Genocide in Sudan
Aymeric Claude
11/17/10
Religion in a Global Context
Genocide in Sudan
Throughout history, religion has worked as a great unifier of diverse people. Its overarching messages have worked to bring together people of different backgrounds be it racial, political, or economic, giving masses a common goal. Much of the world’s charity work is on behalf of religions which instill values that provoke these selfless actions. However, there is another side to religion, one that is quite contrary to idea of unification and acceptance. When looking through the scope of history, we can also see religion as an exclusionary tool, often used to differentiate groups of people on an innate level. As many of these idealogies attempt to assert their beliefs as the sole “truth”, we see a war of perceptions. This is a dangerous topic of difference, as it is in its most fundamental form, a debate on the reason of existence. As one can assume, the perception on what the universe is can be a topic tied closely to emotions. Thus, when these debates on ideologies arise they can often become quite heated, elevating to the extent of hatred and violence. For this reason, religion has been a tool utilized to target people with dissenting views. By pointing out how these people are “fundamentally different”, those who weild religion as a weapon successfully alienate entire populations of people. This alienation makes it possible for repulsive acts to be committed against the religiously diverse, acts such as segregation, imprisonment, and even genocide, slavery and torture. This idea of religious persecution seems like an archaic notion, a ploy that has been utilized throughout our history books but can’t possibly be seen in the modern world. With globalization and the constant exposure of diverse cultures and religious idealogies it seems impossible for close mindedness of this degree to continue. However, even within the most liberal era in world history we see these
11/17/10
Religion in a Global Context
Genocide in Sudan
Throughout history, religion has worked as a great unifier of diverse people. