Australian Journal of Communications, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 41-56.

Lebling, B 1980, ‘Orientalists’, Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 118-122.

Oomen, TK 1994, ‘Religious nationalism and democratic polity’, Sociology of Religion, vol. 55, pp. 455-472.

Rane, H, Nathie, M, Isakhan, B & Abdalla, M 2011, ‘Towards understanding what Australian Muslims really think’, Journal of Sociology, vol. 47, pp. 123-143.

Shatiq, M & Abu-Nimer, M 2007, Interfaith dialogue: A guide for Muslims, International Institute of Islamic Thought, Virginia, United States.

Smock, D 2008, Religion in world affairs: Its role in conflict and peace, United States Institute of Peace, viewed 12 September 2011, .

Swatos, WH 2005,’Globalisation theory and religious fundamentalism’, in P Kivisto (ed.), Illuminating social life: Classical and contemporary theory revisited, Sage, London, pp. 330-352.

Usami, MT 2006, The Noble Quran, Makataba Maariful Quaran, Karachi.

Volf, M 2000, ‘Forgiveness, reconciliation and justice’, Millenium, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 861-877.

Yaran, CS 2007, Understanding Islam, Dunedin Academic Press, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Religion, Peace, and Violence: Citylife Christian Church Perspectives

2011-09-15T04:27:00.001-07:00

Religion has the potential to cause violence or facilitate peace. The extent to which religion is used to justify violence or motivate peace building is dependent upon the religion’s doctrine and community. This essay will integrate the attitudes of Citylife Christian Church and relevant theoretical concepts with an aim of critically reviewing the complex relationship between religion, violence, and peace. Initially, I will highlight the role of sacred texts, specifically the Bible, in codifying violent behaviour and promoting peace within religious communities. More importantly, I will examine how these communities enable and encourage peace building, which stems from positive interfaith and intercommunity relationships.

For the perspectives of Citylife, I interviewed Daniel Harding, an Executive Pastor responsible for the church’s administration and organization. He is also a ‘spiritual leader’, although he believes that sounds a tad pious. Dan became involved with Citylife because he “…saw the privilege and necessity of people who could lead others toward Jesus.” He describes the fundamental principles of Citylife as “…people matter, people aren’t who they would like to be, and people need Jesus. And he would love to help them out.” Dan maintains that “everything centers around that”, whether they are discussing relationships, finances, or peace and violence.

Sacred texts can play a significant role in formatting, promoting and justifying acts of religious violence. However, is it the texts that promote violence, or those who read it? Dan believes that “…it is not how you interpret the text, but rather choosing to ignore or address [the passages concerning violence]”. He stresses that when “you choose to address the violent ones you are forced to understand the context of them.” Although there are themes of incest and rape in the Bible, it does not promote the concept of violence, but rather it highlights that violence is a part of particular individual’s narratives. Dan’s ideas are mirrored in the theoretical work of Roy Zuck (1991) who highlights contextualization of sacred texts as paramount in their proper understanding. Zuck (1991) explain through three reasons: firstly, as words and phrases can have multiple meanings, context can determine which meaning is intended; secondly, a series of words are not said in isolation and are instead controlled by what precedes and follows it; and finally, false interpretations arrive from ignoring the context. Sacred texts play a significant role in developing community identity and setting the group’s boundaries, when these texts are inappropriately interpreted it can become a potent tool for supporting belligerence and antagonism (Kille, 2007).

As for interfaith building, there has always been some hesitance to introduce one faith to another. Eboo Patel (2006) emphasizes that it is common for all people of religion, and all leaders of religious communities to wish to preserve their traditions and religious identity, and therefore ‘protect’ it from other belief systems. However, as Rabbi Johnathan Sacks asserts, now more than ever “…careers, relationships, and lifestyles have become things we freely choose from a superstore of alternatives” (Sacks cited in Patel, 2006, p. 17). Therefore, how do we build interfaith relationships when there is some harsh competition for believers? As Dan expresses, “what if the Buddhist guy is really inviting, or what if the Christian is a charismatic speaker?” Concluding, “if people believe that their faith is true, I think it is fair enough to be worried about their believers going”. It is this fear that can feed negative interfaith relationships.

There are complications to creating interfaith relationships within the diverse communities of Australia. Gary Bouma opens his Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the Twenty-first Century by identifying that “…we find ourselves increasingly in a twenty-first century postmodern and secular world where spiritualities are rife, and religious diversity is an accepted feature of a seriously multicultural society…”(2006, p. 1). How then, do we approach interfaith dialogue within our local and global communities when everyone speaks a different religious language? Citylife approaches it from a secular, rather than religious perspective. The Homeless Ministry, is a program run by Citylife where “every second Thursday night, people would just make food, and get blankets and stuff, and just go out to the homeless community. And not just try to be a charity, which is obviously good, but try to actually befriend people, and slowly become part of their circles, by eating dinner with them.” The church is also involved with the Red Frogs, which is a chaplaincy network that provides a “…positive presence within the party culture [of schoolies and leavers events]” (Red Frogs Australia, 2008). Through these examples, it is clear that Citylife is not offering their aid to the community because it increases membership numbers, but because they wish to share the love that Jesus has given them. Dan explains:
It is not just about talking about Jesus, it’s about experiencing his forgiveness, power, freedom. About having God’s spirit use you to change the world, literally, for people’s benefit. When people get like that, they start doing red frogs, serving homeless, going overseas and building stuff. And when that happens, I get excited! That is why I am doing what I am doing.
Moreover, the recent floods in Brisbane are an example of how different faiths can aid the community harmoniously without religious motivation. Dan expressed that he knows of many religious groups who mobilized great forces to aid the flood victims, but “no one was asking what faith they were”. As said by Diana Eck, the shared experience for all people is our encounter with varied worlds and worldviews (1993): our diversity is our commonality.

Dan stresses education as the key to creating interfaith relationships. Through his work at the Multifaith Center at University of Queensland, Dan has come across young people “who are not able to understand dialogue. They feel that once they have an idea, that idea must be right.” He emphasizes, “we must teach our kids that it is okay to discuss, and you must ask questions.” Furthermore, Dan believes it important that “actual relationships are developed, because once you develop a relationship [based on personality], it is much harder to be antagonistic”. And a public forum, “a place where you can evaluate ideas”, is imperative. Although the public can be narrow-minded, Dan believes that “if we are educated about [knowledge and questioning knowledge], then we are forced to have dialogue, and hopefully in that dialogue we can build relationships.” He adds that although he would love to see everyone experience Jesus, “not everyone will, so we must have positive dialogue and positive relationships instead.”

References
Bouma, G. (2006). Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the Twenty-first Century. Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
Eck, D. (1993). Encountering God: A spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras. Boston, United States of America: Beacon Press.
Kille, A. (2007). “The Bible Made Me Do It”: Text, Interpretation, and Violence. In J. H. Ellens (Ed). The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Connecticut, United States of America: Praeger Publishers.
Patel, E. (2006). Affirming Identity, Acheineving Pluralism: Sociological Insights from a Practicionor of Interfaith Youth Work. In E Patel & P Brodeur (Eds) Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action. United States of America: Rowman & Littelfield Piblishers, Inc.
Red Frogs Australia. (2008). About Us. Retrieved Sepetember 12, 2011, from http://www.redfrogs.com.au/hotelchaplaincy/about-us/what-is-red-frogs
Zuck, R. (1991). Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practocal Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth. United States of America: David C. Cook Publishers.

Written by Gabrielle Lang

Symbolism and Seeing Beyond the Veil

2011-08-25T03:52:00.000-07:00

I realize that my last post must have seemed extremely bizarre to some people, but I hope that this post will add light and a new dimension to last weeks post.

Week 5:
Thankyou Sylvie for the reading The Nature of Belief by Harris. When I read the section on Faith and Madness (pp. 71-73) I laughed so hard, I could not stop laughing and it took me along time to settle myself into a calm enough state to keep reading. Harris is obviously a comedian. Human Secularists seem to base most of their spiritual intolerance on the Catholic, Anglican, Protestant and Pentecostal Christian Churches. This stems from the enlightenment period when modern thought in the form of science kicked in, transforming thought from the practices of the Catholic Inquisitions in which scientists were accused of being heretics and either killed or imprisoned or silenced (Heresy and the persecuting society in the Middle Ages : essays on the work of R.I. Moore / edited by Michael Frassetto). Also in Postmodernism it is due to the fact that the Christian Church persecutes homosexuals. This is inferred, but is evident in the work of Foucault’s work. If we take for example his book Discipline and Punish, the birth of the prison. (My daughter is gay I am not against gay people, I love and encourage my daughter to express who she is and that includes her homosexual nature.)
When we look at some of the things discussed in the book Discipline and Punish, which are seen negatively, we can compare discipline, uniformity and social control which is administered externally in the prison system, to the discipline, uniformity and control that is required in spiritual practice that liberates one from the prison that exists in consciousness. If we look at Buddhism for example, discipline and controlling the mind are essential part of the meditation practices so that one can free oneself from sense consciousness, that that one does not live as a slave to the senses as well as emotions such as anger, envy, jealousy, rage, violence etc. All the Nuns and Monks take vows of material poverty and give up material possessions, shave their heads bald or grow dreadlocks, they all wear their orange robes in a uniform manner. Once a Buddhists has been practising the spiritual transformation process for a considerable period of time, locked away from society and sitting in the interior of themselves they become liberated in the mind and freed from the slavery of sense consciousness which is a prison and they glow from the inside out. Buddhists are made to socially conform to the discipline of the Sangha, to the teachings of the dharma, etc. If they don’t conform they are socially ostracised and asked to leave the order. All the things that Foucault sees in a negative way about, social control and conformity, discipline etc, can be seen positively from the perspective of one who practises the interior spiritual healing and spiritual transformation processes.
If we look at the story of Moses freeing the Jews from slavery in Egypt, and translate the story into its symbolic form, the story of Moses is symbolic of the same process of the Buddhist Dharma teachings about freeing one’s self from slavery to sense consciousness. Egypt is symbolic of sense consciousness. One of the things that human secularists don’t do is understand the symbolic nature of scripture and the Eucharist ritual. The bread in the Eucharist ritual is symbolic of the spiritual body and spiritual nourishment and the blood is symbolic of the spiritual cleansing and purification process (transforming negative or lower vibrational energy into higher vibrational energy). The object of the Eucharist ritual is to ask the divine source to spiritually cleanse and purify the spiritual body and to help one find spiritual nourishment. Unfortunately for the Catholics the Eucharist symbol doesn’t have a lot of fire power and cannot shift really lower vibrational energy such as satanic energy, the Eucharist works on the level of an emotional cathartic release. But the Eucharist Ritual is a spiritual symbol and does purify and cleanse a person spiritually on some level of consciousness.
What I am getting at here is that Human Secularists have not attempted to understand the symbolic nature of spirituality and have simply projected their own inner demons of intolerance, prejudice and hatred onto the Christian Church and Religion in general. In silencing the voice of religion the human secularists are no better than the Bishops who killed, imprisoned and silenced the scientists prior to modernity and the Modern Scientific Enlightenment. The Human Secularists have not forgiven.
Peace and Blessings
Angela Bardon

Projecting the Shadow

2011-08-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

Week 4:
Hi everyone, this is a really exciting topic the psycho-social aspects of religion, peace and violence. I read about 5 of the readings for this week and they all raised different issues about the psychological factors of terrorism. The fact that terrorists are usually well educated, come from middle class families. Terrorists are seen as rational showing no signs of psychopathology, terrorists are seen as freedom fighters, fighting for justice and freedom against the evil forces outside of themselves (the other). Here we can apply Jungian theories of people being blind to their own shadow side and instead projecting their own shadow side onto others, seeing the evil outside of themselves, not within themselves. I have decided to focus here on Jung and projection and go off line and talk about this in more depth as a psychological process.
My 15 year old daughter insisted that I watch The Breakfast Club with her. In the end succumbed, it is a incredibly insightful movie. It is all about 5 teenagers who end up in Saturday detention for whatever crime they commit at school. The five stereotypes that the teenagers represent are the criminal, the princess, the athlete, the brain and the psycho-nutcase. After a lot of anger, fighting, name calling etc, they gain some time free of the teacher who is supervising them. The 5 teenagers get some dope from the criminal’s locker and they all end up smoking the dope and bearing their souls to each other in an extremely vulnerable manner. They are five teenagers that don’t know each other and certainly would not talk to each other at school. What they discover is that even though they have been stereotyped by society, each one of them comes to the realization that inside of each and every one of them is a, victim, a princess, a criminal, an athlete, a brain and a psycho-nutcase. The scientific brain who gets A’s in physics, chemistry, biology etc, gets an F for shop. (shop would have been called manual arts in my day) However the criminal gets A’s in shop. The athlete turns out to be a criminal and a psycho-nutcase, the academic turns out to be a psycho-nutcase and a king, they all see the king, queen princess within themselves that delusionally sees themselves as, elite and superior to others. The princess finds out that in some ways she is inferior to the others present, that her heart is not as big as the others present. By the end of the day they have moved into unity consciousness, even though they are all different they are all the same. They can see a bigger picture, they can see that all the separated stereotypical labels that have been applied to them exist to some degree in each and every one of them.

This is what spiritual healing is all about or coming into a space of unconditional love. It’s not about pointing the finger at someone else and blaming someone else, it’s about confronting the enemy (one’s ego or what is called duality consciousness) within oneself and transforming the enemy within oneself, not fighting the enemy outside of oneself. It is called the path of the spiritual warrior, fighting the only enemy you truly have, yourself. It is the form of spiritual healing that indigenous shamans teach. I have been speaking out and being silenced within the academic world for many years, the academic world is the one place where spiritual healing is not taught. Fighting the enemy outside of one’s self is taught in secular universities in the form of thought delivered by Michael Foucault (political philosopher) who teaches spiritual irresponsibility, in the form of because both religion and science have failed to create peace, do whatever you want, that is the post-modern slogan of sceptism. I know I learnt all this and I am not referencing this, but when I finished my undergraduate degree, I threw out all of my notes and thanked Great Spirit for clearing human secularism out of my consciousness. Foucault teaches resistance and deconstructing the faults (the shadow) of the enemy outside of oneself. One of Foucaults major enemies was psychologists and psychiatrists, who by the way have found that spiritual healing practices such as prayer and meditation actually work and get positive results in the healing process. In his time Foucault was a sado-masochist who incited violent riots in the prison system and terrorist activities. (I can’t directly reference this information, however when I did political sociology as a subject in my undergrad degree, Professor Gavin Kendall a disciple of Foucaults allowed us to watch his DVD, in which it is clearly stated that Michael Foucault was a drug addict and a member of a sado-masochistic cult. I am pretty sure Sylvie if you rang Professor Kendall he would verify this information). The question I ask here is why is it that Buddhist Monks and Hindu’s take meditation into the prison system and spiritual healing starts to occur. Why is it that the Hawaiian Kahuna Psychologist, Haleakalla Hew Len, takes a job in a psychiatric prison and through spiritual practice transforms the violent behaviour of the prisoners. The prisoners went from being extremely violent to being allowed out on supervised day pass (in Freke, 199: 52-63). Why are there people now allowing prisoners to train guide dog puppies in the prison system, which helps the inmates find their inner beauty, and touch the nurturing or loving elements that exist inside of their souls. Why does Foucault walk into a prison and give a talk on social reform and the prisoners violently riot?????. What was his intention?????. How can Foucault write a book about discipline and punishment as an advocate against punishment, when he is a practicing sado-masochist. Michael Foucault writes from a place of victim consciousness, not from the space of healed person. He would be teaching the spiritual healing process, if he had experienced it, instead he teaches deconstructing the behaviour of those in power, who he has not forgiven. Forgiveness is a process in which our heart overflows with love and gratitude for our enemy and when we reach this level of forgiveness, we give love and healing in consciousness not only for those who have hurt us, but also for ourselves. The love comes from the divine source and if Sacks (the Rabbi) is on target he knows what I am talking about. When I did my undergrad degree I kept being shown by my higher self that every time I picked up Foucaults work I was being sunk into sado-masochistic teachings. It was confirmed by watching Professor Kendalls video on Foucaults life. I kept being shown in spiritual visions that because of my spiritual practices I would be labelled psychotic and I was labelled mentally ill, by one of the Professors who projected his own mentally unstable nature onto me. I was also shown that the energy drive of the human secularists is to genocide the religious and spiritual world and that is exactly what I experienced. In Smocks article on page 7 he writes about the political neglect of the religious dimension of life. The last thing that happened was that when the opportunity arose for one of the Professors to show compassion and sort through a problem with me, I was punished, as were other people who voiced their opinions about what was taught as part of the human secular theories. Whilst I was doing my undergrad degree, my higher self, cleared out of my consciousness, Marxism, Liberalism and Post Modernism, not one of these energy bases will help us to create a new more peaceful world. To heal the human secularists, which includes the politicians that control western society, have to spiritually transform and the way that will happen will be through spiritual healing. Hence why I keep praying for the spiritual healing and transformation of the human secularists and politicians. When they eventually see that they are filled with hatred and prejudice for the spiritual world, then and it is only then that they can see their reflection in the mirror and transform the shadow side of their nature. Sorry but I am not a fan of Foucaults work, because it is easy to detect that he writing from his own inner woundedness, not from a space of love. I am no better the Foucault because I have just deconstructed his work. However I have forgiven the Professor that labelled, punished me and wished for the annilation of spirituality and religion from the planet.

Fantastically enough in the Silberman’s article, she suggests on page 542 , that psychologists teach Muslims about all the good that USA government has done for them and how evil and corrupt some of their own Muslim leaders are. Somehow I think Silberman needs to do some inner searching into the corrupt activities of the USA government throughout the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s etc and search for ways of talking to USA government officials about their own acts of political terrorism in the middle east, before she starts pointing the finger at the Muslims. Then maybe reconciliation could follow. Obviously Silberman is blind to dark nature of the USA government and its acts of political terrorism in the middle east.
Looking at one’s own dark side and transforming the darker side of one’s nature is the hardest thing to do, because the ego wants to retain its control of one’s consciousness and continue the focus of duality consciousness (us versus them, right and wrong etc). I have done 15 years of spiritual healing work in which I was actively aware and participating in the process. Spiritula healing is an extremely painful process because one gets to look at the darker side of one’s nature and transform it. I spent 15 years locked away with two mildly disabled children, spending most of the time in silence, sickness and in the process of having my whole consciousness, from a DNA level and cell level transformed. The only contact I had was with family and other people who were spiritually healing. It was an extremely difficult period and actually I am still spiritually healing, but it has been well worth what I have gone through, I feel freer inside myself and I now exist in a state of inner peace 95% of the time.
It is actually through looking at the darker side of one’s nature that one moves from duality consciousness in which we see the evil as outside of oneselves (us versus them) and slowly transforms into unity consciousness and unconditional love. Once again this process is not taught in the university system, but this is the spiritual healing process and I will probably be repeating myself over and over again like a broken record and continue to be silenced by academics, community leaders, politicians, the fundamentalist religious and secular groups, but spiritual healing is a part of the process that one needs to engage in to find inner peace, love, faith, trust, understanding, wisdom and compassion. Eventually there will be enough love and understanding in the ethers of the mass consciousness that someone will listen and eventually spiritual healing will be taught in the University system. Reflecting on one’s own darker nature and transforming one’s darker nature has not yet been taught in the University system, the closest I have found to it is in Jung’s psychology of religion.
Until next week peace and blessings,
Angela Bardon

Globalisation: Faiths, Cultural Violence and Peace Building

2011-08-08T23:54:00.000-07:00

David Smock’s article reports on the US Institute of Peace’s Religion and Peacemaking program. The article covers points from religion not being the key cause of conflict to where the emphasis lies in conflict situations to how religion helps to resolve or prevent conflict. I find that despite the focus of media on religion fuelling conflict, Smock is adamant that religious leader’s not only serve as a helpful communication connection, but also as mediators in conflicting situations (Smock, 2008).

The beginning of the article discusses the conflict aspect and asserts that all religions are accountable for violence at some point in history (Smock, 2008). He continues by exploring the idea that religious and ethnic identities are used in combination to create conflict via defence. An important point to take from this segment of the article is that Smock is saying whilst religion is used as a motivator and justifier it is rarely the cause of conflict.

Smock (2008) uses the term “interfaith dialogue” which was implemented successfully after the tension caused by the bombings on September 11 2001. The idea is that influential representatives from the faith’s most likely to be involved in the conflict can meet and raise the contentious issues that each religion is concerned about in a safe and respectful environment (Smock, 2008).

The crux of this article is people need to understand that involving religious representatives will create positive results in terms of resolving or averting conflict in which religion holds a key role (Smock, 2008).

By Ruth Cohen

Works Cited
Smock, D. (2008, February). Religion in World Affairs. Special Report , 2-8.

The Politics of Peacekeeping

2011-08-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Week Three:

I thought it is fabulous to see so many religious leaders out there participating in interfaith dialogue. What is true, is that whilst a religious cause is stated as the reason for why many violent conflicts start, if one delves deeper, it is usually a political conflict over land, resources or exclusive political policies or corrupt political activity. Osama bin Laden’s story is told in one of the week 4 readings When Hatred is Bred in the Bone: Psycho-cultural Foundations of Contemporary Terrorism, and more or less Osama was rebelling against his family that were loyal to what he saw as a corrupt sovereign regime. Shows how research and learning really are valuable. Anywhere where there is a power struggle, politics is always involved, because politics is all about power.

When we surrender to divine will, divine will being found within ourselves there are no power struggles. We know that in all honesty the divine source knows best and can see the whole picture, whilst we in our human bodies cannot see the whole picture and really do not know what is best. Whilst I follow divine guidance from within, there is also a group process that can be used to gain and follow divine guidance from within that does not include using the scriptures of any one faith to inform the decision making process. The decision making process is not democratic because the decision making process moves beyond democracy. Everyone gets to participate in the process, but the divine source makes the decision. No arguments, no conflicts and the decision made by the divine source is presented to everyone participating in the process equally. There are of course two requirements, 1. a multifaith preistess or preist that can sit quite comfortably in any religion and has been trained to create sacred space, 2. each participant must be able to sit in silence in order to spiritually cleanse and purify in order to recieve divine guidance. This process requires faith and is a process I have learnt from within. It wasn't a five second flash of divine insight, but divine insight gleaned over many years of spiritual healing and sitting in a place of learning.

Both the article Religion in World Affairs as well as our postgrad reading Netpeace and the Cosmopolitan Condition: Multi-faith Movements and the Politics of Understanding, make the point that secular politicians and secular political theorists are against including religions in Cosmopolitan democratic global governance, because religions are seen as playing a problematic regressive anti-cosmopolitan role. Habermas, a political theorist supports the inclusion of multi-faith religion, multi-actor peace-building and interfaith religious dialogue and states that religions actually play a part in strengthening cosmopolitan global governance. For me this is really pleasing to see, at least there is one political theorist who is not exclusive and is inclusive of religion. I spent 6 years in a university studying social sciences, in which many of the subjects I studied were political. The hatred and prejudice expressed by the secular lecturers towards religion, really demonstrated to me that these lecturers whilst teaching against prejudice, hatred and rallying for inclusion of all voices at a political level, were not really reflecting on or seeing their own prejudice or hatred, they were projecting their own prejudice and hatred onto the religions. (just a bit of Carl Jung there)
This is where the spiritual healing process is really important, spiritual healing helps us to look at the darker side of our nature in order to transform the darker aspects of self into light. Healing between the political and the spiritual is really required at this point in time, if we as a mass conscious group wish to move forward into more peaceful times. At present we have forces of violence to keep the peace, the police force and the defence forces (seems a bit incongruent doesn’t it), but it is actually spirituality and religion that are meant to be peacekeepers of society. That is meant to be the role of religious leaders, three big cheers we are finally getting religious leaders that are actually fulfilling their purpose on this planet as keepers of the Peace.

Blessings Angela Bardon

I don't know how my Shamanism assignment got onto this blog spot, I thought I put it up on the Trance and Shamanism Blog Spot, it was written last semester for shamanism. Peace and Blessings Angela Bardon

Is Schizophrenia a valid diagnosis for a potential Shaman.

2011-08-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Angela Bardon
RELN7110 Shamanism, Trance and Altered States of Consciousness
Lecturer: Dr Sylvia Shaw

What western psychology and psychiatry explain as psychosis and psychopathology, has been experienced by inhabitants of Indigenous Cultures as far back as history dates. In Indigenous cultures the appearance of bizarre behaviour and visions can, but not always, be seen as a sign that spirit or ultimate being has chosen the individual to work for the spirit world. The following essay seeks to discuss using theoretical and experiential knowledge, attitudes towards what the scientific biomedical model, refers to as psychopathological symptoms that emerge in western society and traditional Indigenous cultures. The epistemologies of the Shamanism, Psychiatry and Transpersonal psychology have been outlined. Following this, the essay seeks to explore the attitudes and outcomes of the shamanic crisis in a traditional indigenous culture and given that the symptoms of schizophrenia are similar, the outcomes and attitudes in western societal culture in regards to an individual receiving a diagnosis of schizophrenia or psychosis. The final segment of the paper presents an analysis questioning Walsh’s comparisons of a fully trained shaman and an individual experiencing schizophrenia and the control displayed in altered states of consciousness. The diagnosis of schizophrenia made by psychiatrists after a six month period of psychotic symptoms is also questioned and explored in comparison to the procedures undertaken in Indigenous cultures with the emergence of psychotic symptoms. Stigma and its effects on the chemical balance in the brain and recovery of those diagnosed with a mental illness in Western Society, is an issue that is briefly explored.
Shamanic Crisis
The Shaman is the tribal diviner and healer, who enters altered states of consciousness to “communicate with the spirits on behalf of the community” (Eliade in Winkelman, 2002: 387). With the assistance of the spirit helpers the shaman can retrieve a lost or stolen soul. Through the practice of shamanic rituals, shamans can also helps individuals to find meaning and understanding for personal psychodynamic processes, which can lead to unconscious integration of aspects of the self that have been disassociated from conscious awareness and social identity (Winkelman: 2002: 390). Also painful memories can be restructured and integrated in a positive way leading to forgiveness and hence resolution of intra-psychic conflict (Winkelman: 2002: 395). The shaman-to-be is generally called to serve as a shaman in their teenage years. The individual that is called, is often ambivalent and resistant to the shamanic call (Walsh, 2007: 54; Booi, 2004: 3). The call to become a shaman can manifest in a variety of ways, such as through dreams, dramatic recovery from an illness, involuntary visions, voluntary search through a vision quest and any other way that the spirits may display preference for working with a particular person (Winkelman,2002 (Journal Article); Walsh, 2007: 53).
Following the call the shaman-to-be undergoes a crisis. Symptoms vary between different people, however common symptoms include, anxiety, delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations, mental confusion, social isolation, loss of appetite, violence, aimless wandering, neglect of appearance and hygiene, sleeping a lot and the shaman-to-be may experience seizures (Walsh,2007: 54-56; Booi, 2004: 4). The symptoms continue until the shaman-to-be, surrenders and chooses to accept the call to serve his/her community as a diviner who communicates with the ancestors and as a spiritual healer. Mentors are located to help the shaman-to-be move through the shamanic crisis and rebirth. Mentors help the shaman-to-be to develop the gifts and abilities to work as a shaman for their community (Witzel, 2011: 43). A failure to accept the shamanic call can lead to insanity, continuing sickness and death (Walsh, 2007: 54: Booi, 2004: 3). The shamanic crisis is viewed as a process of spiritual cleansing and purification that washes the psych clean from all that no longer serves the individuals higher spiritual purpose, so that the shaman to be, births into a new identity complete with spirit helpers and power (Kalweit, in Booi, 2004; Walsh, 2007: 54; Winkelman, 2002: 392). The shaman-to-be may suffer the symptoms of the initiation crisis for weeks, months or even years (Walsh, 2007: 54). Sams (1990: 302), Native American Indian Shaman, states that in many Native American tribes, those who failed their initiation trials and continued to experience psychotic symptoms were cared for by the people of the community as one who had been “touched by the gods”.
Transpersonal Psychology
Transpersonal psychology researches and treats spiritual emergencies that emerge as transcendent, beyond the “personal and biological” self (Lukoff, D. & F. Lu & R. Turner, 1998: 44). These transpersonal crises may spontaneously emerge or may emerge as one participates in spiritual practices such as Zen Buddhism or Patanjala Yoga. Due to activation of Kundalini energy, in these practices, this can lead to intense spiritual experiences (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1998: 44). There are three ways that individuals respond to spiritual phenomena,(a) they can integrate the spiritual experience into their life (b) they can have a spiritual emergency, that may involve symptoms such as anxiety, delusions and hallucinations, which with transpersonal counselling the person may transform, grow and mature, enabling the individual to resume life at optimal levels of functioning, (c) the person does not emerge from the spiritual crisis and personal disintegration occurs (Johnson & Friedman, 2008: 514). There are a greater number of people experiencing mystical phenomena, due to the fact that there has been an emergence of spiritual practices in the west such as yoga, tai chi, meditation and martial arts and an explosion of interest in esoteric knowledge, shamanic practices, neo-paganism and new age spirituality (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1998: 43). Diagnostic criteria has been created and added to the DSM IV-V, in order to define and categorize spiritual and religious emergencies as opposed to simply defining all psychological crises as pathological requiring the treatment of a biomedical model (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1998: 23-25).
Psychiatry
Lindemann Nelson (2001: 111) states that dominant groups who universalize their norms and values and seek to apply their norms and values to other cultural groups, is a form of oppression called Cultural Imperialism. Cultural Imperialism occurs when the dominant culture renders the understandings and knowledge of another culture as invisible and then stereotype the other culture as abnormal (Lindemann Nelson, 2001: 111). Psychiatrists throughout time have labelled Shamans as many things including tricksters, healed madmen, neurotic, charlatans, epileptics, mentally deranged and schizophrenic (Walsh, 1997: 101-102; 2007: 8). De Mause (2002: 965) found shamans to be “schizoids, who spent much of their lives in fantasy worlds where they were starved, burned, beaten, raped, lacerated, and dismembered, yet were able to recover their bones and flesh and experience ecstatic rebirth”. Hence shamans are similar to wounded healers who work through many emotional trials in order to find their calling in life (Saunder in Krippener, 2002: 965).
The reduction of mystical phenomena to psychopathology, commenced with Freud who diagnosed those who expressed religious content in their therapy sessions as having regressive neurotic pathology. Depending on the intensity of the religious content, the patient could be diagnosed as psychotic (Walsh, 2007: 8). Freud did not believe in God and reduced all religious phenomena to the relationship that occurred between the patient and their father. God was simply a projection of the patient’s father figure (Rempel 1997). In the 1990’s, shamans began being beautified in popular literature and their altered states of consciousness were compared to that of the Buddhist and Christian saints who experienced mystical states of consciousness (Walsh, 1997: 102). Due to the fact that science and medicine are the legitimate form of health care in western society, and medicine has in the past pathologized religious and spiritual phenomena, anyone who may have been experiencing a transformational shamanic crisis, has been diagnosed and treated as a schizophrenic or diagnosed as having some form of psychotic illness by psychiatrists (Lukoff, Lu& Turner, 1992: 692).
Common symptoms of schizophrenia according to the DSM IV, include delusions (fixed false beliefs), auditory and visual hallucinations, formal thought disorder, thought insertion and withdrawal, thought broadcasting, thought blocking, tangential thinking, catatonic behaviour including mutism, stupor, negativism, posturing; loss of interest in everyday activities, loss of motivation, social withdrawal, blunting and incongruence of affect and emotions (Khouzam, Tiu Tan & Singh Gill, 2007: 206-207). Zigler and Glick (1988: 285) and Walsh (1997: 112) state that a diagnosis of schizophrenia can be made after the continuous experience of psychotic symptoms over a six month period.
Outcomes in Traditional Indigenous Culture.
Whilst psychiatry interprets spiritual emergencies which may include symptoms of acute psychosis and “expressions of psychic ability” as psychopathology, the shamanic paradigm reinterprets these symptoms as natural manifestations of consciousness, with the opportunity for growth and development of the individual experiencing them (Winkelman, 2002: 395). Recent developments in neurotheology have indicated that certain forms of altered states of consciousness are universal throughout many cultures and indicate that the brain is operating normally (Winkelman, 1997: 403).
Individuals undergoing the shamanic transformational crisis in traditional Indigenous cultures had strong support from the community at large and were helped to work through the initial transformational crisis. A suitable mentor was found who could help the effected person move through the crisis and release their gifts, by developing the spiritual skills that would enable the individual to serve their community (Walsh, 1997: 117; Some’, 1999: 97). Some’ (1999: 98) Shaman from the Dagara Tribe in Africa, states that it is the responsibility of the entire community to watch over the person in crisis. If the individual becomes lost whilst wandering aimlessly in crisis, then it is the responsibility of the whole community to put aside what they are doing to search for the missing person. Some’(1999: 97-100) states that regardless of whether the individual is suspected of undergoing a shamanic crisis or some other form of psychological disturbance, the whole community is involved in watching over the individual until the shaman can divine and affect a cure. Community provides the safety net for the individual in crisis, until the individual can reintegrate themselves back into normal community functioning. In modern society disturbed behaviour is considered to be an individual problem and an individual’s responsibility (Some’, 1999: 97).
Some’ (1999: 113-114) relates the story of one female adolescent who appeared to be psychotic as she was experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations. The illness continued for months. The female involved was receiving communications from kontombli (fairy folk). The process was extremely distressing for the female adolescent, as the fairy folk were relentless in communicating with her at all times of the day and night. The young girl eventually stopped sleeping and became physically dishevelled and lost weight. It took a long time for a female shaman to be located that could help the female adolescent. The female shaman lived in another village one hundred miles away. The young adolescent moved to the other village to commence her training. It becomes clear in hearing this story that without the help of a mentor, this girl could not have developed into a healthy functioning member of the community group. Walsh (2007: 57) states that shamanic training involves a lengthy process in which one must learn to control the mind, conquer cravings, face one’s fears, develop patience, endurance and concentration. One cannot be an effective instrument of spirits, if one has not first undergone a rigorous training program which can take years. Individuals simply do not recover from the shamanic crisis or any other form of illness or disturbed behaviour and return to normal functioning, without help from a loving supportive community.
Outcomes in Western Society
Patients diagnosed with Schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders generally enter hospital as an acute admission to the psychiatric wards. Affected individuals are treated with antipsychotic medication which can have devastating side effects such as tardive dyskinesia which involves involuntary facial and motor movements. Another side effect of antipsychotic medication is acute dystonia, which involves an acute stiffening of the neck and jaw muscles and requires anticholinergic medication to counteract the side effects (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2002). These side effects are highly distressing for the patient. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) continues to be used as a form of therapy for depression, bipolar disorder and patients diagnosed with schizophrenia that are unresponsive to medication. ECT involves inducing a seizure whilst the patient is under anaesthetic. (Tharyan & Adams, 2005).
If the patient stops their antipsychotic medication, psychotic symptoms generally re-emerge within several weeks. Due to low levels of social functioning, gradual intellectual impairment that occurs with each remission of the illness, loss of concentration, poor memory and impaired problem solving skills, people treated and diagnosed with schizophrenia generally cannot find employment and spend their lives supported by their families living on government pensions (Long, 1995-2011). According to FRANK (Fostering Resources and New Knowledge, 2004: 3) seventy-five percent of all mental illnesses occur before the age of twenty-five years. Due to deinstitutionalization and the change to community based care in western societies across the world, 80% of those suffering from schizophrenia find themselves unable to access appropriate community care and rehabilitation (SANE, 2002). Many of the young people who cannot access community care attempt to self-medicate in order to relieve their symptoms. This leads to drug abuse and addiction problems. Approximately 70% of schizophrenics can be diagnosed with both a mental illness and drug abuse (FRANK: 2004: 1-11). Those people suffering with schizophrenia are twelve times more likely to commit suicide then the general population (SANE, 2002). SANE ( 2005) reports that prisons are becoming de facto psychiatric institutions, as more and more mentally ill people become homeless due to shortages of suitable accommodation. Reports from the Mental Health Council of Australia (2007) indicate that 85% of homeless people have a mental illness.
Young people who suffer a mental illness state that one of the reasons they do not seek professional help is due to the stigma attached to a mental illness diagnosis. This is a reason why many young people seek to self-medicate and form problems of drug abuse and addiction (SANE, 2011). Stigma formed by community reactions and displayed in the media is extremely damaging for any person experiencing any form of mental illness. It is damaging for an individual’s self-identity if they accept the stigma attached to mental illness and start to view themselves from the perspective of the person or social group who is stigmatizing and labelling them. The stigmatized individual internalizes feelings of shame and guilt and will generally start to isolate themselves from others. This then contributes to the individuals changed sense of self-identity (SANE, 2011;). Becker (in Roach Anleu,1999: 28) states that the label of deviance has been successfully applied by the oppressive other or oppressive segment of society, if the stigmatized person accepts the label placed on them.
Analysis:
According to Hume (2007:1) a shift in perception away from everyday ordinary reality, into Altered States of Conscious (ASC) or the trance state, is achieved by shamans, monks, nuns and religious specialists the world over. Entering an ASC and the spirit world involves blocking rational thought processes and cognized models of reality (Hume, 2007: 11-12). Shamans generally use triggers such as sensory overdrive in the form of repetitive sounds, chanting, clapping and dancing. Sensory deprivation and ethnogenic drugs are other methods used to enter an ASC. There are some sensitive individuals who enter ASC without any triggers (Hume, 2007: 13-14).
Walsh’s (2007: 234-244) scholarly work on comparing the shamanic crisis, to the state of schizophrenia in the west, seems to suggests that the shaman-to-be simply accepts the call and rebirths without the aid of a mentor to help them work through the birthing process and develop the necessary skills to work as a shaman. Walsh compares the symptoms of schizophrenics and there degree of control over their altered states of consciousness with that of a fully trained shaman. Whilst some people do resolve their spiritual crisis with therapy and guidance and get even better (Lukoff in Walsh, 1997: 114-115), that does not indicate that the person was a shaman-to-be, nor does it indicate that the improved person developed the skills of a shaman. The example from Some’, Shaman from the Dagara Tribe in Africa, is one perspective that I hope will illuminate that shamanic rebirth is not always as simple as Walsh’s research tends to indicate. Some’s (1999) stories about the shamanic crisis in the Dagara tribe, clearly indicate that the shaman-to-be do not rebirth from the shamanic crisis without the aid of a mentor. Mentors are required as they understand what shamanic skills need to be developed, what herbs or flower essences could help to calm the neophyte and help them integrate communication between this world and the spirit world. A key tool the mentor uses with the neophyte, involves the sharing of his/her own stories and experiences, which helps to calm the neophyte during the challenges they face. Story telling helps the neophyte to understand what is happening, as their own gifts and abilities seek to emerge. Many of the females in Some’s stories experienced terror and extreme confusion as part of their transformational crisis. In reading Some’s books, finding a mentor for a person in a shamanic crisis does not appear as straight forward as what some anthropologists have reported. Precognitive visions were defined by Jung (in deLaszlo Violet , 1985) as the ability of a person to have synchronistic inner perception in the form of premonitions, dreams or visions of an event happening, prior to the event occurring in external reality. A young person experiencing precognitive psychic vision who experiences a crisis as the pre-cognitive visions emerge cannot be mentored by a shaman with no precognitive abilities. Not all shamans have this ability. The right mentors with the right spiritual gifts and abilities must be found for the person in spiritual crisis. Some’ relates in more than one story, often this involves finding suitable mentors and healers in other villages. Often more than one mentor is required.
The apprentice must learn to deal with the challenges they are experiencing and also learn to steer their own consciousness during altered states of consciousness. Merkur (in Haule, 2011: 27) gives an example of this process using the process of hypnosis. Initially the shaman helps the neophyte by making hetero-hypnotic suggestions during the training session whilst the neophyte is in an altered state of consciousness. Gradually the neophyte learns to use auto-hypnosis to guide their own trance state (This is an example only). Also the neophyte must learn to attend to whatever emerges in consciousness without attaching to the images and sensation that emerge. Much like the Buddhist monks, the neophyte must learn that they have the power to exercise control over the feelings and sensations that arise within their consciousness during the trance state (Haule, 2011: 28). This process of being in control of one’s feelings and sensations and learning to steer one’s consciousness through trance states does not happen spontaneously, but through training. There are many skills that the neophyte must learn, including how to discern where the voices of the spirits are coming from or which spirits are communicating with him/her and what the spirit’s intention is (Sams, 1990: 303). The neophyte must learn how to create and hold sacred space, how to run a ceremony, how to do healing work and how to maintain balance between this world and the other world. Jamie Sams (1990: 302) states that if the shaman-to-be recovers from the depths of insanity, then their minds are strong and cannot be altered by sorcery and mind invasion that are dark arts used by black witches and sorcerers. Hence the shaman-to-be experiences insanity, to strengthen consciousness. The list of skills that need to be mastered takes years of work with competent mentors. Without a competent mentor, the potential shaman simply remains in the crisis illness or continues in a state of insanity and remains that way indefinitely until they die. To practice shamanism without full training can be lethal (Sams, 1990: 302-303).
Booi (2004: 4) states that most modern psychiatrists have failed to recognize the significance of the symptoms associated with the shamanic crisis and would-be-shamans have simply been diagnosed by psychiatrists as psychotic and often end up institutionalized. Symptoms are always different for each individual who experiences a shamanic crisis or schizophrenia. However if the symptoms of an individual experiencing their first presentation of schizophrenia and the symptoms of a shamanic crisis are compared, many of the symptoms are similar if not identical. Prior to the emergence of the spiritual crisis being recognized and added to the DSM IV in 1994 , all patients presenting to hospital emergency centres in a spiritual crisis would have simply received the diagnosis of psychosis as spiritual and psychic phenomena were viewed as psychotic symptoms (Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1998: 25; Johnson and Friedman,2008: 506). According to Khouzam, Tiu Tan & Singh Gill, (2007: 567) in many cases, patients presenting to hospital in a spiritual crisis continue to be misdiagnosed by medical, paramedical and religious professionals. Not all psychologists and psychiatrists have a transpersonal focus and professionals with training in behavioural, cognitive and psychodynamic frameworks would be more likely to diagnosis a mystical experience as psychotic (Johnson and Friedman, 2008: 506).
Walsh (1997: 112) states that a diagnosis of schizophrenia can be made if psychotic symptoms persist for six months. Walsh (2007: 54-55) also states that a shamanic crisis can last anywhere from a few days, to months, to years. In the scientifically driven western world where shamanism has been labelled as delusional and psychotic, there has not been the ability for one experiencing a shamanic crisis to orient themselves to the shamanic framework, answer the call, find a mentor, or have their relatives find them a mentor, simply because of Cultural Imperialism and the legitimacy of science. This may have started to change in the last twenty years with the re-emergence of neo paganism, and Indigenous people across the world campaigning for the right to their land and the right to practice their culture. If a shaman-to-be had been birthed into a scientific or Christian family, they would have been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the face of a shamanic crisis. The Christian church have in the past demonized shamans and in some cases such as in Korea, continue to demonize Shamans today (Jilek, 2005: 8-9; Lee, 2009: 192).
Some’ (1999: 97) makes the comment that every time he encounters a person who has been labelled as crazy in the western world, he wonders what spiritual gifts have been lost to the community. Kalweit (in Booi, 2004: 2) states that illness is the inherent wisdom of the body, which when the individual surrenders to the crisis process, this can open the doorway to higher spiritual learning and can help one to find one’s purpose in life. Winkelman (2002: 395) also states that the shaman reinterprets what psychiatrists refer to as psychosis and acute emotional states, as natural states of being that can function as opportunities for personal growth. The bio-medical and scientific framework pathologizes, and medicalizes all states of illness or behaviour that it views as abnormal. According to social constructionist theorists, illness in itself is not abnormal, it depends on the system that defines illness as deviant (Roach Anleu, 1999: 198). Friedson (in Roach Anleu, 1999: 198) states that the Bio-medical model views illness as something bad which must be eradicated. The bio- medical and scientific framework works from a deterministic framework which seeks a cause for all it perceives as deviant or abnormal. Using Lindemann Nelson’s (2001: 111) theories of oppression, the bio-medical/ scientific view has been the oppressive view dominating western society since the enlightenment and has sought to destroy spiritual frameworks and also cultures that lived by a spiritual framework. Whilst this situation is beginning to change, the biomedical framework is in essence a reductionist and negative framework. Western society is orientated by the scientific, economic, consumerist, dualistic and materialist versions of reality, rather than the gentle, spiritual, loving; unifying reality that indigenous people lived in prior to colonization.
Perts (1997) work on neuropeptides and receptors demonstrates that emotions and feelings are thought forms that manifest into the physical as neuropeptides and chemicals in the body, hence establishing the mind body connection. If a diagnosed mentally ill patient internalizes the shame, guilt and abnormality that they are told they embody by society and science, would that not simply further imbalance their neuro-chemical processes, and contributing to an individual schizophrenics relapses and deterioration in their bio-psychosocial functioning? How can one experiencing psychotic symptoms associated with the spirit world ever hope to orientate themselves into a position of service, without the support of a loving community and a mentor to guide the way.
Conclusion:
What I have attempted to demonstrate in this paper is that people experiencing spiritual or shamanic crisis in Indigenous Cultures, would be viewed as experiencing a normal process towards spiritual growth and the ability to serve their community as a healer and diviner. However those experiencing the same or similar symptoms in Western Society, are psycho-pathologized, medicalized, and diagnosed with a mental illness if symptoms continue for a six month period. The expected outcomes for a person not recovering from a Schizophrenic illness may include repeated relapses and a deterioration in bio-psychosocial functioning. Homelessness, suicide and jail are possibilities for the individual diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia, as community care seems only to be able to provide rehabilitation for twenty percent of those diagnosed with a chronic mental illness. Transpersonal psychologists are the exception to the rule, and are the driving force behind the spiritual emergency being included as a diagnosis category in the DSM IV. However without the appropriate skills to work in the spirit world, a transpersonal psychologist cannot train a shaman.
There is need for research exploring cross cultural and spiritual forms of treatment for adolescents presenting with psychotic symptoms to a hospital for treatment, regardless of their skin colour. Having access to shamanic mentors could mean the difference between becoming a functioning member of society or a statistic in the jail, suicide and homelessness figures. Also research needs to be conducted on how stigma and the internalization of guilt, shame and abnormality affects the chemical balance of the body and neurological systems of an individual experiencing mental illness and their long term functioning. Whilst the cost of medical treatment is forever skyrocketing, an ethical and loving academic community would be looking at integrating other forms of healing that could reduce the costs of health care and prevent the increasing numbers of people questioning and experiencing unsatisfactory results from biomedical treatment regimes.

References:
Adams, C.E. and P. Tharyan, 2005, ‘Electroconvulsive therapy for schizophrenia’, in PUB MED.gov, viewed 2/5/2011, at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15846598?dopt=AbstractPlus .
Booi, B. N. 2004, ‘Three perspectives on ukuthwasa: The view from Traditional beliefs, Western Psychiatry and Transpersonal Psychology’, Masters Thesis, Rhodes University Website, viewed 15/4/2011, at http://eprints.ru.ac.za/175/ .
deLaszlo Violet. S. 1985, Psyche & symbol: a selection from the writings of G. Jung, Garden City, New Jersey: Doubleday Anchor Books.
FRANK (Fostering Resources and New Knowledge) 2004, The monthly newsletter for the youth coalition’s alcohol and other drug projects, October, Issue 7, 1-16, viewed on 2/5/2011, at http://www.youthcoalition.net/dmdocuments/Frank_Oct.pdf .
Haule, J.R. 2011, Jung in the 21st Century: Volume Two, Synchronicity and Science, London: Routledge.
Hume, L. 2007, Portals: Opening Doorways to Other Realities through the Senses, New York: Berg.
Jilek, W.G. 2005, ‘Transforming the Shaman: Changing Western Views of Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness’, in Articulo en Salud, Vol. 7, No. 1, 8-15, accessed 14/3/2011, at http://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/invsal/isg-2005/isg052c.pdf .
Johnson C.V. and H. L. Friedman, 2008, ‘Enlightened or Delusional? : Differentiating Religious, Spiritual, and Transpersonal Experiences from Psychopathology, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 48, No. 4, 505-527, viewed 27/4/2011, at http://jhp.sagepub.com .
Khouzam, H.R., D. Tiu, Tan and T. Singh Gill, 2007, Handbook of Emergency Psychiatry, Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier.
Krippener, S.C. 2002, ‘Conflicting Perspectives on Shamans and Shamanism: Points and Counterpoints, in American Psychologist, November Issue, 962-977, viewed 27/4/2011, at Proquest.
Lee, J. 2009, ‘Shamanism and Its Emancipatory Power for Korean Women’, in Affilia, Vol. 24, No. 2, 186-198, accessed 20/3/2011, at http://aff.sagepub.com/content/24/2/186 .
Lindemann Nelson, H. 2001, Damaged Identities: Narrative Repair, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
Lukoff, D and F. LU and R. Turner, 1992, ‘Toward a more Culturally Sensitive DSM IV: Psycho-religious and Psycho-spiritual Problems’, in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol. 180, No. 11, 672-682, accessed 28/04/2011, at LWW Journals at Ovid.
Lukoff, D and F. LU and R. Turner, 1998, ‘From Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Problem: the Transpersonal Roots of the New DSM-IV Category’, in Journal of Humanistic Psychology Vol. 38, No. 21, 21-50, accessed 27/04/2011, http://jhp.sagepub.com .
Mental Health Council of Australia. 2007, Facts on Mental Health, viewed 2/5/2011, at http://www.mhca.org.au/documents/AboutMentalHealth/FactsonMentalHealth.pdf .
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Some’, M.P. 1999, The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual and Community, New York: Penguin Putnam Inc.
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Forgiveness

2011-08-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

In reading Forgiveness, Reconciliation and Justice: A Theological Contribution to a More Peaceful Social Environment, I immediately thought Volf does not understand several vital theological concepts. I realize that he understands them at his level of understanding, but I disagree with his argument. To forgive means to come to a total state of inner peace, with no desire for revenge, retribution, retaliation or punishment. In fact to forgive means that we do not have to see justice done because we understand that divine justice is always happening, in divine timing, not when or how we want it to. To surrender to divine will, which is part of the Lords Prayer, your will be done not mine, is poorly understood. It means to let go of our need to control the outcomes, to let go of our need to understand everything that is happening and to trust that the divine source will take care of things in and how the divine source sees fit, when the divine source see fit. It is to follow divine guidance from within, no matter how hopeless the situation appears, to have faith. To continue praying for spiritual healing and transformation of ourselves and our enemies even when nothing seems to be happening. Everything happens in divine timing, human timing is not divine timing, human law is not divine law and human justice is not divine justice. I have watched divine justice play out in divine time. I know divine justice exists and hence when you understand this it is much easier to have faith and surrender to divine will and let go and let God.
When one comes to state of forgive, one usually sees that one’s perpetrator is simply a reflection or mirror image of oneself and hence before we can forgive our perpetrator we have to forgive ourselves and we come to the understanding that the only enemy we have is ourselves. To get to this level of understanding means doing years and years of spiritual healing work. When we forgive at this level our heart Charkra opens and love and gratitude flows through our hearts for our perpetrators and ourselves, we start praying for their spiritual healing and transformation of our perpetrators. This is the most profound and powerful experience of forgiveness and unconditional love you can experience. If Volf had ever experience this level of forgiveness he certainly would have been writing about it, like I am. You can’t say I forgive unconditionally like God does, if you are not experiencing forgiveness at this level. Volf is talking his walk, not walking his talk.
Which brings me to my next point event, we can start praying for spiritual transformation and healing of our enemies even before forgiveness is following. It’s a tough exercise but can be done. For example instead of always praying for the healing of the victims, or loved ones or friends, which is fine, it is time that we started praying for the leaders of terrorist organizations, that their hatred and aggression may be transformed into love and other expressions of divine healing. We should be praying that political parties will set up social policies that promote social programs that will help redress long standing social and economic inequity. Pray that there may be hope for a better future for the alienated youth who find themselves entrenched in terrorist organizations and have no other options in life. We should be praying that the negative spiral of terrorism and violence be transformed into an ascending spiral of healing love and transformation. If we don’t send love, compassion and understanding to terrorist, instead of anger and hatred and political tactics that continue to enlarge the negative spiral of hatred and violence, things will simply remain the same and generations of young people will continue to find themselves born into war torn countries, refugee camps and a hopeless future. Political terrorism (terrorists sent in by governments to fight back) only inspires more generations of refugees and young homeless people filled with anger and hatred. We need to be sending positive affirming prayers, not making statements like the Pope at Christmas who prayed for the punishment of those who persecuted Christians. The popes Christmas speech was not a demonstration of the unconditional love that Jesus taught and it was not a demonstration of what Jesus taught when he said forgive your enemies. Where are our spiritual leaders. Punishment is not love, understanding and compassion. Love heals, and when it flows we know that the divine source is active and present in the life of those involved.
AHO.

Written by Angela Bardon

Religion, Violence and Peace 2011

2011-07-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

This blog marks the beginning of a new semester and a new emphasis in the Religion and Violence course at The University of Queensland on peace and peacebuilding.

The aim of the class is to explore theoretical themes and practical case studies of religious violence and religiously-inspired peacebuilding and non-violence approaches.

The course moves through theoretical frames of religion, violence and peace and reviews the major social, psychological, political and philosophical underpinnings related to the course's overall themes.

Using the basis of the theoretical approaches, the course shifts on an examination of the themes of religion, violence and peace in the major world religions.

Case studies of various wars and conflicts, historically and currently are used to as examples to reflect on the compelling issues of religion, violence and peace.

Catholic Youth and Violence during the Northern Ireland 'Troubles'.

2010-11-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

RELN2310: Religion and Violence. P O'S

Catholic Youth and Violence during the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’.

Between 1969 and the Peace Agreement in 1998, a generation of Catholic children grew up surrounded by violence and death. Many were indoctrinated with a hate and fear of Protestants as soon as they could learn from their parents, other family members, relations and older neighbours. Others learned to hate as they personally experienced bigotry and violence at the hands of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the British army. Events like ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Derry in 1972, when the British army opened fire on innocent civil rights marchers and murdered fourteen people in cold blood, were ingrained in their memory and a part of their lives:
The most intense period of violence was in the first half of the 1970’s, and the geographical hot spots most affected during the course of the Troubles have been working class residential areas in the two main urban centres of Belfast and Derry and the rural areas that border the Republic of Ireland. (Gilligan,2006: 327).
Catholics were historically a marginalised, minority section of the population in Northern Ireland. Young Catholics had witnessed the lack of employment and decent housing opportunities for their families. They realised, that as Catholics, their own educational and employment opportunities were disadvantaged. This essay will explore the circumstances surrounding Catholic young people during the violence in Northern Ireland and argue that as Catholics, they were discriminated against because of their religion, interned without trial with devastating results and traumatised by the violence experienced as they were growing up.

Young Catholic children from a very early age became aware of their culture. They had a great love for traditional Irish music and instruments which many Protestants did not have. They played Irish sports, such as Gaelic football and hurling in sports clubs that were for Catholics only. Many Catholics retained a knowledge of the Irish language. History was an important aspect of Young Catholic’s lives and:
It is not just in matters of personal identity that the present is haunted by the past . In Northern Ireland, one feels history hovering over every institution. (Demerath, 2000: 131.)
From an early age they heard from their parents the disadvantages suffered by Catholics due to their religion. As they grew up they realised they lived in substandard housing in Catholic areas and did not mix with Protestants. Catholic families with four or five children were aware that they had less chance of being allocated a house than a single Protestant. Even Catholics who were allocated housing were unlikely to ever vote for a unionist politician:
for the Unionist Government the incentive was that non-householders could not vote so housing Catholics was not good business. (Munck, 1992:213).
Catholics lived in their own areas, they went to Catholic schools, young people socialised only with other Catholics. They played sports and music only with Catholics. Catholics shopped in their own areas and shopping areas and did not venture in to Protestant areas. There were some young Catholics who despite their proximity had never known or socialised with a Protestant. Their only knowledge and dealings with the Protestant community was through violence or the knowledge of violence between the two communities. The flags of the two communities although beside each other were different, the Catholics displaying the Tri-colour and the Protestants showing their allegiance to the crown by flying the Union Jack:
As a result, more than a generation of young people in Northern Ireland have been exposed to unchecked and pervasive sectarian prejudice that can be considered endemic to the region’. (Muldoon, 2004: 457)
As the 1960’s approached many young Catholics, including students, became interested in marching for civil rights for their communities.

When the ‘Civil Rights’ marches began in the late 1960’s children and young Catholics were aware of the reasons that their parents and neighbours were peacefully marching on the streets. The Catholics were demanding a stop to gerrymandering of votes, which gave Unionists an unfair majority, and a more pluralistic form of voting. This would balance Catholic votes more equitably and lessen the amount of Protestants being elected unfairly. The marchers also called for better housing and employment opportunities for Catholics. Tim Pat Coogan, (2002:81), describes how the marchers were attacked by Loyalist mobs armed with nails, bricks, stones, sticks, and petrol bombs. The police instead of protecting the marchers were filmed baton charging the marchers and attacking them. They were also filmed later chatting and smoking with the attackers, none of the perpetrators were arrested. Following the attacks on the marchers the police entered Catholic areas and sustained rioting began. All these actions were observed by young Catholics, and were an encouragement to them to join the older members of the community, in rioting and stone throwing against the British army and police in what they perceived as a threat to their neighbourhoods and lives. Richard Sosis and Candace S. Alcorta (2008: 14) claim that adolescence is a critical time for learning what is sacred and for becoming involved in terrorism. They also describe the plasticity of the adolescent’s brain and their heightened emotional reaction to events they witness and are exposed to, they also discuss the adolescent’s openness to indoctrination, and their intensity of emotions. These emotions tend to become mellow, as the adolescent grow older.

When thirteen Catholics were murdered and a further fourteen were shot and wounded in Derry on Sunday, 30th January 1972, the repercussions were catastrophic. The Catholics felt cornered, the British army supposedly in the province as peace keepers, were killing Catholics and lying about the circumstances. When ‘The Widgery report’ was released a few months after the massacre in Derry, Lord Widgery exonerated the British soldiers claiming that they had reacted when they came under fire from the marchers. Bishop Edward Daly, who appeared in the iconic press photographs and TV coverage of events on the day, while a young priest in the Bogside area where the killings took place, waving a white flag while helping to carry a fatally wounded marcher, states in his memoir that ‘Bloody Sunday’ caused large numbers of young people to join the Irish Republican Army (IRA), as their reaction to the violent shootings was so strong. (Daly, 2000:201). ‘Bloody Sunday’ was always a situation that would have prevented peace and the results of ‘The Saville Report’ published in June 2010 were vital if peace is ever to be fully restored in the Province. ‘The Saville Report’ exonerated all those killed and injured on that fateful day and laid the blame on the British Forces as it should have been from the beginning. Robert White (1989: 1277-1302) considers the reasons that people move from peaceful protest into violent action. He concludes that State repression in Northern Ireland was mainly used in working class areas and therefore violence spread throughout these areas. As many people from these areas were unemployed, they were available for rioting. White also discusses how State repression can become counterproductive and cause peaceful protest to turn to violence, as people realise peaceful protest is futile.

Interment was intended to curb persistent rioting in primarily Catholic neighbourhoods.

On August the 9th, Mr Brian Faulkner who was concurrently Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister of the Northern Ireland government, with the consent of Her Majesty’s Government and assistance of HM armed forces, reintroduced internment in the province’. (Spjut, 1986: 712).

It allowed for the arrest of any individual suspected of being an IRA member. Little or no evidence was needed. Young men, fathers and sons, brothers and cousins were ‘lifted’ in police swoops that terrorised families and neighbourhoods. In many cases the people arrested were innocent Catholics. They languished in prison, and many were never charged with, or found guilty of any offence. Arrests were usually made in the early hours of the morning, leading to chaos within households as British soldiers, without warning and heavily armed entered houses often arresting and taking away all males in the family including teenagers. This was all observed by younger children and created a greater barrier between Catholics and the British army. The IRA often helped these families with food and money as they had lost their breadwinners, and in the process won the support of young boys and girls. Internment led to huge anger among Catholics and stoked the fire of violence and anger in the Catholic communities and neighbourhoods. It was true that:

the Northern Ireland Government successfully apprehended and interned members of the IRA, but they also arrested and incarcerated without trial many persons who were not members of that organisation. (Spjut, 1986:716).

The damage to relations between Catholics and other sections of the community were put under great strain while internment lasted. The government had targeted their community with internment. The British army and the RUC had enforced the arrests with speed, no evidence and often harshly. The Protestant community agreed with internment, and wanted harsher measures put in place while at the same time there was little investigation of Protestant, Loyalist Paramilitaries taking place. There was a justifiable distrust of the RUC by Catholics and this was borne out by the fact that:

the RUC Special Branch tended to look for and find IRA conspiracies even when none existed. If this is correct and the evidence for the case is additionally weak and circumstantial, then the high number of internment orders issued by the Northern Ireland Government reflects biased sectarian judgements rather than simply bad operational assessments. (Spjut, 1986:737).

Community spirit and loyalty was strong within Catholic communities during the ‘troubles’. As long as young people obeyed the rules set down by the IRA they had a bond and a closeness within their community. Chris Gilligan, (2008:328), describes how the bonds in communities strengthened during the troubles. He claims that these bonds helped people to continue their actions against their enemies and also to cope with the resulting backlash from their actions. In large working class areas, whether a young Catholic was involved directly or not in violence, it was impossible for them to be unaffected by the conflict. They were regularly stopped and searched by the security forces. Children either lost a relative in the troubles or would have known a neighbour or school friend who had. They were aware of the dangers and sounds of rioting, or were involved directly in a riot. Cars and buildings blazed and their neighbourhood was enclosed by a barricade. Studies carried out involving children in Northern Ireland showed that:

Roman Catholic children reported more experience overall of conflict related events than their Protestant counterparts, in particular Catholic children reported more experience of bomb-scares and encountering soldiers on the streets. (Muldoon and Trew, 2000: 171).

Catholic children growing up in Northern Ireland had little chance of living a normal life. If they lived in a large working class area they had even less chance. Indoctrinated from an early age by the Catholic adults around them, they believed that they were victims in a society that looked after the needs of the Protestant community, to the detriment of their own rights and needs. They attended Catholic schools where they learned of a history plagued by British repression, and Protestant planters on Catholic land. They lived in Catholic neighbourhoods, and played with Catholic friends. As the troubles progressed they were constantly exposed to violence. Catholic children and young people, often late at night, knew that the door of their home could be smashed, the house ransacked and their older brothers or father ‘lifted’ and interned without trial. They experienced constant harassment on the streets by the security forces, and this increased their hatred and distrust of the British army and RUC. Bloody Sunday had a profound effect on young Catholics, and many who were not involved in the conflict joined the IRA when they saw the injustice of the innocent people killed during the march. The anger they experienced at the ‘Widgery Report’ would last a lifetime for many young
people, and destroy any semblance of trust they had for the British Government, British Armed Forces and the Police. This anger is destined to live on through future generations of Catholics in Northern Ireland.

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Cosmic Dualism and Religious Violence: Perceptions of Conflict and Peace in Israel- Palestine- Danielle McKeen

2010-11-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Cosmic Dualism and Religious Violence: Perceptions of Conflict and Peace in Israel- Palestine.

The conflict in Israel- Palestine has embodied a complex number of political, religious and social issues which has obscured exactly what factors are pervasive barriers to peace. Analyses of the case have blamed tensions upon territorial disputes, social grievances and political struggles; however I argue the underpinning clash is that of fundamentalist religious ideology. Religious violence has characterised the conflict and understanding the role of such violence is essential. I argue that the conflict could be resolvable if not for the presence of hardline religious activist that exemplify an uncompromising and perpetual struggle for religious ‘rights’. Such attitudes are not necessarily a homogenous indication of either side of the divide, but they do present the greatest obstacles for peace.

I will initially outline a brief history of the conflict to position the issues in a historical context and further state the competing religious perspectives that shape hardline attitudes. I will focus upon religious Zionism in relation to Israel and Hamas as representing the national- Islamist movement for Palestine. I acknowledge that neither group characterise a complete understanding of the conflict, but represent the fundamentalist agenda. Furthermore, I will position the perceptions of each group within the concept of ‘cosmic war’ and argue that the conflict is locked into a dualistic struggle between religious truths. The assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzkah Rabin and Hama’s 1988 charter signify this cosmic war. Finally, I will discuss how cosmic dualism actively prohibits negotiation or compromise which limits the scope for peace in Israel and Palestine.

Historical and Religious Perspectives

The conflict in Israel- Palestine is highly complex and multifaceted with somewhat ambiguous origins and motivations. Providing an accurate account of the conflict history is challenging considering the multiple historical narratives that have been manipulated to support each warring party. An understanding of the conflict history must consider the absence of ‘historical truths’ (Pappe 2004: 2). Thus, I will focus upon broad themes of the conflict with reference to significant events and in particular, their religious implications. Human occupation of Israel- Palestine dates back around one hundred thousand years with the first Hebrew groups appearing around second millennium BCE (Burr and Smith 2007: 191). However, the contemporary conflict arguably started following the Second World War as Jewish refugees began to flock to Palestine to claim their ‘homeland’ and the state of Israel was created in 1948 (Burr and Smith 2007: 203). Despite the United Nations partition plan that already favoured Jewish settlements, Israel was expanded to control 42% more territory than was allotted which allowed Israel to claim 78% of Palestinian territory (Burr and Smith 2007: 203). This instigated years of conflict as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced and Israel defended their newly created state. Evidently, the initial conflict is based upon territorial rights and nationalism; however the most destructive aspect has religious origins.

The dominant modes of religious conflict are concerned with religious Zionism and Palestinian- Islamic groups. However, neither of these groups are homogenous and are represented by a variety of organisations which presents a challenge for analysing religious violence. To contextualise the two opposing views, I will examine how religious fundamentalists impact upon the conflict. Zionism is concerned with maintaining Jewish culture, language, identity and institutions which shapes the foundations of Israel’s state ideology (Smooha 2002: 485). Burr and Smith identify four types of Zionism; the hardline Zionist groups are generally ‘Religious Zionists’ who claim Israeli territory under biblical justifications and look to acquire the land in its entirety (2007: 190). The objective of religious Zionism is to attain their rightful settlement as sanctioned by God. This ideology informed the initial creation of Israel and is a view held by the current Israeli government in addition to civilian fundamentalist groups.

The religious opposition to Jewish Zionism and therefore, the state of Israel was the Muslim Brotherhood (Burr and Smith 2007: 203). During the First Intifada in 1987 Hamas was created; a splinter group from the Muslim Brotherhood for the purpose of engaging in active resistance. It is important to understand that Hamas was not the first Palestinian terrorist organisation, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was already active, but Hamas constituted the first major Islamist organisation (Abu- Amr 1993: 5). Their 1988 covenant religiously opposes the Jewish right to territory and advocates for the violent destruction of Israel (Herzog 2006: 84- 5). Hamas represents an amalgamation of religious violence and political interests and is widely regarded as a terrorist organisation. However, in 2006 Hamas dominated the Palestinian elections and won a clear majority vote (Gunning 2008: 1). In terms of examining religious violence, it is interesting to note that conflict upon a religious basis became central a mere twenty- two years ago. The tensions that emanated from the imposition of Israel and the domination of Zionists over Palestinians (Pappe 2004: 12) have transcended to another level.

Cosmic War

Understanding the deep rooted religious hatreds evident in the Israel- Palestinian conflict is essential for pursuing a peaceful resolution. The concept of ‘cosmic war’ provides context and meaning to the conflict to highlight exactly why the religious struggle is relevant and pervasive. Juergensmeyer positions the concept of ‘cosmic war’ as a major explanation for religious violence, as warring parties place their struggle in divine terms (2003: 149). He outlines how a conflict can be understood as ‘cosmic’ if the confrontation is in defence of identity, a loss is ‘unthinkable’ and cannot be resolved in ‘real terms’ (Juergensmeyer 2003: 160- 1). Essentially the war transcends, although is not necessarily isolated from, political and social grievances. Dualism is also important as each party contends they are defending religious truth which demonises the ‘other’ (Larsson 2004: 112). The condition of cosmic dualism is its appeals to meta-truths and is absolute in nature. Ellens describes this relationship, by stating:

“Cosmic good and transcendental evil are depicted as being in mortal combat on the battlefields of our political policy, our international relations, our social values, and our spiritual quests in the arena of the human heart” (2007: 4).

This battle is premised upon the dichotomies of ‘good’ and ‘evil’, as groups engage in violent conflict to defend their god and therefore, what they perceive as ‘good’ (Ellens 2007: 5). Conflicts of such proportions embody a concept of religious violence that appears both perpetual and hopeless as parties fight to defend a cause beyond reality. The idea that religious beliefs are locked in a violent cosmic battle that transcends human suffering is sickening, dangerous and very real. This analytical lens can facilitate understanding of the Israel- Palestine conflict.

Israel- Palestine’s Cosmic War

In examining the role of cosmic war theory in the conflict it must be understood that neither side of the religious divide homogenously adhere to this ideology. I argue that only the fundamentalists hold genuine and pervasive views that correlate with the concept of cosmic war. The evidence of cosmic dualism is best understood in relation to the previously discussed groups of hardline Zionists and Hamas.

A major indication that cosmic dualism is evident within the Israeli cause is the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzkah Rabin. In 1995, Rabin was shot by a Jewish activist who opposed Rabin’s commitment to fostering peaceful relations with the Palestinians (Peleg 1997: 277). Rabin had been engaging in dialogue with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat and was formulating a compromise regarding territory and prospects for coexistence (Juergensmeyer 2003: 157). The activist, Yoel Lerner was a religious Zionist who would accept nothing less than the completion of the Israeli state, considering Rabin’s peaceful policies as anti- Jewish and a betrayal (Juergensmeyer 2003: 49). Peleg examines the motivations behind the assassination in terms of religious Zionism and considers a ‘sense of deception’ as the catalyst for violent struggle (1997: 230). The increasingly secular developments in Israeli politics as highlighted by Rabin’s engagement with Palestinians, was seen to contradict the creation of Israel. In considering this notion, Ranstorp offers a perception of religious violence that is concerned with religious identity; terrorists often feel required to maintain their religious identity through violent demonstration (1996: 46). Similarly, Juergensmeyer discusses how political struggles are transformed through the application of religious beliefs to reject secularism (1997: 18). Rabin’s assassination exemplifies how cosmic dualism shapes the fundamentalist understanding of the conflict; the advancements made towards peace were considered unacceptable. His actions were considered contradictory to the Jewish cause and therefore, to the defence of religious truth.

Hamas represent the Islamic- national opposition to Israel and have drawn their ideology into the cosmic war framework. The militant wing of Hamas has been responsible for innumerable terrorist attacks, the majority of which have killed Israeli civilians (Herzog 2006: 85). As previously described, Hamas refuses to recognise Israel’s right to exist and has pursued a relentless campaign against the Jewish state (Juergensmeyer 2003: 150). The group has been somewhat ambiguous as the original Charter calls for Israel to be replaced by an Islamic state (Abu- Amr 1993: 12) but more recently, the group has hinted at a more moderate stance including negotiation with Israel (Klein 2007: 442). However, one concept has been made absolutely clear: Hamas will not recognised Israel as a Jewish state. The cosmic implications of the conflict have remained and constitute the core of Hamas- Israeli relations. Former leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated that the Islamic- Arab war with Israeli facilitated the need for Hamas (Juergensmeyer 2003: 150). In this context, it appears that Hamas represent religious ideology that shapes the cosmic war; the violence that Hamas has instigated was in direct response to the need for a group to defend and represent Palestinian Muslims. The creation of Hamas transformed the conflict from territorial and political disputes towards an intense religious battle. The Palestinian struggle was fundamentally redefined with the introduction of a major religious player who explicitly based their doctrine in religious opposition to Israel.

Possibilities for Peace

The scope for a peaceful resolution in Israel- Palestine is limited by the concept of cosmic warfare. In recalling Juergensmeyer’s conditions for cosmic war, both sides of the religious divide are defending their identity, cannot accept defeat nor can the conflict be solved without the destruction of one or both. In the context of cosmic dualism, compromise is not possible; the war is fundamentally absolutist. The state of war will continue until one reigns over the other and ‘universal peace’ is recognised (Larsson 2004: 116). Understanding peace is just as crucial as understanding violence; a cessation of violence does not always translate to peace, as cosmic wars are concerned with absolute victory. The compromise devised between Rabin and Arafat was rejected by the fundamentalist on both sides (Juergensmeyer 2003: 157).

I argue that genuine and sustainable peace is stalled by uncompromising, narrow minded and narcissistic hardliners that refuse to consider the conflict holistically. Instead, fundamentalists prefer to focus upon a grand cosmic narrative that disregards the destruction and tragic consequences of violence. Killing in the name of God, whichever one that may be, is more important than building peace and negotiating political disputes. This precise attitude dooms Israel- Palestine to perpetual war until one can triumph over the other or they mutually destruct. Peace will be impossible until hardliners from both sides open their eyes to reality and embrace humanity rather than ideology.

Conclusion

Religious violence has devastated Israeli- Palestine and is based upon a fundamentalist rhetoric that does not necessarily resonate with the civilian population at large. I have discussed religious perspectives in a historical context to emphasise that fundamentalism emanated from a multitude of issues. It is apparent that religious views have transcended into a ‘cosmic war’ which perpetuates the ultimate dualism between ‘good’ and ‘evil’. However, what is clear is that such an absolutist perception is not widely held by either side; religious Zionists and Palestinian Islamic group, Hamas are the dominant groups that adhere to such perspectives. This was epitomised by the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzkah Rabin by a Jewish activist looking to reinstate religious Zionism as the primary ideology of Israel. Similarly, Hamas’ 1988 charter explicitly states that Israel must be destroyed if there is to be Palestinian victory. The concept of cosmic dualism has shaped violent religious acts and prevents a meaningful peace process.

‘Peace’ is a fickle concept; individuals and groups have different, sometimes contradictory perceptions of peace and how it should be achieved. Moreover, there isn’t an overarching framework that determines which kind of peace is correct or justified and whether it is even possible. The alternative to complete peace is resolution or coexistence; however this may not be possible either given that one view of peace may not include the existence of the other. This is the vicious cycle that Israel- Palestine is caught within and religious fundamentalists accept that their idea of peace will ultimately embrace destruction and suffering. Such a mentality must be broken for the conflict to end; a seemingly impossible task which will require the will of the people to value human life over fighting for a religious deity.

REFERENCE LIST

Abu- Amr, Z. 1993. ‘Hamas: A Historical and Political Background.’ Journal of Palestine Studies, 22(4): 5- 19

Ellens, J.H. 2007. The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 2nd ed. Westport: Praeger Publishers

Juergensmeyer, M. 1997. ‘Terror Mandated by God.’ Terrorism and Political Violence, 9(2): 16- 23

Juergensmeyer, M. 2003. Terror in the Mind of God: the Global Rise of Religious Violence. 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press

Klein, M. 2007. ‘Hamas in Power.’ Middle East Journal, 61(3): 442- 59

Gunning, J. 2008. Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence. New York: Colombia University Press

Herzog, M. 2006. ‘Can Hamas Be Tamed?’ Foreign Affairs, 85(2): 83- 94

Larsson, J.P. 2004. Understanding Religious Violence: Thinking Outside the Box on Terrorism. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing

Pappe, I. 2004. A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Peleg, S. 1997. ‘They Shoot Prime Minsters Too, Don’t They? Religious Violence in Israel: Premises, Dynamics, and Prospects.’ Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 20(3): 227- 47

Ranstorp, M. 1996. ‘Terrorism in the Name of Religion.’ Journal of International Affairs, 50(1): 41- 62

Smith, D.W. and Burr, E.G. 2007. Understanding World Religions: A Roadmap for Justice and Peace. Maryland: Rowan and Littlefield

Smooha, S. 2007. ‘The Model of Ethnic Democracy: Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.’ Nations and Nationalism, 8(4): 475- 503

Sita Worship and Domestic Violence in Indian Society

2010-11-09T02:33:00.000-08:00

G. A-D.

Though exact figures are impossible to obtain, it is estimated by experts that approximately 67.5% married women in India are victims of physical abuse at the hands of their husbands (Ellsberg, Jansen, Heise, Watts, & Garcia-Merono, 2008). A number of research studies claim that this violence is a result of the phenomenon of ‘Sita worship’, the veneration of the Goddess Sita for her representation of the ‘perfect’ wife: silent, obeisant, obedient, and devoted to her husband despite his treatment of her. India is home to a variety of religions, however because Hinduism influences the nation’s popular culture so heavily, non-Hindu people are regularly exposed to Hindu values and ethics. It is for this reason that all Indians should be included in a research paper of this nature, as Sita worship is not a phenomenon exclusive to Hindu people. This paper will explore the relationship between domestic violence and Sita worship in Indian communities, and relate it to the theories of Rene Girard regarding the public and private spheres, before proposing methods to approach the issue.

In Indian society the goddess Sita has been one of the most popular mythological heroines since she was first written about in the Ramayana, one of the two fundamental scriptures at the foundations of Hinduism, generally agreed to have been written between 500-100 BCE. She is perceived by many as the paragon of wifely virtue with her complete devotion to her husband Rama throughout the epic even though he regularly fails to reciprocate her selflessness. A number of surveys conducted over the last ten years in India have found that the overwhelming majority of respondents favoured Sita above all other mythical women, the Sutherland study claiming as high as 90% (Kishwar 1997; Sutherland 1989).

In an extremely brief summary of the Ramayana: Rama is banished by his father’s wife to the forest and is accompanied by his wife Sita in exile. While away, Sita is kidnapped by the demon Ravana, and held hostage for over a year. In that year, Sita is aided in repelling Ravana’s sexual advances by the Gods, who recognise her devotion to Rama. When Rama rescues her, he doubts her chastity and orders her to undergo agni Pariksha, or fire trial, where she is to be burnt alive and if she has been chaste the Gods will spare her. She passes the test, and Rama accepts her back, only to banish her again because the people in his kingdom are spreading rumours doubting her faithfulness, even though she passed the agni Pariksha, because his first loyalty is to his subjects, not his wife. He gets his brother Lakshmana to take Sita to the forest and then leave her there without explanation, and he does not know it but she is pregnant with his twins, who she gives birth to in exile. When Rama learns of this he lets her return to his kingdom, however again accuses her of not keeping her chastity, and orders her to undergo another fire trial. She refuses, and instead calls on the ground (Mother Earth) to open up and swallow her if she has been chaste. She disappears into the earth and Rama is left ‘heartbroken’ (Gombrich, 2005).

Though there is much contention among scholars of the exact motivations behind their behaviours, for example that Sita’s last act was one of defiance against her husband, instead of a compromise on the suggested fire trial yet still an act of submission to his need to test her, the fact remains that throughout the Ramayana Sita is long-suffering with no recourse. Hindu scriptures present the perfect wife as one who sacrifices; this is how a woman practices good Dharma (the Hindu concept of ultimate morality and ethical behaviour) (Brockington, 2004, p. 656). A woman’s primary function is as a wife, and the most empowering thing she can do is be completely devoted to her husband (Leslie, 1991, p. 213). This is so empowering that it can even transcend death, as it did the fire trials of the Ramayana. This commonly held value in India of a woman’s importance being contingent on her relationship to her husband has led to a culture of women who will silently suffer abuse, accepting blame for her husband’s actions and refusing to seek justice against him for fear of social ostracising. The Ramayana and Hindu scriptures have underpinned this modern social construct that is an effective patriarchal tool of male control over women, and while this phenomenon is by no means exclusive to Hindu culture, the inherent inequality in a worldview that involves a woman’s value as contingent on her devotion to a man whose value is not judged by the same virtue perpetuates a gender inequality that contributes directly to increased levels of gendered violence(Barat, 2003, p. 216).

Sita worship contributes to greatly skewed views on gender expectations, which is often manifested in gender-based crime (Koenig, Stephenson, Ahmed, Jejeebhoy, & Campbell, 2006). This can be attributed to the Marxist theory that states that when one group is perceived to be superior to another, they hold a power over them that is inevitably abused and often in a violent context.

Much research has been done assessing the relationship between Sita worship and levels of spousal abuse and domestic violence (Goel 2005; Hess 1999; Ellsberg et al. 2008; Koenig et al. 2005); however it is important to note that no study claims it to be the sole cause of domestic violence and/or underreporting. There are myriad other factors that influence and incite violence, however India is unique in that there is a clearly discernable factor that is a direct result of religious influence (Archbold-Digby, 2010, p. 3). The issue of domestic violence alone is an alarming social problem, however in India it is exacerbated by Indian women’s underreporting. An American study in 2002 explored the level and nature of domestic violence and reporting within Indian immigrant communities. It found that 40.8% of Indian women had been the victim of domestic violence and of these women only 3.1% obtained protective orders. This is a drastically low number when compared with the 33% of native Boston women who obtained protective orders against their abusers(Goel, 2005, p. 644). The researcher failed to accurately estimate the relation between these figures and those that would be experienced within India, claiming that they would be similar. A 2006 study based on a survey of women found that in fact domestic violence was dramatically increased in India, varying between 60-75% of women experiencing it; the lower levels are experienced in urban communities and as the families live more rurally, the risk of domestic violence increased (Ellsberg, Jansen, Heise, Watts, & Garcia-Merono, 2008).

Girardian theory offers an explanation as to why domestic violence is such a prevalent yet tolerated aspect of Indian society. Girard claimed that violence was a part of all cultures, and that where primitive societies lacked a legal system with which to deal with violence, they turned to religion instead. Furthermore, violence could only be quelled with more violence; however the reciprocal violence was channelled, whereas the original violence was chaotic. This channelling was often manifested in ritualistic violence, or sacrifice of the ‘scapegoat’ or ‘surrogate victim’. “Through one final act of ordered violence, the disordered violence ceases (Decker, 2007-2008, p. 114).” With the scapegoat serving as a ‘container’ for wider social violence, violence has effectively been channelled into what society would deem a more ‘palatable’ direction. It is the tendency of all societies, not just Indian, to hold a significant distinction between public and private violence. Public violence is far less acceptable due to its disordered nature. Private violence, however, presents an ordered violence. The violence is contained geographically (within the home), and the victims are limited to those within the location, such as children or partners. Decker states that it is because the victims of private violence are almost always women, that it is such a tolerated aspect of society because society is male-dominated and as a result men are less likely to be the victims, and it is assumed that “male dominance in the home will stave off violent disorder in the streets (Decker, 2007-2008, p. 115)”.

Studies of perpetrators of domestic violence support the notion that disordered violence is circumvented by private violence; one found that there was a distinct characteristic of a category of offenders that was antisocial, and potentially psychopathic (Jacobson & Gottman, 1998, p. 38). In Girardian theory, these men pose a significant violent threat to the public sphere, however because they have an outlet in the private sphere, this threat is rarely realised. Another study found that it was also common for abusers to be “frustrated, weaker men” who needed a private outlet for their aggression at being dominated by stronger men outside the home(Anderson & Umberson, 2001, p. 375). Gender disparity presents the wife as the ‘scapegoat’; seen to be the source of frustration and violence, which the man must redress through violence toward her. Girard argues that though his theories are based on primitive societies, the modern world has its roots in primacy, and that despite a developed and complex legal system, law is merely a ‘continuation’ of ritual.

Decker proposes a three tiered approach to addressing domestic violence under the Girardian model. First, we must make redundant women’s label of ‘the other’, removing their potential to be scapegoats or surrogate victims. Second, we must transform gendered violence in the private sphere by redefining the difference between public and private sphere violence, making both equally as unacceptable, and thirdly, redefining legal concepts to reflect this development.

Women are traditionally perceived as different, not just in Indian society but universally, however the legitimacy of this perception of difference is arguable, especially when considering its origins and viability in a modern context. Women’s existence is seen as ‘relational’, their value contingent on their relationships to others, a concept heavily influencing Sita worship. Men’s existence, however, is ‘autonomous’, they are independent self-agents. To Girard, one need only be different within a society to be the scapegoat, and to prevent this, we must reconceptualise these differences as “nongendered variations in a universal, inclusive humanity (Decker, 2007-2008, p. 121)”. A first step in addressing this is to redefine rules of law to handle problems that were previously seen as exclusive to women, to instead be seen as affecting all society. For example, domestic violence is traditionally seen as exclusively hurting women; however we must reconceptualise it to see that when a woman is battered, society suffers as it loses her contribution as a fully functioning and effectual person, and it is detrimental to the wider community’s social health. Identifying differences as variations among humans, instead of as being gender-based, removes the inability of men to relate to women on an equal plane, thus removing the threat of scapegoating. This approach would need to be taken by wider societal authority, such as media and education. An effective way to do this would be to approach gender identification as part of a vast spectrum, as opposed to the traditionally binary approach. By seeing gender liminally the concept of the other is diluted. Some feminists argue against this proposal; while they generally agree gender should be seen as spectral, they are concerned that by removing a dichotomy, they are removing what it means to be a ‘woman’(West, 1992), however Decker argues that while this may be an initial sacrifice, the benefits of what it would bring to society deem it worthwhile.

When redefining the difference between public and private sphere, dominance is the major issue to be approached. Dominance is a channelling of societal violence, and regardless of its manifestation, it is inherently a violent concept and ineffective in circumventing disordered violence in the public sphere. Girard’s fundamental argument is that controlled sacrificial violence averts disordered violence in primitive societies. In modern society, this translates into the perception of the home as the place for ritualistic, acceptable violence that prevents larger societal violence. However, Girard also argues that violence is reciprocal; a never-ending chain reaction to itself, thus inevitable and impossible to eradicate. The study that found men who were abusive were potentially psychopathic, found that of the men who committed violence inside the home, 44% also committed it outside the home, refuting the Girardian theory that private violence avoids public violence. Other research shows that channelling one’s violence into short controlled bursts of aggression, such as using a punching bag, actually leads a person to act and feel more aggressive, not less (Bushman, 2002). We must eradicate violence wherever it is committed, promote equality and abolish male dominance. As Girard argues, when men use violence to dominate women, they are allowing themselves to be dominated by violence.

Decker argues that the most effective way to remove the dichotomy between the public and private sphere is through legal structures. To Girard, law serves as a redress to violence, and is a tool of revenge. Decker proposes that it become mandatory to pursue criminal action against private sphere abusers, regardless of their victims’ desire to prosecute. He also discusses noted feminist lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her fight to make the law gender neutral, and promote legal equality. This solution would serve to address the issue of underreporting in Indian communities, because it would give the women a position from which they could securely seek justice, whereas today women have many factors impeding their plight. It is traditional in Indian households for the husband’s extended family to live with the couple. Therefore when a woman seeks to redress domestic violence she is not just opposing one man, but his family as well(Sharma, 2005, p. 386). Furthermore the extended support system present for the husband serves to increase feelings of isolation and difference in the woman, which further discourages her from seeking help against him.

The legal framework in India to deal with domestic violence was recently updated in 2006 as the “Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005”. The very name shows its gender-exclusivity and has been widely criticised for its lack of gender neutrality. It defines domestic violence as habitual assault of or cruel conduct towards a woman by her partner, forcing her to lead an immoral life, and otherwise injuring her, by means of physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse. The Act also protects anybody who may be living with the abuser, for example when a woman is abused by her brother or son. It can provide a woman with a protective order against her abuser, as well as legal, medical or housing assistance, and made domestic violence an offence for which an abuser can be heavily fined and/or imprisoned for up to twelve months without bail (Agrawal, 2005). Men’s groups in India have criticised the Act for not protecting abused men, however the Indian Minister for Women responded by saying that while gender equality under the Act would be ideal, the fact that victims were predominantly female legitimised the exclusivity. Further criticism has been angled for the Act’s failure to include protection of women from women, such as in extended households where a woman may be abusing her son’s wife. This is still technically domestic violence, and arguably common within Indian communities, however there is no comprehensive legal framework with which to address it.

Despite its origins being over two thousand years old, Sita worship provides a very real, tangible threat to Indian society today. It is, of course, not solely destructive, otherwise her popularity would not be so transcendent, however its negative effects are threatening enough to require attention. Domestic violence is particularly high in India, and when it is sanctioned by scripture it becomes a religious issue. Its prevalence indicates that it is widely tolerated by Indian society, and isolation of women within families contributes to high levels of abuse with comparatively low levels of reporting. Girardian theory explains this tolerance as part of his Public and Private Sphere models of violence, and proposes that the solution to this issue lies in reconceptualising Indian women from being scapegoats to equals with men. It is when this equality is sanctioned by society and supported by India’s legal framework that domestic violence will decrease and greater social harmony will be enjoyed.

God Help Us: Catholic religiosity in Father Ted and Sister Act

2010-11-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

Jessica Hudepohl

In current times, the Catholic Church has been getting a lot of bad press. The media has been portraying the institution as bigoted, behind the times, and filled with sexual predators. In light of this current bad press, this essay will discuss the television series Father Ted and will use the film Sister Act as a comparative example for the portrayal of Catholicism in the late twentieth century. Using the theories of Margaret Miles and Jacques Derrida, the representations of the Catholic Church within these texts will be analysed, focusing particularly on how they employ certain stereotypes to reflect the values and attitudes of British and American society.

In her work, Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies, Margaret Miles suggests that we get our information from the recurring images provided by the media culture. According to her, the media generates and maintains certain attitudes towards religion, and circulates varying degrees of religious commitment throughout this popular medium (Miles 1996:3). As we receive numerous “representations of identity and diversity, relationships, and social arrangements and institutions” from these media images, we can discern a society’s religious and political preoccupations through their exploration (Miles 1996:3).

One of the more obvious underlying themes in the television series Father Ted is the Protestant preoccupation with Catholic religiosity. Drawing from the stereotypes created by Reformation leaders such as Martin Luther, the creators of Father Ted portray Catholic priests as lewd, lecherous drunks, who are chronic gamblers and incredibly stupid. These characters repeatedly undermine the authority of the Catholic Church; none more so than Father Dougal McGuire, whose often ridiculous observations occasionally question fundamental Christian beliefs (Free 2001:221):

“It’s like that stuff we learnt in seminary school – heaven and hell and all that other stuff – you’re not meant to take it seriously.”

“Is there a God? Who knows? I don’t know. Personally, I don’t even believe in organised religion

(Father Ted, Series One, Episode One.)

While the series can be seen as anti-Catholic, there is actually little evidence of direct attacks on the Church. The writers have avoided any real criticism of the institution as an organisation, choosing not to deal with the contemporary religious scandals directly (O’Brien 2009:115). Although the character Bishop Brennan does bear some resemblance to Bishop Eamon Casey, in the respect that both men have sired a son, Father Ted chooses to provide a general social commentary of the goings on of the Church, and reflect in its satire the less scandalous issues of the time (O’Brien 2009:115).

Although in showing its members to be susceptible to such human foibles as swearing, drinking, smoking, gambling, and the odd sexual fantasy or indiscretion, Father Ted de-sacralises the position of the priesthood, the program also removes the occupation’s stigma as a social ‘other’. In bringing the clergymen down to the level of the everyday man, who likes to watch television and make childish bets with his mates, Father Ted creates an opportunity for viewers to see priests as one of their own, and not as a pious outsider.

Unlike Father Ted, the film Sister Act seeks to maintain the positioning of the Church and its members as the ‘other’. The walls of the convent play a key role in establishing this notion of ‘otherness,’ especially in its representation as either a sanctuary or a prison (Stone 1999:para. 13). Although in reality, numbers cloistered religious communities have declined, they are still a frequently used setting for Hollywood films (Schleich 2003:51). Originally shown to be a place of protection from one’s violent pursuers, it becomes linked with the characteristics of a prison as the film progresses. The recurring use of phrases such as “spring you” and “you’re a free woman,” and the use of the song Rescue Me during a montage of chores all provide the viewer with the idea that to be a nun is to be a prisoner. However, by the end of Sister Act, the convent regains its positive image, now represented as an opportunity to expand one’s worldview and achieve a degree of redemption (Schleich 2003:51). Regardless of this positive representation, the convent is shown to be nothing more than a creative retreat where one would not stay permanently – “This would not be place to begin a career” – and so maintains its identity as a place belonging to the ‘other.’

Sister Act often uses the nuns as a metaphor for the Catholic Church itself. The character of the Mother Superior is a prime example. The beginning of the film shows her to be resigned to the fact that her convent is at risk of closure, the church is in dire need of repairs, and that Sunday mass receives little attendance. She is utterly against the sisters roaming outside the protective walls of the convent, and firmly believes that all they can do for the community is pray for them. Even as modern, more secular songs attract a larger congregation on a Sunday, the Mother Superior staunchly refuses to support these changes, preferring traditional hymns and only referring to ‘progressive’ convents with distaste. However, by the end of the film, amid approval from her nuns, then monsignor, and even the pope himself, the Reverend Mother is forced to begrudgingly accept this push into modernity. The Roman Catholic Church also seems to be resigned to the problem of declining numbers, and the notion that the religion will eventually become socially irrelevant or extinct. Like the Mother Superior, the Church is also shown to resist change, and slam progressive members of the Catholic community. The institution must be dragged into the 21st century, and be forced to embrace modern culture in order to survive.

We can explore the social preoccupations found within Father Ted and Sister Act further by applying the theories of Jacques Derrida. According to Eugene O’Brien (2009:2), Derrida’s first theory, ‘there is nothing outside the text’, can be taken to mean that knowledge is a social and linguistic construct, and that all knowledge can be interpreted as a type of text. O’Brien (2009:2) also notes that Derrida’s second theory, ‘there is nothing outside of context’, is an expansion of the first, and explains it to mean that all meaning is socially constructed, and every discourse needs to be located within a specific context. By taking the Catholic stereotypes of both texts, and placing them within their respective social, political, and continental contexts, we can gain further understanding as to the American and British attitudes towards the Catholic Church and its members.

As the setting of the television series Father Ted is on a small island in Ireland, one must explore the relationship between Ireland and the British mainland. Alternatively their antithesis or mirror image, partner or parasite, abortive offspring or sympathetic sibling, Margaret Llewellyn-Jones (2000:128) believes that British society are unable to decide on the nature of their relationship with the Irish, as they are preoccupied with viewing them as the ‘other.’ The clearest evidence of this shifting ideal from antithesis to mirror image is in the character of Mrs Doyle, the priest’s housekeeper, who continuously offers visitors cups of tea. Her obsession with the brew is an indication of British society’s regarding Ireland as a sister nation, but the almost predictable refusal of it by the visitors, most of which are Irish, point to the contradictory belief that the British and Irish are nothing alike.

This concept of Ireland as the ‘other’ stems from its history as Britain’s first colony. According to Marcus Free (2001:223), Father Ted offers audiences the opportunity to engage critically and reflectively with this colonial construct, adding that the series offers subtle levels of social and cultural commentary through its satire. Its veiled references to real people and events place Father Ted in the Irish Republic of the late 1990s. The stereotypes that the series explore, including general drunkenness, generosity, and stupidity, are historically specific, and the plausibility of their exaggerated representations rely on the audience’s knowledge of the cultural and historical constructs surrounding the Irish Catholic identity (Free 221-222). Llewellyn-Jones (2002:126,132) agrees that Father Ted is more critically in touch with cultural history and the role of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, suggesting that it might resonate differently from the long-held prejudices of the British against the Irish. However, she argues that the series ignores key historical and political complexities of Ireland in the late 1990s, and believes that the political situation before and during the Peace Process is not dealt with at all (Llewellyn-Jones 2002:126).

The Peace Process refers to the conflicts between the Unionist and Nationalist parties, which culminated in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) on April 10, 1998. With a protestant majority of 53%, the Unionists considered themselves British, and supported the continuing incorporation of Ireland with the United Kingdom. The Catholic minority (44%), on the other hand, considered themselves uniquely Irish, and called for the reunification of Ireland as a single nation (Archick 2010:1). The GFA, which the BBC’s ‘The Search for Peace’ hails as “little short of a historic breakthrough,” addressed the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as the relationship of both states with England, Scotland, and Wales (BBC News:online). The agreement called for the devolving of the current government and the transfer of power from London to Belfast (Archick 2010:1). After a referendum which returned a 71.2% in Northern Ireland, and a 94.39% Republican vote in favour of the agreement, a new Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive Committee took its place, with the power shared between Unionist and Nationalist parties (BBC News:online; Archick:2010:1).

However, the years following the signing of the GFA saw the government suspended four times by October 2002. The Unionist parties accused the Republicans of failing to live up to the spirit of the GFA and their promise to decommission arms; the Republicans countered this by declaring that they could not force people to give up their arms, and that the agreement merely stated that the parties would use all their power to influence the process. They also accused the British Government of not demilitarising Ireland as quickly as promised (BBC News:online). The process to peace in Ireland is still ongoing, and though the Good Friday Agreement was a historic step towards it, there is a long way to go before Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland come to a continuous and peaceful co-existence.

Llewellyn-Jones is correct in stating that the television series, Father Ted, does not discuss the political upheaval experienced by the Irish during the mid to late 1990s. However, perhaps this was the program’s intention, to provide an escape from the tension and horror that emanated from the border conflicts. By creating an image of bumbling, innocent priests meeting the religious needs of a peaceful and remote island, the creators of Father Ted were able to discuss certain social and religious issues, whilst tactfully avoiding those of political importance, thus catering to its British and Irish audiences without obvious bias.

As it was written in the early 1990s, the film Sister Act can be placed in the socio-religious context of shifting faith loyalties. According to a 2001 study undertaken by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, the decade of the nineties seems to be a period of shift and decline for membership to religious institutions (Kosmin et al 2001:14). Through a random digit-dialled telephone survey of US households, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) asked participants to identify their religion, as well as whether they were members of any religious institution (Kosmin et al 2001:6). The results of this study were then compared to those of the 1990 National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI). Although Catholicism continued to share the majority of adherents with the Baptist Church on a state-by-state basis, the study found that over the past decade, Evangelical Christians experienced a 37% increase in membership (Kosmin et al 2001:39-42, 24). Sister Act reflects this newfound interest in evangelised Christianity through its incorporation of secular songs with traditional hymns. It mirrors the attempts by Evangelical congregations to create mainstream music that hold religious messages. This is highly evident in the changing of lyrics from ‘my guy’ to ‘my God’; while maintaining a thin veil of religiosity, the song is obviously rooted in the secular realm of pop culture. The subsequent rise of church attendance as shown in the film reflects the rising popularity of the Evangelical Christian movement.

Through the application of the theories of Margaret Miles and Jacques Derrida, we have explored the social preoccupations present in filmic texts Father Ted and Sister Act. The stereotypes utilised throughout Father Ted draw attention to the underlying relationship between Protestantism and Catholicism, and highlight an attempt by the authors to bring members of the clergy down to an empathetic level, and reduce their stigmatisation as the ‘other.’ Sister Act, on the other hand, serves to maintain the idea of a religious other, in its use of the convent setting and refusal to willingly move with the times. By looking at the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as the island’s relations with the British mainland, we were able to establish Father Ted in a socio-political context. It has been argued that in order to create an arena within which to discuss social and religious issues without fear of causing serious offence to its Irish and British audiences, the writers of the Father Ted purposely ignored the contemporary events of political upheaval in its portrayal of Irish life. Sister Act has been placed within a socio-religious context of shifting faith loyalties, and was shown to reflect the rise of the Evangelical Christian movement, which occurred throughout the 1990s. It is clear that through the employment of well-known cultural stereotypes of the Catholic Church, these filmic texts have been able to raise and discuss a variety of issues contemporaneous with the social preoccupations of Britain and the United States in the late twentieth century.

Reference List

Archick, K. 2010, Northern Ireland: The Peace Process, Congressional Research Service.

Howard, J. 1992, Sister Act, Touchstone Pictures.

Free, M. 2001, “From the 'Other' Island to the One with 'No West Side': The Irish in British Soap and Sitcom,” Irish Studies Review vol. 9 no. 2, 215-227.

Kosmin, B.A., Mayer, E. & Keysar, A. 2001, American Religious Identification Survey, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Linehan, G. & Mathews, A. 1995-1998, Father Ted, Hat Trick Productions.

Llewellyn-Jones, M. 2000. “The Grotesque and the Ideal: Representations of Ireland and the Irish in Popular Comedy Programmes on British TV,” in B. Carson & M.

Llewellyn-Jones (eds) Frames and fictions on television: the politics of identity within drama, 126-140.

Miles, M. 1996, Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies, Beacon Press, Boston.

O’Brien, E. 2009, ‘Kicking Bishop Brennan up the arse’: negotiating texts and contexts in contemporary Irish studies, Peter Lang.

Schleich, K. 2003, Hollywood and Catholic Women: Virgins, Whores, Mothers, and Other Images, iUniverse.

Stone, B.P. 1999, “Religion and Violence in Popular Film,” Journal of Religion and Film vol. 3 no. 1, Online. Available from: http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Violence.htm

‘The Search for Peace: The Good Friday Agreement,’ BBC News, Online. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/northern_ireland/understanding/events/good_friday.stm

Chiapas Resistance - Unity without Uniformity

2010-11-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

CHIAPAS RESISTANCE: Unity without Uniformity
“Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a Jew in Germany, a Gypsy in Poland, a Mohawk in Quebec, a pacifist in Bosnia, a single woman on the Metro at 10 p.m, a peasant without land, a gang member in the slums, an unemployed worker, an unhappy student and, of course, a Zapatista in the mountains.”
(Vodovnik, 2001).

—Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Movement

This perplexing literary communiqué by subcomandante Marcos to the international media offers an interesting insight into his conception of “self”, which essentially discards any personification and instead embodies a universal identity. Formed in the Chiapas region of southern Mexico as an indigenous struggle for land rights, the Marcos led Zapatista movement has captured the imagination of intellectuals and activists around the world through its successful implementation of grassroots resistance. Today, “Marcos is at once here, there, and everywhere” with his renowned black balaclava mask acting as a mirror to all who face marginalisation and oppression – “We are you” (Russell, 2005: 1). Juana Ponce de Leon writes, “this non-self makes it possible for Marcos to become the spokesperson for indigenous communities [as] he is transparent and iconographic” (Vodovnik, 2001: 16). While the resistance has developed a respected, almost heroic status in western media, the road to peace and stability in the Chiapas region has been fraught with violence amongst differing religious sects, forced evictions, paramilitary oppression by government authorities, resource scarcity and numerous human rights abuses against indigenous Mayans. Conflict in the region is therefore a complex issue due to a number of interwoven factors. In recent years, peace negotiations between the Mexican government and the Zapatistas have broken-down and while outright war is not anticipated, the conflict still exists and continues to simmer. Therefore, in order to grasp an understanding of the multi-layered issues facing the Zapatista movement and the ways in which it can act as a catalyst for other social movements today, it is important to consider its historical context, together with pivotal events that have shaped it.

Suppression during Spanish Conquest

The recent history of indigenous resistance in Chiapas must be understood within the context of the Catholic Church’s spiritual conquest and the exploitation of indigenous workers during Spanish colonisation. From the onset of the Spanish Conquest in 1519, religion became a powerful social wielding tool that was intricately linked to ventures of domination. According to Dale Palfrey, indigenous Mexicans were naturally not inclined to resist being converted to Roman Catholicism, as “it was customary for Mesoamerican cultures to adopt the religion of conquering tribes” (Palfrey, 2007: 2). Assisting in the subjugation of the local population, widespread religious syncretism arose with Maya cosmology being integrated with the practices of Spanish Catholicism (Gosner, 1998: 21). However, for the indigenous communities, the ‘Discovery of the Americas’ by the Spanish meant not only religious adaptation, but also “genocide and slavery” (Ortega, 1997: 269). At the time of the Conquest, it is estimated that 9 million indigenous people inhabited Mexico's central plateau, with that number dramatically dropping to a scant 2.5 million by 1600 due to introduced diseases and poor working conditions (Palfrey, 2007: 3). This resource-rich yet desperately poor area suffered from exploitation of indigenous labour for mining and agriculture, resulting in frequent indigenous resistance (Lorentsen, 2001: 92). As in much of Latin America, the ownership of land and land-use rights have long been a central political, economic and social issue (Lorentsen, 2001: 92). However, left out of the equation were the Indians who all lost control of their land to the Spanish-speaking elites during the Conquest. At the turn of the 20th Century, the increasing wealth of the Spanish landowners and the Church became a target for expropriation and redistribution to the peasants during revolutionary violence.

Rene Girard - Mimetic Theory
At this point, it is useful to consider theorist and philosopher René Girard’s ‘mimetic theory’ (or mimetic desire), which offers an account of human relationships based upon the “imitative nature of human desire” (Girard, 1972: 149). As its name indicates, mimetic desire is “not the ordinary desire of particular objects but the imitation of other people’s desire” (Girard, 1972: 149). This kind of struggle or conflict relation does not pertain only to individuals but also “to relations between larger social configurations” (Nielsen, 2010). Poor regions, like Chiapas, often find their natural resources exploited and the exploitation of workers transformed into a cheap labour force so that the desires of the wealthy Spanish could be achieved. As Joerg Rieger explains, “the result is the extraordinarily intense competition,” leading to violent confrontation (Nielsen, 2010). Mimetic desire is a useful concept that can help explain why feelings of resentment and resistance occurred during the Spanish Conquest amongst the poor indigenous region of Chiapas. Therefore, to begin to understand violent conflict in Chiapas, it is essential to realise the importance of historical issues relating to land distribution and domination, together with the central role the Church play in fusing its religion into community life.

Religious Rivalry
Although nearly 90% of Mexico’s population declares itself Catholic, the growth of Protestantism in the rural towns of Chiapas, resulted in local tensions and hostilities between traditional Catholic populations and Protestant converts during the later half of the 20th Century. While the entire evangelical population in Mexico remains low at just over 5%, it is regionally concentrated in the southern indigenous areas (Berkley Centre, 2010). The integrationist policies of the post-revolutionary years had their main objective as the construction of a homogeneous Mexican national identity (Hernández, 2004: 48). The government’s ‘Mexicanization’ campaigns resulted in the imposition of the Spanish language, the prohibition of their traditional costumes, forced secularisation, and, for some women, even ‘justified’ rape (Jones, 2005 & Hernández, 2004: 48). Contrary to the some authors belief that ‘Protestantism’ undermines cultural traditions of indigenous populations (Perez and Robinson 1983; Stoll 1990), in the Chiapas region Presbyterianism promoted the preservation of indigenous culture (Hernández, 2004: 46). Author Katie Jones states that the Protestant religion appealed to some indigenous groups as it “reaffirmed the value of their native tongue [and] was a form of cultural defense mechanism” (Jones, 2005: 13). Conversely, many Catholics argued that Protestants represented “a threat to the country’s unity and national religious character” (Berkley Centre, 2010). This is because religious and social practices are so interlaced in Chiapas that the rejection of Catholicism by anyone meant not only the rejection of particular religious doctrines, but also the refusal to participate in local festivals like ‘saints day,’ which was seen as a rejection of the community, its culture and social norms (Collier & Quaratiello, 1999: 166). Religious vilification fuelled hostilities amongst indigenous communities. The result was a strong reaction on the part of traditional Catholic authorities to either “bring recalcitrant Protestants back into line or expel them from the community” (Berkley Centre, 2010). Between the 1960s and 1990s, the federal government “essentially turned a blind eye to religious persecution in this region” (Berkley Centre, 2010). In turn, disinterest on the part of the national government allowed the indigenous population and local authorities in the south to discriminate against Protestants, culminating in violence by both sides.

Chamula Evictions
The most extreme example of forced evictions in Chiapas was in the municipality of San Juan Chamula, whose local authority figures imposed incredibly strict and violent expulsions. From 1974, when open conflict began, and over the next two decades, hundreds of Protestant Chamulans were killed and as many as 30,000 were expelled from their homes (Berkley Centre, 2010). One Protestant of the Chamula area testified that his house had been “fired on nine different times over the course of five years, resulting in 75 bullet holes” (Berkley Centre, 2010). At the same time, Catholic residents claimed that, “we are just trying to defend our culture … the evangelicals want to wipe it out” (Berkley Centre, 2010). The conflict in Chamula was very similar to those of other communities in the region. In an unconnected incident, 24 families of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church were deprived of their access to government social programs, with local officials also fining them 3,000 pesos if they did not make financial contributions to the community’s Catholic festivals (Berkley Centre, 2010). According to the Evangelical Commission for the Defence of Human Rights (CEDEH), another example was in Justo Sierra, where local leaders expelled 150 Protestant Evangelicals from their homes and beat several men (Robinson, 2002). Over the course of three decades, tens of thousands of Protestants fled or were forcibly removed from “lands their ancestors had inhabited for centuries” (Berkley Centre, 2010). These expulsions resulted in the development of Protestant neighborhoods on the outskirts of the colonial city San Cristóbal de las Casas, segregating and fostering further mistrust and animosity between the Protestants and Catholics of the region (Jones, 2005: 13). In an area where eighty-five per cent of the population are already considered “highly marginalised”, these makeshift neighbourhoods offered even poorer living conditions (Lorentsen, 2001: 91). Residents also grew resentful of the persecution that had forced them into such an abject situation (Berkley Centre, 2010). Thus, the violence evolved and resulted in “tit-for-tat harassment and murders” by both Catholics and Protestants (Berkley Centre, 2010). The fact that religion is such an explosively divisive issue in Chiapas and the growth in religious refugees within indigenous communities, inadvertently helped lay the groundwork for the grassroots political organisation that came later.

Rene Girard - Scapegoating
A full explanation of the violence in Chiapas region is not possible without integrating Girard’s theory of ‘scapegoating mechanisms’. In its origin, this tradition utilizes a weak subject, i.e. a goat, however Girard investigates history’s other applications of the scapegoat mechanism, explaining that any abnormal existence or behaviour in society can face persecution (Girard, 1972). The more a person or group differs from the norm, the more likely they are to be persecuted (Blowers, 2006: 13). Of his three stereotypes of persecution, Girard’s third stereotype explains that the subject of persecution may be chosen because it is, in fact, guilty of committing some crime against the society, in comparison to when the scapegoat is singled out simply because that person or minority is easily established as the other, or ‘abnormal.’ (Blowers, 2006: 13). In the case of Chiapas, Protestant members of a community were not only in a minority, but also were believed to be breaking the law by not participating or contributing to the Catholic festivals that were considered social norms. As Hortencio Vazquez states, "in this region, religious customs and traditions are law to these people (Oliver, 2010: 1). This might help explain why violence was imminent amongst the indigenous communities.

Zapatista Uprising and Unifying
The emergence of an indigenous guerrilla rebellion in Chiapas in 1994 (the Zapatista Army, or EZLN), though not directly the result of religious tensions, brought new and intense state attention to the simmering grievances present in many communities. The composition of the EZLN was diverse in terms of religious, linguistic, and ethnic background (Lorentsen, 2001: 91). In some ways, the EZLN presented “a new unifying identity that cut across lines of religious affiliation, validating class and indigenous collective identities” (Collier and Quaratiello 1999: 166). The event that unified the indigenous community was the revision of Article 27, the section of Mexico’s 1917 constitution that established state ownership of all land and water resources, forests, and mineral deposits and empowered the state to limit private ownership and break up large estates (Gillis, 1999: 120). On 1 January 1994, a date picked to coincide with the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Marcos lead a guerrilla army of poorly armed, badly trained, malnourished Indians, to seize control of San Cristóbal de las Casas and five towns in the surrounding highlands (Gillis, 1999: 116). The Zapatistas believe the NAFTA agreement “disenfranchised indigenous farmers in favour of the neoliberal goals of the American, Canadian and Mexican governments” and were therefore seeking empowerment and restoration of their identity and land (Estey & Fuller, 2010). The Mexican military responded by using low-intensity warfare to contain the Zapatista uprising. According to author Chris Gilbreth, “the purpose of such a strategy [by the military] was to create an invisible war that uses fear and terror as an instrument for demobilization” (Gilbreth, 1997: 1).

Government Violence
On December 22, 1997, in the southernmost Mexican province of Chiapas, 45 indigenous residents of Acteal, who had taken refuge in a village church, were massacred by paramilitary troops (Higgins, 2008). Most of those killed were children and women - five of them pregnant (Higgins, 2008). The Acteal villagers were members of the pacifist group "Las Abejas" (The Bees), supporters of the then newly emergent EZLN. Although the murders of the defenceless peasants garnered worldwide news coverage, there was no serious government investigation (Higgins, 2008). The Zapatista movement thrives as a grassroots resistance "not only through its ‘humanistic ideology’ and decentralized structure", but also through networks of international support (Blowers, 2006: 13). As with most nations, Mexico's fragile economy is highly vulnerable to criticism (Gilbreth, 1997). International outrage toward humans rights abuses and any prolonged violent conflicts affect the country's economic well-being, meaning the Mexican government is likely to try and avoid any bad publicity (Gilbreth, 1997). In retaliation, and realising this weakness, the Zapatista Movement shifted its guerilla tactics into a non-violent, global networking strategy. The media, internet, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) were utilized to spread the Zapatistas’ message and gather worldwide support “for this initially small and seemingly doomed movement” (Blowers, 2006: 13). It is this change in strategy that has not only given the movement a form of international protection against the Mexican government, but also enabled the Zapatistas to be come a collective force and use communication for real social change.

There is no denying that Mexico's current situation does not permit a conventional military solution to the Chiapas conflict. The context in which this violence is generated in the region is considerably more complex than it first appears. As shown above, it reflects a tangled interweaving of historical struggles for power, land rights and religious violence between different sects. What can be drawn from this is the importance of understanding how each one of these factors have played a role in the evolution of the current Zapatista resistance movement. The struggle for equal rights of indigenous communities in the south of Mexico is far from over, just as other grass roots resistance movements around the world are as well. The Zapatista is a good example of how an evolved movement can attempt to act as a unifying force and promote unity, not uniformity, within any indigenous community.

REFERENCE LIST

BBC News, 1998, Violence Flares at Chiapas Massacre Protests, Accessed on 12 October 2010, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/46599.stm

Berkley Centre, 2010. Mexico: Persecution of Religious Minorities, Berkley Centre for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown University.

Blowers, S. 2006, Resistance Through Interconnection, San Francisco State University, The International Relations Journal.

Botz, D. 1995, Democracy in Mexico: peasant rebellion and political reform, South End Press, United States of America.

Collier, G A. and Elizabeth Lowery Quaratiello, 1999. Basta! Land and the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, Food First Books: Oakland, CA.

Estey, M. Fuller, Grant. 2010, Mexico: Capitalizing on the anti-capitalist Zapatistas, GlobalPost: United States.

Gilbreth, C. 1997, The Developing of Low Intensity War in Chiapas, Accessed on 7 October 2010, Available at: http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/mexico/comment/devel_liw_feb97.html

Gillis, P. 1999, Postmodern technology meets premodern society, Duke University Press: United Kingdom.

Girard, R. 1972, Violence and the Sacred, Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.

Gosner, K. 1998, Resistance and the Pax Colonial in New Spain, University of Nebraska Press, United States of America.

Hernández, C & Rosalva, A. 2004, Histories and stories from Chiapas: border identities in Southern Mexico, University of Texas Press, United States of America.

Higgins, N. 2008, A Massacre Foretold, ICARUS Films, New York.

Jones, K. 2005, Evangelization and Religious Conflict in Chiapas: In Search of Common Ground, ISP Collection, http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/441

Lorentsen, L A. 2001, Who is an Indian? Religion, Globalisation and Chiapas, Duke University: United States of America.

Nielsen, C. 2010, Rieger on the Production of Desire, Keeping Up With the Joneses, and a Riff on Girard’s “Mimetic Desire”, Accessed on 12 October 2010, Available at:
http://percaritatem.com/2010/07/11/rieger-on-the-production-of-desire-keeping-up-with-the-joneses-and-a-riff-on-girard%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cmimetic-desire%E2%80%9D/

Oliver, A. 2010, Mexico: Adventist Church Makes Inroads in Catholic Communities: Members still endure religious persecution, Accessed on 12 October 2010, Available at: http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=1906

Ortega, O. 1997, A Nation where Everyone has a Place, in Crosscurrents in indigenous spirituality: interface of Maya, Catholic, and protestant world views, E.J Brill: Leiden, Netherlands.

Palfrey, D. 2007, Mexico’s Colonial Era – Part 2, Accessed on 9 October 2010, Available at: http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1562-mexico-s-colonial-era-part-2

Perry, R. 1994, More Maya Missions: Exploring Colonial Chiapas, Espadana Press, California.

Rinderle, S. 1999, Chiapas, Mexico: Religious Crusade/Government Charade,
Native Americas Journal, Cornell University: United Kingdom.

Robinson, B. 2002, Religious Intolerance in Mexico, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, Accessed on 15 October 2010, Available at:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/rt_mexico.htm

Russell, K. 2005, Unity Without Uniformity: Class, Heterogeneity, and Culture, Department of Philosophy: State University of New York.

Tuckman, J. 2006, Zapatistas’ Marcos quits armed struggle for peaceful campaign, The Guardian, Accessed on 15 October 2010, Available at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/02/mexico

Vodovnik, Z. 2001, Ya Basta! – Ten Years of the Zapatista Uprising, AK Press: United Kingdom.

2010-11-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

Violent Expressions of Islam by Northern Nigerian Gangs

This essay will argue that the culture of religious violence within Nigeria is legitimized through actions which aim to enforce and protect Shari’a Law. It will be shown how these actions have further entrenched religio-politics within Nigeria and fuelled dissent within the Muslim majority. Primarily, orthodox Muslims have clashed with moderate Muslims regarding the extent to which Shari’a should be implemented. As Shari’a Law does not apply to Christians and minorities deemed as “infidels”, it largely revolves around the enforcement of a penal code upon the Muslim population. However, the political underpinnings of Shari’a Law’s implementation will be exposed to show how political Islam has limited alternative political possibilities in Northern Nigeria. Particularly, an acceptance of the violent enforcement of Shari’a has resulted in inter-faith conflict as well as intra-faith conflict due to a lack of unity between Muslims. In 2000, with the change in government leading to the re-implementation of Islamic Law within some parts of Northern Nigeria, gangs of Islamic youths have taken on the task of reinforcing the key tenets of Shari’a Law upon Muslims. It will be demonstrated that these actions are justified by Shari’a enforcers called Hisbah and considered necessary to ensure the effective reinforcement of orthodox Shari’a Law within the state. Therefore, those deemed to not be adhering to true Islamic practice are punished for blocking the unification of Islam within Nigeria.

Further, the benefits of gang membership in Nigeria are mostly attributed to the respect earned from implementation of Islamic Law in Northern Nigeria. These Islamic gangs come to take on hero status, as defenders of Shari’a Law instead of gaining vigilante status within society. This trend will be explained by deconstructing the ways in which Islamic ideology is politicized to justify violent attempts to create a coherent identity for Muslims within Nigeria. The justification of violent actions to uphold a certain type of Islam allows Shari’a Law to become internalized within Nigeria, to the extent that other identities become repressed. This will be shown as representative of cultural violence existent within the state, as understood by the theory of John Galtung.

The eruption of violence within northern Nigeria through enforcement entities including youth gangs is largely linked to the implementation of Shari’a Law as a penal code for all Muslims within the state. This violence can be recognized as connected to a reformist movement which swept Nigeria from the 1960s onwards, to create a unified Islamic state within Nigeria (Loimeier 2007: 51). Movement towards the implementation of Shari’a Law has failed to be a clear cut process, which is largely underpinned by the absence of a unified response from the Muslim population of Nigeria. Daniel Pipes (2002: 39) argues for an an Islamic mentality. Particularly, he articulates that the dichotomy of Islamic and non-Islamic is entrenched within the core ideologies of the Qur’an and a further adherence to Shari’a. However, this statement is representative of a generalization that all Muslims who follow Islam are identical in their understanding of the religion and its underpinning ideologies. He makes a more relevant suggestion, by explaining that Muslim’s identities are shaped almost exclusively by their religion, rather than through a collective ethnic bond (Pipes 2002: 43). The creation of this ethnic bond underlies the enforcement of Shari’a Law for Muslims within Nigeria (Ehteshami 2005: 31). Therefore, differentiation in the application of Islamic ideology by Muslim communities can be seen to directly jeopardize the legitimacy of Islam. However, attempts to rationalize Islam Law and its legal implementation of specific penal punishments, fails to account for differentiation in ideology which is existent within societies such as Nigeria.

In the case of northern Nigeria, youth gangs have been recruited to promote orthodox interpretations of Shari’a Law and use violence to enforce this perception of religious Islam. The political motivations for implementation of penal Shari’a Law within northern states are often challenged by dissenters of the system in Nigeria. Therefore, gang violence is often in retaliation to differential ideologies which fail to mesh with a narrowed understanding of how Shari’a Law should be implemented. Retaliation through religious violence occurred following a demonstration in 2004 in Kano, Nigeria against the politicization of Islam and the government’s inaccurate implementation of Shari’a Law (De Montclos 2008: 76). The religious violence was attributed to youth vigilante gangs recruited by the community. These gangs attempt to spread the “true” version of Shari’a Law through violence, which is legitimated by the same authorities which have framed the boundaries of the legal system. However, in this example, Christian minorities in the North were also targeted for the obstruction they posed upon a full Islamization of Nigeria (De Montclos 2008: 76). This articulates that enforcers of Shari’a Law feel a sense of authority and legitimacy. Their adoption of duties to uphold pure Islam within northern Nigeria is understood as beneficial for the wider population within the state.

The examples used by Murray Last (2008: 51) explain how the Nigerian gangs or vigilantes and groups of Hisbah focus on women’s role in public, alcoholic consumption and the regulation of cultural music and dance, in their policing of the Islamic legal code. However, Loimeier (2007: 67) explains how Shari’a Law is misused by authoritative community members, resulting in the punishment of poorer, uneducated Muslims under the penal code. This process seeks to promote the legitimacy of the laws, through the punishment of wrongdoers which in turn further justifies the use of violent means to enforce Shari’a Law. The punishment of crimes to the level of extremity which is occurring within Nigeria can be viewed as moving away from traditionalist ideologies of what constitutes proper Islamic practice. It has resulted in a rise of the fundamentalist position promoted by entities such as youth gangs (Pipes 2002: 125). Halim Rane (2010: 49) explores this idea through the interpretation that the implementation of Shari’a in any form is an inherently political process. In particular, as the concept of Islam can encompass endless understandings and apply to numerous “movements”.

Certain interpretations of Shari’a Law are problematic, as they often allow for the misuse or extreme implementation of core principles of Islamic doctrine, to create a more firm Muslim identity. The regulation of Islamic ideology by youth gangs constrains and punishes alternative Islamic identification in Nigeria, in their attempt to formulate a concrete identity. Violent methods of enforcement by Hisbah and their gang recruits are justified based on idealizations that orthodox, politicized Shari’a Law will benefit all Muslims within Nigeria. Conerly Casey (2008: 70) illustrates that within northern Nigeria, movement towards Islamic reform and Shari’a implementation has been exploited as deterrence to political and economic problems within the state. Further, gang members within Nigeria are recruited for their tendency to support ideologies which have nationalistic underpinnings (Matusitz and Repass 2009: 500). Therefore, the exploitation of Nigerian gangs for Shari’a Law enforcement by Muslim religious leaders must be viewed as symbolic. Matusiz and Repass (2009: 503) express that the influence of gang members within northern Nigeria permits the legitimization of violence for implementing crucial components of Shari’a Law. The act of coercing others into adherence to a particular form of Islam, allows these gang members to uphold a commitment to violent means of enforcement. This not only allows them to maintain status within the culture of an Islamic vigilante gang; it also allows them to be viewed as “dutiful Muslims” by religious leaders and the wider community (Casey 2008: 69). However, such a process is problematic as it fails to create a unified Muslim identity. Rather, any progress is underlined by the politicization of Islam through the use of gangs to impose its legitimacy.

Further, the politicization of Islam in the north, has often led to violence against Christian minorities. This has occurred even in the context of struggles over the extent to which Islamic Law should be enforced upon the Muslim population. De Montclos (2008: 77) attributes that moves toward Islamization in the north of Nigeria has attempted to mirror the past effectiveness of the domination of Christianization within the south. The Islamization of the Nigerian legal system seeks to cement Islam as an authoritative religion within northern parts of the state, to further contextualise a collective religious identity for Muslims (Krings 2008: 48). This has led to what Murray Last (2008: 47) explains as a repression of other identities within northern towns and cities, which has created a bounded obstruction to potential dissenters. However, repressive ideologies have not remained within the constraints of northern Nigeria. This approach has cemented a dichotomy of pure Islam and the other, which incorporates non-Muslims within the state, particularly Christians. Therefore, it does not only relate to Muslims which fail to incorporate all orthodox aspects of Shari’a Law, by crossing the line and resulting in the repression of Christianity to an extent.

Daniel Pipes (2002: 44) expresses that violent action against non-Muslims often represents attempts to further spread the benefits of Shari’a Law to the “infidels” in order to cement Islamic influence within the state. Therefore, religious authenticity is used as justification for violent actions taken to formulate a cultural identity for the Muslim population within Nigeria. By focusing on the problematic underpinnings of the Christian population within Nigeria, Umar M. Birai (1993: 184) explains that hostility towards this group has the potential to mitigate differences within the Muslim population of Nigeria. Therefore, the implementation of Shari’a Law within northern Nigeria and the Islamization of the Nigerian state can be viewed as an inherently political project.

The existence of clear religious violence within northern Nigeria, to implement core aspects of Shari’a Law via youth gangs can be contextualised using Johan Galtung’s theory of cultural violence. Particularly, the ways in which violent enforcement of Shari’a Law within northern Nigeria is moulded as morally acceptable is linked to the study of cultural violence (Galtung 1990: 292). The author defines three types of violence: structural, direct and cultural, though he articulates that cultural violence becomes a permanent underpinning of all processes within a society. The existence of cultural violence allows actions which should be viewed as immoral, exploitative or repressive to be normalized. Further, Galtung (1990: 296) exposes that the acceptance of dichotomies within society, which underlie the legitimacy of one ideology over another, are contained within the sphere of cultural violence. Manipulation of this dichotomy can be viewed within Nigeria. Idem (2002: 185) explains that northern Muslim Nigerians have taken on the characteristics of the powerful entity within the state, allowing a type of internal imperialism to be exerted over the other. The enforcement of this framework is taken up by habitually violent members of society, such as northern youth gangs, in order to accentuate the superiority of the Islamic religion. Enforcement of Shari’a Law becomes a way to emphasize an imagined unity existent within the dominant religious group, to further show the superiority of Islam within the state. This in turn further entrenches the use of religious justification to uphold Shari’a Law, as a legitimization of culturally based violence.

Galtung (1990: 297) expresses that the repression of alternative ideologies which stand in opposition and offer discrepant ideas to the dominant identity of a group are likely to justify direct violence. This direct violence is justified as a response to the potential impacts of alternative ideologies upon the cohesiveness of a group. However, the means in which cultural identity is upheld often runs in direct opposition to the core ideology which is being implemented. Conerly Casey (2008: 72) illustrates that Muslim Hausa youth take on a collective cultural ideology. This allows for the justification of violent action on the premise that it is indicative of one’s commitment to protecting a particular interpretation of Islam. The act of protecting the purity of religion from “other” forces signifies that authenticity is found within the idea of religion as a symbol of power. Continued reinforcement of religious ideology by Islamic youth gangs is likely to result in more powerful expressions of collective Muslim identity. Therefore, successful outcomes allow for violence in the name of religion to become acceptable, which entrenches cultural violence within the Nigerian state.

The use of violent methods to enforce Shari’a Law within Nigeria is strongly underpinned by movement towards the creation of a Muslim identity within the state. The means which are undertaken by Nigerian youth gangs should ideally be viewed as morally unacceptable. However, it has been argued that actions are consistently justified in terms of upholding religious ideology. This allows moral understandings to be molded within Muslim communities, resulting in prioritization of practices which coincide with an orthodox conception of Islam. Differentiation within Islamic teaching is violently dissuaded. In particular, alternative ideas are viewed as threatening to Muslim unity and identity which is created through the enforcement of Shari’a Law in the state. The idea that Shari’a is best implemented through violent enforcement measures has led to a culture of youth gangs willing to take on these practices as a duty to Islam. However, their fundamentalist conception of these “responsibilities” has resulted in the targeting of members of Nigerian society. Largely those unable to resist these measures, such as women, the uneducated and Christian minorities in the north are victims of northern Islamic gangs. The religious theory of cultural violence has been used to explain how an acceptance of violence, particularly among fellow Muslims, has been entrenched within Nigerian society, justified through its ability to uphold the authenticity of orthodox Islamic ideologies.

References Cited

Birai, Umar M. 1993. ‘Islamic Tajdid and the Political Process in Nigeria’. In Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance, eds. M.E. Marty and R.S. Appleby. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press.
Casey, Conerley. 2008. ‘"Marginal Muslims": Politics and the Perceptual Bounds of Islamic
Authenticity in Northern Nigeria’. Africa Today 54(3): 67-92.
De Montclos, Marc-Antoine Pérouse. 2008. ‘Conversion to Islam and Modernity in Nigeria: A View from the Underworld’. Africa Today 54(4): 71-87.
Ehteshami, Anoushiravan. 2005. ‘Islam as a Political Force in International Politics’. In Islam in World Politics, eds. N. Lahoud and A.H. Jones. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Galtung, Johan. 1990. ‘Cultural Violence’. Journal of Peace Research 27(3): 291-305.
Idem, Uniyierie Angela. 2002. ‘Language and the National Question’. In The National Question in Nigeria: Comparative Perspectives, eds. A. Momoh and S. Adejumobi. Hampshire, New England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Krings, Matthias. 2008. ‘Conversion on Screen: A Glimpse at Popular Islamic Imaginations in Northern Nigeria’. Africa Today 54(4): 45-68.
Last, Murray. 2008. ‘The Search for Security in Muslim Northern Nigeria’. Africa 78(1): 41-63.
Loimeier, Roman. 2007. ‘Nigeria: The Quest for a Viable Religious Option’. In Political Islam in West Africa: State-Society Relations Transformed, ed. W. Miles. Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc: London, United Kingdom.
Matusitz, Jonathan and Michael Repass. 2009. ‘Gangs in Nigeria: An Updated Examination’. Crime, Law, Social Change 52(495-511).
Pipes, Daniel. 2002. In the Path of God: Islam and Political Power. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.
Rane, Halim. 2010. Islam and Contemporary Civilization: Evolving Ideas, Transforming Relations. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Press.

Religious Meaning Systems and Palestinian Trauma

2010-11-06T03:27:00.000-07:00

The Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories (OTs) are frequently subjected to direct and indirect violence, discrimination, denial of resources such as water and restriction of free movement. Literature indicates that exposure to violence and other stressors, which are widespread throughout the OTs, are associated with both trauma and the development of psychological problems (Giacaman et al., 2009). Palestinians suffering with trauma may use religion as a coping mechanism to overcome trauma and psychological illnesses, which are often developed after exposure to violence and other stresses. As violence and other stressful conditions are outrageously common in the OTs it is necessary to investigate how the Palestinian peoples cope with excessive trauma. The theory of religion as a meaning system, explored by Silberman (2005), provides the rationale of how religion can be used to handle trauma. Religious meaning systems have the potential to shape the self, one’s view of others, the world around them and the situations they encounter (Silberman, 2005). With close attention to the work of Silberman (2005), various ways in which religious meaning systems may benefit the Palestinian people in the management of trauma will be reviewed.

Current conditions suggest that Israel’s acquisition of the OTs has had severe consequences on the political and socio-economic rights, health and human rights of the Palestinian population. In June of 1967, as a result of the ‘six day war’, Israel acquired the Sinai, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, the West Bank and all of Jerusalem (Palestine Facts, 2010). These areas were originally mandated Palestine in the partition of 1948. There is great concern surrounding the development, mental health and general psychological wellbeing of Palestinians living in the OTs, with particular concern centred on adolescents. This is because the current generation of adolescents will determine future direction of peace negotiations (Al-Krenawi, Lev-Wiesel & Sehwail, 2007). Factors causing concern include, but are not limited to, the exposure to direct or symbolic violence, difficulties accessing water and the restriction of movement. These issues may contribute to the marginalisation and oppression of Palestinian people living in the OTs but also create fear, trauma and a collective memory of victimisation.

There are several means in place designed to restrict and obstruct the movement of Palestinians. An example of this is the random implementation of road closures, including declaring areas ‘closed military zones’, denying persons access through checkpoints based on sex or age, complete closing of checkpoints or the use of curfews (United Nations, 2008). There are also strict restrictions requiring Palestinians to hold permits to enter certain areas. Obtaining one of these permits can often be difficult as applicants must meet a specific set of criteria to be granted a permit in order to travel freely to selected areas (B’Tselem, 2010). The existing infrastructure also restricts the movement of Palestinians as they are denied access to the roads linking the settlements and Israel (United Nations, 2008). Restriction of movement such as this, as well as closures and curfews disrupt and may entirely prevent access to important things such as employment, education or medical treatment.

In addition to the denial of free movement, the water supply of the OTs is controlled by the Israeli occupational authorities. The inequality of water consumption has become an increasingly important and controversial issue as significance of access to water as a human right debate continues (Abu-Eid, 2007). The frequent demolition of Palestinian houses and forced evictions are displacing considerable amounts of Palestinians. This is a critical issue as in the first quarter of 2008 alone, 435 Palestinians were displaced as a direct result of building demolitions (United Nations, 2008). As the land, resources and infrastructure of Palestinians living in the OTs is still controlled by Israeli authorities, unfortunately many rights, such as free movement, are violated. The denial of resources and free movement has the potential to not only hinder the socioeconomic status and complicate the lives of Palestinians on the whole but create severe psychological stress.

The Palestinian OTs are also rife with violence and incidences of settler violence have increased since 2000 (United Nations, 2008). The United Nations Report (2008) stated that attacks on settlers may include shootings, beatings, stone-throwing, hit-and-run incidents or forms of humiliation and degradation. The second Intifada, which began in September 2000, has allowed a constant atmosphere of violence to emerge in the Palestinian OTs. As this Intifada is contemporary, the majority of Palestinians living in the OTs have lived amongst and either directly or indirectly been involved in the fighting (Al-Krenawi et al., 2007). In the four years after the second Intifada began, 2.5 Palestinians have died each day due to war circumstances (Srour, 2005). Allen (2008) suggests that Palestinians have continuously been exposed to such violence for an extended period of time that they have in turn ‘routinised’ and normalised the violence.

The constant exposure to violence and stress caused by practices such as water and movement restrictions have had severe consequences on the psychological wellbeing of
Palestinians in the OTs and have created much fear and trauma. Since the second Intifada, restrictions and violence have become embedded in the collective memory of the Palestinians living in the OTs. Collective memory can be defined as the memories of fellow community members that largely illustrate the collective identity of that community (Hirst & Manier, 2008). Through persistent marginalisation and frequent exposure to violence, the Palestinians have adopted a collective memory of excessive victimisation. As the aim of this essay is to investigate how religion may be employed by Palestinians to deal with trauma caused by the violence, it is necessary to assess the extent of psychological trauma and stress caused.

Collective exposure to violence is linked to poor mental health (Giacaman et al., 2009). Al-Krenawi et al. (2007) focused their work on Palestinian adolescence and found that exposure to political violence was a factor in the occurrence of psychological problems. Comparably, Al-Krenawi, Graham and Kanat-Maymon (2009) found a link between the experience of traumatic events and behavioural, psychosocial, family and emotional problems. Palestinian adolescence reported higher rates of mental health symptoms and PTSD symptoms than Israeli adolescence. Palestinian respondents also had greater problems regarding family and social functioning and further issues with aggression. Regarding adults, Canetti et al. (2010) found, that for men, exposure to two or more occurrences of political violence and great intrapersonal loss of resources, among other factors, positively associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and major depression. For women, PSTD and major depression were positively associated with intrapersonal and interpersonal loss of resources, socio-political stressors and the loss of a loved one, among others. Each of these works suggests that the current events discussed earlier involving both resources and violence, have and are affecting the lives and wellbeing of Palestinians. Despite the trauma and severe mental illnesses plaguing Palestinians, partly as a result of the current conditions that surround them, there are means that may aid in the management of this psychological trauma.

Silberman (2005) discusses the theory of religion as a meaning system. A meaning system is the personal belief that the individual operates upon (Silberman, 2005). In terms of this view, it is possible that the Palestinians living in the OTs use religion as a meaning system as a way of coping with and managing psychological trauma. Silberman (2005) discusses the meaning system approach as a possible measure to achieve individual and collective wellbeing. Palestinians may therefore use religion – Islam or Christianity, as a meaning system to help manage the trauma they suffer. It is claimed that individuals may use religious meaning systems to give meaning to their experiences and the world around them (Silberman, 2005). If people can believe the hardships they are facing contain reason, they may be able to maintain a positive outlook on the constant turmoil they experience and overcome internalised feelings of depression. Park (2005) specifically focuses on meaning systems as a mechanism for coping with stress, which is particularly relevant to the Palestinian case. Park (2005) agrees with Silberman in that meaning systems may be used to ‘work through’ trauma or, alternatively, to adopt a more positive perspective on traumatic events. Religion as a meaning system may also be capable of discouraging and encouraging selected emotions (Silberman, 2005). For example, religious meaning systems may provoke happiness and prohibit sorrow and anger. This may be yet another mechanism within the meaning system idea that would allow Palestinians to deal with the individual and collective trauma they experience.

This is not the only benefit to the individual proposed by the religion as a meaning system theory. Silberman (2005) discusses how these meaning systems may also be used by the individual to set goals and regulate behaviour. Skills such as these may also aid in the overcoming of trauma, as well as improving lifestyle, spirituality and attitude. Epstein (1985) suggested meaning systems allow stability through a personal conceptual system. Approximately 5-11% of trauma survivors will develop PTSD (Sigmund, 2003). PTSD, as mentioned above, is a common and increasingly frequent issue amongst Palestinians exposed to political violence. PTSD is likely to affect those who are frequently exposed to conditions of constant instability (Canetti et al., 2010). It is difficult to find stability when homes are regularly demolished, travelling from one place to another is constantly restricted and regular violent attacks are the norm. If one can find stability through religious meaning systems, this may help in the treatment of PTSD. As well as PTSD and other mental illness, it is likely Palestinians facing trauma may also experience a form of ‘spiritual crisis’ (Sigmund, 2003). This is why Sigmund (2003) stresses the importance of taking spiritual considerations in the treatment of PTSD and trauma. Religious meaning systems and religious clergy can provide this spiritual care.

Strong social support can also be sought through religious meaning systems as they give a sense of belonging to a group and provide a deep and profound support network. Park (2007) suggests there is an important positive relationship between social support and health and well-being. Religion as a meaning system can be a simple way of achieving this social support. In regards to Palestinians, religions meaning systems can be a means of associating individuals with others, sharing similar beliefs and most likely experiencing similar traumas.

Silberman (2005) makes it clear that meaning systems bay be learned, developed and adapted. This means the individuals or collective groups may create and utilise custom meaning systems to deal with the specific form of trauma that they are confronted with. Like individual meaning systems, collective meaning systems are the commonly held beliefs across a given group of people (Silberman, 2005). Religious meaning systems are not only relevant at the individual level but also in a collective sense. They may allow group members to understand their shared experiences. Silberman (2005) deems these shared experiences inclusive of both historical and contemporary relations with other groups. In regards to the Palestinian example, a collective religious meaning system may allow for internal resolution of these shared experiences of violence, deprivation and trauma caused since the beginning of Israeli occupation dating back to 1967. Religion and meaning systems contribute to the aiding of individuals and groups to overcome trauma in a variety of different ways. It is therefore possible that Palestinians in the OTs use religion as a coping mechanism for the trauma they endure for a variety of reasons. It is important to note that Silberman (2005) admits religion can promote psychological and physical wellbeing also in other ways outside the meaning system theory.

The current turmoil in the Palestinian OTs is affecting the psychological wellbeing of Palestinians and many Palestinians, of all ages, find themselves overcome with trauma. Silberman (2005) discusses ways in which religious meaning systems may be used effectively to heal trauma. In order to understand how religion as a meaning system may be useful as a healing tool, it is crucial to understand the conditions Palestinians are exposed to and hence the extent of the trauma they face. Meaning systems may be used to give meaning to experiences and the wider world, encourage or inhibit certain emotions, regulate behaviour and responses, provide a sense of stability and offer a social support network (Silberman, 2005). Each of these conditions can be used to aid the healing of trauma and coping with stress. Existing literature indicates that religious meaning systems can be used for many different objectives, including dealing with trauma and stress (Silberman, 2005; Park, 2005). It therefore likely that Palestinians living in the OTs who are exposed to violence and other unpleasant restrictions use their religion as a meaning system to overcome the negative effects that have stemmed from the conditions they live in. Religion and spirituality can therefore benefit Palestinians suffering from trauma, PTSD, depression or other psychological disorders in numerous ways.

References
Abu-eid, A. (2007). Water as a Human Right: the Palestinian Occupied Territories as an Example. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 23(2), pg. 285 – 301.
Al-Krenawi, A., Graham, J.R. & Kanat-Maymon Y. (2009). Analysis of Trauma Exposure, Symptomatology and Functioning in Jewish Israeli and Palestinian Asolescents. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 195, pg. 427-432.
Al-Krenawi, A., Lev-Wiesel, R. & Sehwail M.A. (2007). Psychological Symptomatology Among Palestinian Adolescents Living with Political Violence. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 12(1), pg. 27-31.
Allen, L. (2008). Getting by the Occupation: How Violence Became Normal During the Second Palestinian Intifada. Cultural Anthropology, 23(3), pg. 453-487.
B’Tselem. (n.d.). Restrictions on Movement. Viewed 22nd October. Retrieved from .
Canetti, D., Galea, S., Hall, B.J., Johnson, R.J., Palmieri, P.A. & Hobfoll E. (2010). Exposure to Prolonged Socio-Political Conflict and the Risk of PTSD and Depression Among Palestinians. Psychiatry, 73(3), pg. 219-231.
Epstein, S. (1985). The Implications of Cognitive-experiential Self Theory for Research in Social Psychology and Personality. Journal of the Theory of Social Behaviour, 15(3), pg. 283-310.
Giacaman, R., Kharib, R., Shabaneh, L., Ramlawi, A., Sabri, B., Sabatinelli, G., Khawaja, M. & Laurance T. (2009). Health Status and Health Services in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Lancet, 373(9666), pg. 837-849.
Hirst, W. & Manier, D. (2008). Towards a Psychology of Collective Memory. Memory, 16(3), pg. 183-200.
Palestine Facts (2010). Israel and the Territories After the 1967 War. Viewed 21st October 2010. Retrieved from .
Park, C.L. (2005). Religion as a Meaning-making Framework in Coping with Life Stress. Journal of Social Issues, 61(4), pg. 707-729.
Park, C.L. (2007). Religiousness/Spirituality and Health: A Meaning Systems Perspective. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 30, pg. 319-328.
Sigmund, J. (2003). Spirituality and Trauma: The Role of Clergy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Religion and Health, 42(3), pg. 221-229.
Silberman, I. (2005). Religion as a Meaning System: Implications for the New Millennium. Journal of Social Issues, 61(4), pg. 641-663.
Srour, M.A. & Roney W. (2005). Children Living Under a Multi-Traumatic Environment: The Palestinian Case. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 42: 2, pg. 88 – 95.
United Nations General Assembly. (2008). Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories : note / by the Secretary-General, A/63/273, viewed 25th October 2010. Retrieved from .

Second Sudanese Civil War.

2010-11-05T03:45:00.000-07:00

In the Sudan, issues of religion, race and resources have been central components in the civil war. Outline these issues as 'motivators' of the conflict and highlight or frame your discussion using relevant theoretical perspective(s). In your paper consider the theme of reconciliation and peacebuilding to heal the trauma and lack of trust among the warring parties.

The Sudanese Civil War is a continuation of the first and began in 1983 with the violence still going on today (Gadir Ali, Elbadawi and El-Batahani, 2005). The Civil War has been the cause of much destruction and suffering with deaths estimated at around two million over the past eighteen years (Gadir Ali et.al, 2005). It should be noted that these deaths have occurred as a result of the ongoing violence but also from the disease and starvation that comes with the severity of this type of violence (Gadir Ali et.al, 2005). The conflict is for the most part, between the Northern and Southern suburbs of Sudan. However, many scholars have varying opinions in regards to the underpinnings and reasoning behind the conflict (Johnson, 2003). This essay will discuss in detail the issues of religion, race and resources of the Sudanese as ‘motivators’ of the civil war and will outline these issues with current and relevant theoretical perspective(s).

Religious Issues

The Second Sudanese Civil War is often presented as the ongoing conflict between cultures and religions namely the Arab Muslim North and the Christian African South (Johnson, 2003). There is then the explanation that comes from the Colonial powers enforcing an ‘artificial’ division of North and South (Johnson, 2003). The first major motivation in Sudanese’s Second Civil War is the issue of religious differences. Johnson (2003) describes the Civil War in Sudan as the struggle between Christianity and Islam (Johnson, 2003) and it is this ongoing conflict of world religions that is an important motivator in the continuous civil war. Due to the large variation in religious differences in the two waring factions, there have been a number of movements and acts that have taken place in an attempt to separate the South from the North. Moreover, in 1921, the Sudanese Government stated that the Southern, black African section of the Sudan should be disconnected from the Northern, Arab section and be added to another part of central Africa (Gadir Ali et.al, 2005:5). In addition, the Northern governments have on a number of occasions, attempted to endorse Islamification and a dominant language in an effort to replace what is a nation state rich in diversity with one of cultural and religious homogeneity (Gadir Ali et.al, 2005:6). It is these movements that have only intensified the injustice in the South of Sudan. More recently, religious leaders of Northern Sudan have had a major impact on the separation of Southern Sudan, enforcing Islamification and Arabization while the South possesses much resistance to those forces (Gadir Ali et.al, 2005:11). As a result of rejecting the South of the Sudan, there has been a dramatic decrease in education (including literacy skills and the number of available schools), agriculture, economy and welfare (Gadir Ali et.al, 2005:30).

Resources

While the Second Civil War of the Sudan is said to have begun over extreme ethno-religious conflicts mainly between Christians and Muslims or Africans and Arabs, it is evident that over the past few decades, the cause has seemed to have changed (Suliman, 1992:1). It is now obvious that the civil war in the Sudan is largely based around the recourses found in the North and South (Suliman, 1992:2). Agriculture (specifically sorghum, cotton and sesame) is a major economic activity of the Sudanese and happens to occur mainly in the South (Suliman, 1992:7). The Sudanese government had introduced unfair trading laws regarding the exploitation of water, oil and land which fell well in favour of the North even though the majority of these resources were found in the South (Suliman, 1992:2). However, all the profits made from the agricultural aspects in the South went mainly to the Northern Sudanese elite and as a result, increasing the division and hatred between the North and South (Suliman, 1992:2). Furthermore, after the discovery of oil mainly in the South, the Sudanese dictator, General Nimeiri, ordered the resurrection of an oil refinery in the north which again, intensified the violence (Suliman, 1992:2) and particularly in the 80s and 90s the desire to control and exploit the oil added to the intensity of the violence (Johnson, 2003). Another natural resource that largely contributes to the violence is the issue of water because without it, other resources such as livestock and crops cannot survive. All the rivers in the Sudan are connected to the Nile and all but one originate either outside the Sudan or in the south of the Sudan, thus, contributing largely to the violence (Suliman, 1992:7).

When it comes to the racial differences between the north and south of the Sudan, it becomes more of a tribal rather than racial identity issue because as Suliman (1992:14) explains, there are a number of broken down identities that are present in the Northern “Arab” tribes and the Southern “African” tribes (Suliman, 1992:14). The differing North and South Sudanese tribes have developed such conflicting identities due to the prolonged isolation and separation from one another that when forced to move from their home and face other tribes/cultural identities, areas of friction and strong conflict arose (Suliman, 1992:13). The ‘Southern Policy’ was created in defence against the North government’s attempt to gain control of the South. It consisted of the creation of ‘self-contained’ tribes which pushed for the elimination of Muslim influence and coercion, promoted English as a first language and encouraged missionary activities (Suliman, 1992:14). As a result of the extreme separation of the South, tribes within the South began to form, namely the Dinka and Nuer tribes (Jok & Hutchinson, 1999:127). They turned their guns on each other because of the disagreement in regards to ownership of crops and cattle (Jok & Hutchinson, 1999:127) and this sparked the beginning of the South-on-South conflict. The Dinka and Nuer tribes are well aware that the conflict is not within their interests but find it impossible to stop (Jok and Hutchinson, 1999:127).

The most relevant theoretical perspective regarding the Sudanese Second Civil War would be that of Rene Girard. Rene Girard’s theory begins with the notion of originality and the desire of every individual, or in this case, racial/religious identities to be ‘wholly original’ and looks to others for guidance in self direction and how to be ‘original’ (Hale, 2006:286). As a result, the subject/s become more and more isolated and they learn to desire what others desire and mimic them (Hale, 2006:287). Girard’s theory involves spontaneous desire in which the subject/s obtain a particular desire that lies directly outside the self and in return, they achieve psychic satisfaction (Hale, 2006:287). Girard’s theory also possesses the ‘scapegoat’ mechanism which is used by two parties after conflict arises due to the desire for the same entity to displace tensions and violence and as a result, the actual cause of the conflict is misplaced and all tension is focused solely on the scapegoat (Flemming, 2001:60). In addition, Girard’s theory also argues that sacrifice is a means of venting aggression and explains that once all sacrifices have been exhausted, aggression and violence begins (Gregg, 2001:12). This theory can be applied and related to the Second Sudanese Civil War in a number of ways. Firstly, the South Sudan’s rejection and resistance to the North’s attempt at Isamification and Arabization of the South depicts the ‘wholly original’ ideology that the South possesses, thus being different from the North. Together with the South’s stark and bold originality and the North’s jealousy of the South’s uniqueness, the South begin to become more isolated and rejected from the North resulting in a complete division of the two. Moreover, the North’s strong desire to hold the bulk of the South’s resources, particularly oil, also resembles Girard’s theory, mainly his notion of spontaneous desire. A sacrifice was made by the South when the North Sudan took most of the profits the South made from their recourses, adding hatred between the two and depicted what Girard refers to as ‘sacrificial crisis’ which then leads to violence (Gregg, 2001:12). However, one downfall regarding Girard’s theory is that he does not take into account conscious decision making and rather, he focuses on the sub-conscious decision making processes (Gregg, 2001:12).

Due to the constant and ongoing status of the Second Sudanese Civil War, intervention plans must be made in order for the conflict to minimise or subside. There have been a number of attempts made but thus far none have been able to make a considerable impact. According to Gadir Ali et.al (2005:5), any intervention plan proposed should attempt to shift the focus of the conflict away from a ‘war of visions’ because a solution will not be reached if the interests of both sides are recognised as essentially irreconcilable (Gadir Ali et.al. 2005:5). In order for any form of intervention, the solution must take into account and work around the social diversity in the Sudan (Gadir Ali et.al. 2005:5). In addition, Deng (1995), proposed three approaches to the identity crisis: firstly, he argues that if the African identities in the North are brought to the surface which would expose characteristics common to all of Sudan, the possibility of a new common identity could form which would allow cooperation and participation to take part (Deng 1995:6). Secondly, Deng proposes that if the problems that separate the North and South prove impossible, a ‘framework of diversified coexistence’ within a federal agreement would be advantageous (Deng 1995:6). Finally, Deng argues that the division of the country along justified borders may be the last resort in an attempt to end the ongoing conflict (Deng, 1995:6).

The continuous conflict that is the Second Sudanese Civil War has been a major issue for decades now and it seems that very little is improving. It is evident that the cause of the conflict not only lies in the religious/racial identity issues but also largely in the division and ownership of resources as well as division of profits derived from the resources. Rene Girard’s theory best suits the current conflict in Sudan outlining the issue of mimetic desire and ‘sacrificial crisis’ regarding Sudan’s racial, religious and agricultural issues. In order for the Second Sudanese Civil War to minimise in conflict and violence or even come to a complete stop, intervention plans must be put in place and followed. Deng (1995) argues for 3 approaches that he believes would help cease the conflict in Sudan. It is this type of forward thinking and proactive arrangements that needs to be taken on by not just the Sudanese but all surrounding areas to make a difference and finally put a stop to the monotonous violence.

References

Deng, F.M. (1995). War of Visions: Conflict of Identities in the Sudan. Washington, D.C: The

Brookings Publishing Institution.

Fleming C. (2001). Mimesis and Violence - An Introduction to the Thought of Rene Girard. Australian

Religion Studies Review, 15, 57-72.

Gadir Ali, A. A., Elbadawi, I. A. & El-Batahani, A. (2005). ‘The Sudan’s Civil War: Why has it

Prevailed for So Long?’ (10). In ‘Understanding Civil War: Evidence and Analysis.’ (1) Africa.

Eds. Collier, P. & Sambanis, N. Washington DC: World Bank.

Gregg, H.S. (2001). Hypotheses on Religion and War: World Politics. Massachesetts Institute of

Technology.

Hale, D.J. (2006). The Novel: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory. Victoria, Australia: Blackwell

Publishers.

Hutchinson, S.E. (2001). A Curse from God? Religious and political dimensions of the post-1991 rise

of ethnic violence in South Sudan. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 39, 307-331.

Johnson, D. (2003). The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars. Indiana, North America: Fountain

Publishers.

Johnson, G.H. (2003). The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars. In ‘The International African Institute,

African Isues Series, 12.

Jok, J.M. & Hutchinson, S.E. (1999). Sudan’s Prolonged Second Civil War and the Militarization of

Nuer an dDinka Ethnic Identities, 42, 125-145.

Suliman, M. (1992). Civil War in Sudan: The Impact of Ecological Degradation.

The Salem Witch Trials

2010-11-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

Case Study: The Salem Witch Trials

For hundreds of years witches were used as scapegoats and it has only been within the last decade that witchcraft has become a legal practice in Queensland (Australian Human Rights Commission, 1999). According to Girard (2005, 101) a scapegoat is an individual or a group who is labelled, marginalised and ostracised because the other members of the community need someone to place the problems upon even though the rightful blame does not reside there. Being labelled a witch implied demonizing that person, usually a woman, as being an enemy to any authority that stood whether political or religious. It was in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts that the Salem witch hunts and trials broke out resulting in a series of accusations and hearings of hundreds of people and then a number of hangings (Jensen, 2007, 40). According to historians such as Bloom, (2008, 44-45) these events started when a young girl showed signs of delusions, fevers and withering with no explanation from the doctor other than bewitchment. Blame was soon placed on Tituba, the girl’s family’s slave whose native folklore was witchcraft. As the increase in the number of young girls who began to show these symptoms, there became an intensified fear and shortly after an obsessive hunt for witches. However, these days, the witch has become a popular symbol throughout the township of Salem and other places alike. This witch is represented commercially, with a peaked hat and all, though the question is how is such an enduring cultural artefact, perhaps the final result of such a violent craze?

This essay will outline the motivations for the hunts and trials which have been considered to be political, economical, social and religious which will be the main motivational focus throughout this essay. According to Nava-Whitehead and Gow, (2008, 3) Salem was a theocratic society, meaning that the Church and politics worked together as one making it a somewhat strict society to be living in. The party were ‘The Puritans’ and they were Christians, who disagreed with the Catholics and Protestants. The Puritan lifestyle was very restrained and firm therefore the authority did not want to lose power and the need to stamp out what the church believed to be the lowest rung in the society, the women and the servants, motivated the violence. Using the Scapegoat Mechanism of Girard (2005, 101), this essay will focus on analysing the violence of the Salem witch hunts in terms of the theory. It will be determined whether the scapegoat mechanism is a plausible theory and how significant it was in the Salem witch hunts.

In order to understand any motivations behind the phenomenon at Salem, an understanding of the culture and community at that time is needed. Nava-Whitehead and Gow (2008, 3) believe that due to the strict Puritan beliefs, people, even children worked very hard throughout the whole day to maintain the farms as rich farm land was scarce and all had to be done to keep the crops healthy. Due to this strenuous labour and poor diet due to the crops, death and illness was not uncommon for such a society. The Puritans had a strong belief in both good and evil and the devil was very much a physical being incarnate (Woolf, 2000). The Puritans believed in witches and there was a great fear in their ability to harm not only people but the economy, the agriculture, etc, and they believed they were the cause of anything bad that happened within the society (Jensen, 2007, 53). Many of the people who had accusations placed on them had low standings in society and negative reputations so it was easy for the church to find something to blame them for (Bach, 1990). The accusations were placed on mostly people from the farms as they lived in Salem Village. There was a divide of the society with great tensions between the Town and the Village (Nava-Whitehead & Gow, 2008, 3). The hostilities between these two parts were no doubt one motivation behind the witch hunts. Due to the differentiation between the members of the community, the Church feared rebellion and a loss of their power and control.

According to Bach (1990) the Salem witch trials were a result of political agendas motivated by religious fervour. Essentially, the Salem witch hunts were symptoms of society’s tensions that were pervading the community at this time in history. By blaming this intangible force the inhabitants of Salem believed it was a reasonable excuse for the economic, political and social frustrations that they were dealing with. Those in power did not want to lose it, and there was a very real threat at the time that females could rise to the top of the patriarchy. These above examples motivated the authority to seek out something to divert the blame upon, to create a fear that would ultimately result in the death of innocent people.

Scapegoat theories have been proposed as explanations for the witch hunts and trials. Girard (2005, 101) called it the Scapegoat Mechanism; he argues that it is a way for a society to place blame through religious sacrifice on an individual or group to channel that violence away from themselves. A community can therefore direct inside violence towards an exterior violence to create peace through separation. Jensen (2007, 54) believes that due to the rapid change in the society, people’s lives were disrupted and this caused the community of Salem to seek out someone to place the anger and fear on. It seemed only too easy to place this fear on the weaker classes; the women, the poor and the old and frail. Also women were in such needs of jobs at the time, that there became a fear that women could become a patriarchal threat within the society so by placing the blame towards those, any opportunity for them to further rise to the top of society was abolished straight away (Bach, 1990). The Scapegoat Mechanism can also be used because due to the patriarchal setting, the ruling classes were after someone to place blame and frustration on for the poor community ties and other such disasters and crises that happened due to their ruling and laws (Scott, 2009). The witch hunts were used as diversions so any blame or anger that usually would have been aimed at the ruling class was instead aimed towards the accused witches.

As Salem was a Puritan society, there was a very real belief in the Devil therefore when there was no apparent medical explanation for the behaviour of the young girls, the supernatural and witches was a very relevant to the people of the village (Nava-Whitehead & Gow, 2008, 3). According to Bloom, (2008) the Puritans believed in punishments for anyone who disobeyed the rules of the Church even not going to church was a punishable doing. The trials were run with no evidence except the word of the person who made the accusation. The clergy believed that the Devil could only take form in a human that was guilty therefore the person doing the accusing was innocent and their word was taken for truth. The trials were not stopped until it was realised that perhaps innocent people were being prosecuted because of the severe lack of evidence in the cases. The Puritans believed that if a crime went unpunished God would punish the whole community therefore it was in the clergy’s power to follow through with every accusation.

The witchcraft which was in the time of the Salem witch hunts was a vernacular religion that was deemed by other Christian religions as wrong. It was more a construction of the communities throughout the centuries. The Witchcraft or also known as Wicca of today is a relatively new spiritual and religious movement that involves rituals that invoke self-transformation and there is reverence for nature, according to the ABC website (2010). It is a religion which rejects the devil. The contemporary perceptions of witchcraft have been turned into a magical, unrealistic world. Due to films and novels witchcraft has become something that many people can only dream of achieving. Unfortunately however, there is still the realistic belief that there are witches who are involved with the devil and responsible for anything bad that happens. This is occurring in Africa and South America where the practice of magic is still remains punishable by death (Lifestyle, 2006).

‘Scapegoating’ various individuals and groups still occur because it is often hard to be able to attain the correct information due to the media. The media helps to instil fear and labels onto certain groups. People are constantly faced with stereotypes because people believe what they are told. In this modern Western society such a situation as the Salem witch hunts could occur but the extent to which the governments and churches would go, does not seem realistically to be as severe. To simply put blame on a group resulting in the death of many is past. Legal systems have been initiated to help control people’s punishments.

According to the website Kidzworld (2010) the hunts and trials were not ended until a year later when the decision was made that there was no sufficient evidence for the accusations. The Puritans did not stop believing in witchcraft and there were many consequences for those who were accused. Even though the trials had stopped, many of the accused were not allowed out of jail until they paid to be released. Many crops and farms were destroyed and many families were left with no money or homes. There was a lot of psychological damage to the “afflicted” and those involved with the trials. The Salem witch hunts became the last of the religious witch hunts (Nava-Whitehead & Gow, 2008, 4). Nowadays, the Salem witch hunts are used throughout schools and universities to outline how politics, religion and fear can cause such a havoc of events. The Salem witch hunts were acts committed by the state and Church by simply instilling a sense of fear and anger towards a certain individual and onto a group (Bland, 2003). A whole community placed blame on innocent people resulting in their deaths. Religious fervour in good and evil fuelled this monstrous violence. Girard’s Scapegoat Mechanism accurately describes how the women and men who accused of witchcraft were decided and treated. They became outcasts and the anger which should have been placed upon the state was then placed on them. Such happens today but the extent to which today’s governments would allow such situations to be taken varies. The media influences people’s beliefs and knowledge. In today’s society, people only know what they are told, the truth is not always known and events are portrayed inaccurate. ‘Scapegoating’ still occurs and it is not until ‘the people’ know the truth will stereotypes and events such as the Salem witch hunts truly diminish.

Leishan Hughes

References
ABC (2010). Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s796571.htm
Australian Human Rights Commission (1999). Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://www.hreoc.gov.au/word/human_rights/religion/avoiding_religious_discrimination.pdf
Bach, A. (1990). The Pleasures of Her Texts, Feminist Readings of Biblical and Historical Texts. Trinity Press International.
Bland, B. (2003). Evil Enemies: The Convergence of Religion and Politics. Retrieved October 30, 2010, from http://www.law.stanford.edu/program/centers/scicn/papers/religion_and_political_violence.pdf
Bloom, H. (2008). Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: The Crucible - New Edition. New York, US: Infobase Publishing.
Girard, R. (2005). Girard: Violence and the Sacred. London: The Athlone Press.
Jensen, G. (2007). The Path of the Devil: Early Modern Witch Hunts. Maryland, US: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
Kidzworld (2010). Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2536-the-salem-witch-trials-of-1692
Lifestyle (2006). Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/20165/modern_day_witch_hunt_in_south_africa.html?cat=7
Nava-Whitehead, S., & Gow, J. (2008). Salem’s Secrets. National Centre for Case Study Teaching in Science, 1-10.
Scott, K. (2009). A Girardian Critique of the Liberal Democratic Peace Theory. Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, 15/16, 45-62.
Woolf, A. (2000). Witchcraft or mycotoxin? The Salem witch trials. Journal of Toxicology—Clinical Toxicology 38.4, 457-460.

Religion, Violence and Scapegoating of Sri Lankan Tamils

2010-11-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Religion and Violence Research Essay

By Rhys Dwyer

This paper examines the plight of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka in regards to their inability to escape what is fundamentally religious persecution. It will be shown how religion was central to starting and escalating the violence of the Sri Lankan Civil War, and how the persecution has not ended with the Sri Lankan government’s claim to victory. It will be argued that that the notion of ‘scapegoating’ is operating throughout these issues. It will also look at the positive influences of religion on this issue, explaining how religion can be a helpful and unifying force, rather than a divisive and violent one.

A war, whether civil or international, is always the product of numerous causes, usually within a chain of events that escalate the conflict to what is eventually deemed a war, and the Sri Lankan Civil War is no exception. Nonetheless, the chain of events, the numerous causes, which led to the civil war in Sri Lanka, can all be seen as products of a fundamental cause, namely the immense tensions between the extreme majority Sinhalese ethnic group and the Tamil ethnic group (Somasundaram 10). These groups are divided almost exclusively along religious and linguistic lines; the Sinhalese are predominantly Buddhists, whereas the Tamils are predominantly Hindu, and both groups derive their collective names from the dialect they speak. Therefore, whilst in the following discussion the nature of all the conflict may appear to be political, it is the case that just as the people of Sri Lanka can be divided along religious lines, so too can the politicians; Sri Lankan politics (at least prior to the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)) is necessarily invested in the advancement of either Sinhalese or Tamil nationalism, which can be necessarily seen as religious nationalism (George 134–5). This ethnic tension was itself the result of two major historical facts: firstly, Sri Lanka under British rule (known then as Ceylon) was subject to ‘divide and conquer’ tactics of colonial government, in which the British tended to favour the Tamil minority (who placed greater value on education) causing resentment amongst the Sinhalese (8, 66–7; Tambiah 68). Secondly, when Sri Lanka gained independence, the Sinhalese set about establishing societal dominance to match their majority, eventually renaming the country and making Buddhism the official religion and Sinhala the official language, which lead to the formation of the LTTE who consequently sought an independent nation for the Tamil population in northern Sri Lanka (Bandarage 8; Somasundaram 10; Bajoria np).

This marginalisation of Tamil culture and people by the Sinhalese can be seen as an act of scapegoating. The concept of scapegoating as it applies to this essay originates with René Girard, who proposed that the essence of human progress is imitation or ‘mimesis,’ in that we learn everything by imitation, so naturally we must learn to want things through imitation also, what Girard called ‘mimetic desire’ (Fleming 58). This being the case, there is bound to be conflict over the desired object between the desiring subject and the mediator of their desire, principally when the subject and the mediator are not sufficiently removed to prevent conflict, for example by time or space, which Girard called internally mediated mimetic desire (59–60). What Girard saw as significant was that this rivalry over the object of desire necessarily leads the conflicting parties to focus on each other, rather than the object, seeking to remove the competition rather than striving for the object (60). In attempting to outdo each other, they naturally learn from one another––they imitate––and as the conflict escalates the subject and the mediator mirror each other. What Girard believes must happen at this point, to avoid violent internal collapse, is that the tensions must be projected onto an external construction, that is the scapegoat, in what he calls the ‘scapegoat mechanism’ (61). However, while blaming a scapegoat may resolve the tensions of the rivalry of desire, it only creates a new conflict between the scapegoat and those committing the scapegoating (Bland 2). So, Girard’s theories of mimetic desire and scapegoating can be seen to be operating in the creation of the Sri Lankan Civil War, however it will be shown that Sri Lanka was perhaps unique in its exhibition of Girard’s theories. In Sri Lanka case, the object of desire would be an independent nation, and the subjects of desire and the mediators of this desire were the Sinhalese majority and the British colonialists respectively. While the Sinhalese did of course obtain their desire, they nevertheless became much like the colonialists in the process: having obtained independence, they set about imposing their own religion and language on the entire nation in an attempt to disestablish the inconsistent amount of socio-political power the Tamil minority had achieved under British rule (Bandarage 8; George 67; Somasundaram 10). This can be viewed as a way of scapegoating the Tamils because rather than directing the anger and blame towards the colonialists, they directed it at the Tamils. In this respect, applying Girard’s theoretical framework is problematic, because the scapegoat in this instance is not an external party, but very much an internal party, however, according to Sinhalese nationalist perspective, the Tamils are an external party, they are seen as Indians, and thus foreigners within what the Sinhalese eventually established as ‘Sri Lanka’ (Cholan np). Interestingly, the subsequent conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils can itself be seen as demonstrating Girard’s theory all over again: the Tamil people become the subject of desire for an independent nation, with the Sinhalese assuming the role of mediators of this desire. This of course resulting in the birth of the extreme separatist movement called the LTTE that sought the exact same thing the Sinhalese did, an independent state in which they could enforce their own (Tamil) religion and language as official. In this way, the LTTE became the scapegoat for the violence in Sri Lanka, being labelled as a terrorist organisation, effectively positioning them as the bad guys, by governments world-wide, despite the fact that during the civil war, the Sri Lankan military was also accused of human rights violations such as abduction and extortion, and also violating the laws of war. For example on April 15^th, 2009, the Human Rights Watch researcher Anna Neistat reported that the military “repeatedly and indiscriminately shelled” a government-declared ‘no-fire zone’ where Sri Lankan civilians were trapped by the LTTE (Bajoria np). This is not to say that the LTTE were not guilty of atrocities, however the focus on the LTTE made the Civil War into a war on terror, effectively turning a fight for cultural equality into a fight between good and evil.

It should not be surprising that the vast majority of Sri Lankans seeking asylum in other countries, both before and particularly after the defeat of the LTTE, are Tamils (George 134; Elango np). Despite the Sri Lankan government’s announcement of victory following the defeat of the LTTE, there is still no resolution for the country’s Tamil minority; “Victory may only be claimed in military terms until and unless Tamils are treated as equal citizens in Sri Lanka” (George 138). While Sri Lankan High Commissioner Senaka Walgampaya has stated that there is no reason for people to flee Sri Lanka and that countries such as Australia should cease accepting their refugee claims (Stewart np), the fact is that the civil war has resulted in almost 90 000 internally displaced Tamil refugees who are currently residing in camps in the north of Sri Lanka, camps which by all accounts are in poor condition and have not been allowing humanitarian and aid agencies of the UN and the Red Cross to enter the camps (George 139; Elango np). Furthermore, the Sinhalese maintain a political and numeric dominance which the civil war likely only served to strengthen, and studies of the trauma caused by years of war suggest that the Tamil population has lost trust in Sri Lanka’s security forces, such as the police, to the point that they now tend to fear them (Somasundaram 14). Current reports indicate that the government is choosing to enforce censorship, particularly of Tamil news sources and international journalists, with three journalists having been killed since 2008 (Bajoria np).

While a large portion of Tamils may choose to remain in Sri Lanka as internally displaced refugees, many take their chances in becoming refugees in another country, such as Australia. However, Tamil asylum seekers do not often find refugee status in Australia, but instead find themselves being made into scapegoats all over again. The recent Australian election saw the two major parties in agreement over so-called ‘boat people,’ with each party trying to establish themselves as having the toughest policies in this regard. As George (72) explains, “Refugees are often blamed for pre-existing social or economic problems because they access available resources.” For example, some popular scapegoating myths regarding asylum seekers is that they bring terrorism with them, and that they will be a drain on our economy if they are accepted as refugees. This is in spite of fact that, in the first instance, any terrorist related activity during the Howard and Rudd governments was undertaken solely by people born in Australia or on valid visas, secondly the economic fact that any form of migration is going to stimulate an economy through creating demand for products, thus increasing the need for people to create the supply (Just Comment 2). The popular terms currently circulating for refugees, such as boat people, queue-jumpers, and illegal immigrants, are all examples of how our society stigmatises and scapegoats asylum seekers; rather than admitting to racism and xenophobia, people seek to label asylum seekers as breaking the law or receiving special treatment, in this way they externalise the blame. It is legal to come to Australia by boat without a visa when escaping persecution, if they are not they are sent back. This is because Australia signed a UN Refugee Convention in 1951 making this so (GetUp! 3; Tribe 241). There is also no queue for an asylum seeker to jump, as the reason they are fleeing their country is the exact reason they cannot apply for refugee status before coming to Australia (GetUp! 3). While it is impossible to state with certainty that religion plays a fundamental role in Australia’s persecution of asylum seekers, it is worth noting that Australia, much like Sri Lanka, is a country where the socio-political power rests with the (white) majority, and though there is no official religion, Christianity is predominant. With this in mind, and remembering events in Australian history such as colonisation, the White Australia policy, and the Cronulla riots, all of which negatively affected people not of European descent, it is possible to suggest that racism in Australia is culturally motivated, and the culture of Australia is, as stated, predominantly European (or Western or white) and Christian.

Before concluding, it should be said that while this essay has sought to explain the persecution of Tamil people as a product of religion, it is has not sought to argue that religion is therefore fundamentally persecutory. Research has indicated that religion, as a central part of Tamil culture, is a source of relief for the mental trauma and stress that they suffer from the war and prolonged detention. The western methods of treating mental health issues is scientifically based (namely psychiatry), but such methods don’t work as effectively for the Tamils, mainly because it is much more acceptable in their culture to have physical pain than psychological pain, and within their culture they generally turn to a community elder or family member for healing purposes, psychiatry is foreign to them (Tribe 242–3). Somasundaram (20) supports and expands on this, stating, “when methods are culturally familiar, they tap into past childhood, community and religious roots and thus release a rich source of associations that can be helpful in the healing process.” Furthermore, he found that the people of northern Sri Lanka “naturally turned to traditional [religious] practices when under stress and found relief in them,” such as Buddhist and Hindu mediation and mantras, all of which are “powerful methods.”

Looking towards the future of this issue, it is clear that peace in Sri Lanka is only going to be obtained when the Tamil minority feel satisfactorily involved and represented in the countries politics, but at the same time feel free to have their own culture. A move away from religious fundamentalism and nationalism will be an essential step in this process; even if religion continues to play a large role in Sri Lankan politics, then the hope is that the precepts of non-violence and karma of Buddhism and Hinduism shine through.

Bibliography:

Bajoria, Jayshree. “The Sri Lankan Conflict.” Council on Foreign Relations. 18 May 2009. 29 Oct. 2010.

Bandarage, Asoka. The separatist conflict in Sri Lanka: terrorism, ethnicity, political economy. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Bland, Byron. “Evil Enemies: The Convergence of Religion and Politics.” May 2003. 29 Oct. 2010.

Cholan, R. “Indo-Lanka Relationships: My Memories.” Ilankai Tamil Sangam. 12 Dec. 2006. 30 Oct. 2010

“Debunking the Myths about Asylum Seekers in 2010.” Just Comment 12.5 (2009): 1–2.

Elango, Myuran. “Sri Lanka: One year on from war’s end.” Green Left Weekly. 22 May 2010. 29 Oct. 2010.

Fleming, Chris. “Mimesis and Violence - An Introduction to the Thought of Rene Girard.” Australian Religion Studies Review. 15.1 (2001): 57–72.

George, Miriam. “Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora: Contextualizing Pre-migration and Post-migration Traumatic Events and Psychological Distress.” Diss. U of Toronto, 2009.

GetUp! Action for Australia. Australia & asylum seekers: The myths and the facts. Sydney: GetUp!, 2009.

Somasundaram, Daya. “Collective trauma in northern Sri Lanka: a qualitative psychosocial-ecological study.” International Journal of Mental Health Systems 1.5 (2007): 1–27.

Stewart, Cameron. “Colombo warning to Australia on Tamil refugees.” The Australian. 22 May 2009. 27 Oct. 2010.

Tambiah, Stanley J. Buddhism Betrayed?: Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1992.

Tribe, Rachel. “Mental health of Refugees and Asylum-seekers.” Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 8 (2002): 240–7.

Religious Violence and Hamas

2010-11-01T23:07:00.000-07:00

Religious Violence and Hamas

Contextual imagery of violence, terrorism, and anti-Semitism vividly espouse the popular depiction of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Western media often portrays Hamas as a fanatical terrorist organization fixated on the violent destruction of Israel, and the construction of an Islamic state atop the splintered bones and smouldering ashes of its oppressive occupiers (Wagemakers 2010: 357). Variants of this widely accepted representation are rooted in the organizations propaganda and historical usage of radical political methods such as suicide bombings. Though this image of Hamas remains persistent within the Western dominated international community, Hamas in recent years has worked diligently to dispose of this politically delegitimizing reputation of violent radicalism. Since 2005, Hamas has largely refrained from condoning the use of violence against Israel and has participated in the legislative and municipal Palestinian elections; the former of which eventually brought Hamas to power in the Palestinian Authority[1] (PA)(Wagemakers 2010: 357). From this it can be suggested that the global criticism and predetermined judgments of Hamas as an Islamic extremist organizations should be re-evaluated by the international community, and its political capabilities explored with more balanced criticism.

While some scholars depict Hamas firmly as a terrorist organization, in recent years many have recognized the political maturity and moderation it has developed since it was founded at the beginning of the first intifada in 1987 (Kortenoeven 2006, Gunning 2007). Clearly conceptualizing the tenuous historical foundation of Hamas is a necessary prerequisite for an investigation into the future political landscape of the Palestine Israel conflict. It is because of this that I will focus this essay on the exploration of Hamas’ reputation of deviance, so as to initiate a greater understanding of the causal variants that have influenced the international community to believe that Hamas is incapable of political reason and eventual conciliation with Israel. In this essay I will critically examine the historical, ideological, social, political, and theoretical underpinnings of Hamas so as to illustrate the logic behind the traditional use of religious violence against the Israelis. Through a lens of Social Movement Theory (SMT), I will argue that Hamas has gained popular support in the Gaza strip due to its ability to ‘frame’ regional grievances and exploit the sense of ‘relative deprivation’ felt by the Palestinian people.

The essay is structured as follows. I will first elucidate the historical context of Hamas as an Islamist political organisation, so that I may establish a contextual foundation for the analysis of its religious and ideological framework. Following this, I will explore the ideological framework that has legitimized Hamas’ use of religiously motivated violence against Israel. Next, I will examine the context in which terrorism and Jihad have become associated with the political goals and theological framework of Hamas. From this, I will examine the logic and values that have resonated among those who have resorted to acts of suicide terrorism in Palestine. In the conclusion, I will illustrate that economic and nationalist motives alone do not provide adequate explanations as to why organizations employ suicide attacks as a political tactic; I will do this by using the Social Movement Theory (SMT) to examine the causal variables implicit to the collective rationalization of suicide terrorism.

Historical framework of Hamas

The historical narrative of Hamas is rooted in the First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule that began in the West Bank and Gaza on December 9, 1987. The literal meaning of the Arabic word intifada is ‘shaking off’, or sometimes translated to imply ‘uprising’,’ resistance’, or ‘rebellion’ (Said 1989: 23). Despite popular claims, the ‘intifada’ materialized spontaneously without any political entanglement with the Muslim Brotherhood[2] or the Palestinian Liberation Organization[3] (PLO). In December 1987 an Israeli truck collided with a vehicle transporting Palestinian workers, resulting in the deaths of several Palestinian passengers. This vehicle accident became a catalyst for Palestinian dissatisfaction, and triggered a series of violent protests and riots that evolved into what was eventually identified as the ‘intifada’.

Subsequent to the commencement of this social movement, leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza began congregating regularly to discuss ways in which to utilize the growing Palestinian discontent to stir up nationalist and religious sentiments, as well as to assure the continuation of public demonstrations against Israeli occupation (Abu Amr 1993: 10). One week after the fateful vehicle accident, the political authorities of the Muslim brotherhood issued a statement calling upon the Palestinian people to unify and collectively challenge the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The widely circulated leaflet exposing this memorandum was retrospectively considered to be the first publication of Hamas (Abu Amr 1989: 101). As such, the formation of Hamas was not a conscious decision made by its members; rather, it began as a movement espoused with deep social grievances, and later evolved into a more structured, politically aggressive, and ideologically radical organization (Said 1989: 23).

Hamas, which means ‘zeal’ in Arabic, is an acronym for ‘Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamfrya’ or ‘the Islamic Resistance movement’ (Abu Amr 1993: 11). The ideological framework, general incentives and political strategies of the organization have been articulately sketched into its official charter which was penned on August 18, 1988 (Al Majd 2001). Spelled out in this charter are the rationale, philosophy and positions of Hamas not only on the central issue of Israeli occupation but on the role of women, social welfare, nationalist movements, other Islamic movements, and international relations with other Arab countries (AbuZayyad 2005: 4). Regarding Palestine, article eleven of the charter articulates that “the land of Palestine is an Islamic trust upon all Muslim generations until the ‘Day of Resurrection’; “It is not right to give it up, nor any part of it” (Abu Amr 1993: 12). In accordance with this rigid political manifestation, it is the judgment of Hamas that the Palestine problem will embrace resolution only when Israel is expelled from Palestinian land and an Islamic state is established in its place.

For this reason, the greatest challenge to sustained regional peace is the unyielding nature of Hamas’ charter. The politically abrasive ideologies of Hamas are further illustrated in article thirteen of its charter where it outlines its position on negotiations and initiatives for peace: "What are called 'peaceful solutions' and 'international conferences' to solve the Palestine question, all conflict with the doctrine of the Islamic Resistance Movement, for giving up any part of the homeland is like giving up part of the religious faith itself" (Abu Amr 1993: 16). Moreover, Hamas does not believe that there is a viable solution to the Palestine problem that does not include violent Jihad[4]. This is expressed in article fifteen of the Hamas charter, which states that “when an enemy occupies some of the Muslim lands, Jihad becomes obligatory on every Muslim”. Thus, it is implicit to the established political framework of Hamas that all peace negotiations are a “waste of time and acts of absurdity” (Abu Amr 1993: 12).

Religious violence in context

Hamas as a case study for the exploration and analysis of religiously motivated violence is relevant in the way its ideological platform strongly condones the use of violent ‘Jidad’ as a means to liberation. In this vein, the ideological platform of Hamas can be understood through Walter Wink’s theory of ‘redemptive violence’ (Wink 1999). Hamas has taken the role of moral hegemon and has justified its use of violence as a means to establish peace for the Palestinian people. The term ‘moral hegemon’ in this context refers to the way in which Hamas has claimed a monopoly on morality, and that the good of the Palestinian people is served by the unquestionable moral leadership strictly imposed by leaders of Hamas and the subjectively prescribed guidelines that have been articulated in its charter (Sadiq 2009: 306).

Thus, Hamas as a religious and political organization has taken the role of moral hegemon, and has widely propagated its morally justified and ideologically preordained use of redemptive violence. Religious scholar Walter Wink’s theory of redemptive violence has been described as the “real myth of the modern world’ and holds the belief that “violence saves” (Wink 1999: 1). Wink’s contention that redemptive violence is the “dominant religion” in contemporary society holds true when we put it into the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict (Wink 1999: 2). As each party claims moral authority over the other, Hamas and the Government of Israel have both widely used violence and aggression as a means to obtain sustained peace and regional stability. Hence, the real challenge brought fore is one of misinformation and toxic regional rapport that has become saturated by the mutual reliance of redemptive violence. As I have contextualized the historical, social, and ideological underpinnings that have been linked to Hamas’ use of religiously motivated violence, I will now analytically explore the term ‘terrorism’ and the historically explicit use of Jihadist extremism within the greater political strategy of Hamas.

Jihad and terrorism

In contemporary theological discourse, the connotations attached to the term ‘jihad’ have diverged substantially from the historically accepted theological paradigm of Islam. This term has become saturated with a globally propagated violent undertone, as its role in geo-political discourse is now more implicit of violence and terrorism than the internal and external struggle of Islamic faith. Moreover, Islamic extremists have redefined this term so it may be used to justly acts of redemptive violence against those perceived to be obstructing the ideological undertones of Islamic faith and the autonomy of groups amid the Umma[5]. In general terms, Islamic extremists view the ‘secular western world’ and its cultural influence as an immense pollutant and enemy of Islam (Khaza’in 2006: 20). Jihadist extremism, including suicide bombings, mass killings, and indiscriminate acts of violence perpetuated in the name of Allah, are viewed by many scholars to be acts of ‘terrorism’ or “political theatre for the entertainment and aspired influence of the Umma” (Phillips 2009: 78). In the minds of Jihadist extremists, it is the fundamental responsibility of all Muslims to destroy all who can be considered enemies to Allah (Wiktorowicz 2005: 80). Even so, the alleged wrongdoings of these ambiguously defined ‘enemies’ are more often ignored by the generally moderate Umma.

The term terrorism has become linked to the term Jihad, and is widely used by the international community to describe the suicide attacks that have been facilitated and perpetrated by Islamic organizations such as Hamas. Scholars have defined terrorism as “someone’s perception of justice”: an action most often a result of ‘strain’ between the ‘have’ and ‘have nots’ (Cronin 2003: 33). It is because of this that our definition of ‘terrorism’ “only applies to terrorism against us, not the terrorism we carry out against them” (Chomsky 2002: 131). Moreover, acts of ‘terrorism’ have been defined as a form of political expression that utilizes “the use or threat of dramatic public violence...to influence the behaviour of people or institutions beyond those immediately targeted or harmed by violence” (Hayes, Kaminski & Beres 2003: 452). Thus, it is wrongly assumed by those who label violent political expression ‘terrorism’, that perpetrators of these actions are intrinsically devoid of reason; this has generated a widespread sense of hopelessness and cynicism when confronting the challenges of establishing political discourse with organizations who have been widely perceived as supporters of ‘terrorism’ (Schnellenback 2006: 301). From this, I will further explore the contextual framework of Jihadist suicide attacks perpetrated by Palestinians against the occupying Israelis.

Jihadist suicide attacks in the context of Palestine

Assaf Moghadam offers a framework of analysis that assumes that Jihadist suicide attacks are both an individual and organizational phenomenon. Moghadam contends that both of these aspects are integral and essential parts of the process during which Jihadist attacks are planned and executed, and thus must be incorporated more broadly into discourse involving suicide terrorism (2003: 68). Following from this conceptualization, a Palestinian who becomes motivated to commit an act of violent Jihad is likely to lack the information, resources, and organizational capacity necessary to perpetrate such an action without the assistance and guidance of an organization akin to Hamas. Analysts have confirmed that nearly all suicide attacks against Israeli targets are planned and facilitated by one of the many Islamist organizations in Palestine ( Moghadam 2003: 68)

Following this, it has become clear that Islamic political organizations themselves do not generally supply individuals to commit acts of Jihadist violence from among their own ranks; rather, individuals who perpetrate these acts are more often recruited from outside of the organization (Moghadam 2003: 68). Together with this key assumption, the framework of analysis offered by Moghadam focuses on both the motives of the individual Palestinian, and those of the sponsoring organization (2003: 68). Motives that may assist the desire of a Palestinian to commit an act of Jihadist violence may include the aspiration to collect anticipated benefits in the afterlife (martyrdom), the urge to attain retribution for the death or injury of someone in close association to the perpetrator, or the perceived humiliation brought about by the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land (Moghadam 2003: 68.

In recent history, Islam has been riddled with radical ideologues who have prophesized a heretical brand of Islam that has endorsed acts of Jihadist extremism such as suicide bombings as a means to martyrdom. Jihadist ideologue Ayatollah Khomein once declared that there is no command “more binding to the Muslim than the command to sacrifice life and property to defend and bolster Islam” (Juergensmeyer 1993: 153). Undoubtedly inspired by this radical ideology, the first suicide bombing by an Islamist Palestinian group was perpetrated in the West Bank on the sixteenth of April 1993. Since this incident, a rapidly increasing amount of Palestinians have showed willingness and expressed their wish to become martyrs by perpetrating suicide attacks against Israelis (Al Majd 2001). Fusing with this revelation, a leader of Al Qassam Brigades (the military division of Hamas) was quoted in 2001 saying “it is easy for us to sweep the streets for boys who want to do a martyrdom operation. Fending off the crowds who demand revenge and retaliation and insisting on a human bomb operation…that becomes our biggest problem” (Hassan 2001: 39). I will now examine the gravity of these motives through the lens of Social Movement Theory.

Motives understood through the SMT

Scholars have argued that economic and nationalist motives alone do not provide adequate explanations as to why organizations employ the use of suicide terrorism (Moghadam 2003: 87). Moreover, the question with this brings fore is what has caused some Palestinians to resort to suicide bombing as a viable tactic? This can most sufficiently be understood through the lens of Social Movement Theory (SMT). The SMT is a speculative paradigm that seeks to elucidate why social mobilization occurs, the form in which it manifests, and the potential cultural, social, and political consequences. A central concern of this theory is to explain why some people participate in ‘activism’ while others (the majority) do not (Oleson 2009: 7). Many scholars have used the perspective of this theory to understand Islamist movements (Mishal and Sela 2000: 112). SMT is considered to be valuable in this context because of the way it treats organizations as flexible, rational, and susceptible to changing political circumstances (Hafex 2003). Moreover, the reality of economic hardship does not adequately frame the causal variables of this matter, as this is a universal phenomenon that very rarely leads to a ‘culture’ of suicide bombings. Similarly, many groups of people struggle for autonomy, but never resort to suicide ‘terrorism’. Correspondingly, religious motives can also be ruled out as a causal variable for the phenomenon of violent acts of suicide, particularly when considering that hardly any Islamic countries are besieged by this phenomenon. For this reason the SMT conceptualizations of ‘framing’ and ‘relative deprivation’ will be used to more adequately understand what has driven some Palestinians to submit themselves to acts of suicide terrorism.

Several authors have applied aspects of the SMT approach such as ‘framing’ to the political actions of Hamas; its relevance when dealing with the legitimization of a political movement’s actions is considered applicable in this context (Mishal and Sela 2000: 112). ‘Frames’ have been defined as “schemata of interpretation”, a tool which allows its users to “locate, perceive, identify, and label a seemingly infinite number of concrete occurrences defined as terms” (Goffman 1974: 21). In the context of this paper, frames can be viewed as simplified fragments of an ideology through which one views and subsequently understands a particular problem, situation or conflict. Moreover, framing is a way in which groups seek to qualify certain claims made on behalf of their social movement. The objective of political organizations such as Hamas is to frame a grievance in such a way that their views on the cause of and the solution to this issue resonates with the public, a process termed ‘frame resonance’ or ‘frame alignment’ (Snow 1986: 464). Hamas has effectively drawn upon shared cultural understandings that have framed the Palestinians perception of the terms Jew, Zionist, and Israeli as one that can be used interchangeably (Hassan 2001: 41; Benford and Snow 2000: 611). The Hamas leaders’ deep-seated animosity toward the Israelis-Jews-Zionists has likely served as a supplemental incentive for its historically supportive and facilitative role of suicide attacks against Israelis (Moghadam 2003: 83).

As previously explicated, Hamas materialized as result of the humiliation felt by most Palestinians, thus it is appropriate that we apply SMT’s ‘relative deprivation’ approach to the analysis and understanding of this occurrence. The ‘relative deprivation’ paradigm understands that individuals are driven into movements through a perceived sense of inequality or deprivation, particularly in relation to ‘others’ (Gurr 1970). Moreover, it can be understood through this theoretical lens that Jihadist suicide attacks may provide an escape from this inequality or deprivation, and a perceived step toward regaining peace and dignity. It is clear that Palestinian Jihadist extremists see the Israelis who have more power, economic resources, and revered geo-political status, and have attempted to rectify this inequality by utilizing tactics of radical Jihad.

Conclusion

It is unambiguous that the political and ideological underpinnings of Hamas are greatly misunderstood and misrepresented by the Western dominated international community. In this essay I have shown that clearly conceptualizing the tenuous historical foundation of Hamas is a necessary prerequisite for an investigation into the future political landscape of the Palestine Israel conflict. By exposing the causal variants that have predisposed Palestinians to perpetrate religious violence against Israelis, I have contextualized the deep-seated grievances which continue to permeate Hamas. This critical examination of the historical, ideological, social, political, and theoretical substructure of Hamas has provided a foundation for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between Hamas and Israel. The mutual discontent and the further separation of traditional political discourse between Hamas and Israel, represents a considerable obstacle to the prospect of eventual conciliation. I have revealed in this essay that this separation as well as the rationalization of suicide terrorism can be best understood through the lens of Social Movement Theory. The social and political grievances of Palestinians have been ‘framed’ by Hamas to further expose the ‘relative deprivation’ that is widely felt by the Palestinian populace. Only after the international community recognizes the context of these grievances and the rationale that has socially constructed the Palestinian perception, can a solution to the Israel-Palestine problem be adequately approached.

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[1] The Palestinian Authority(PA) or the Palestinian National Authority(PNA) is a govern is the administrative organization established in 1994 to govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in Palestine.

[2] Founded 1928 in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is the world’s oldest and largest Islamic Political organization. The organizations is highly controversial and widely considered to be a Islamic Extremist group

(Leiken and Brooke 2007: 107)

[3] The PLO was founded in 1964 in Palestine, and is recognized by over 100 states as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian People”. The PLO holds diplomatic status and holds observer status at the United Nations since 1974 (al Madfai 1993: 21).

[4] Jihad is an Islamic term that is used to describe an action perpetuated in the name of Allah (Yates 2007: 132).

[5] The ‘Umma’ is a term used to define the global Islamic community.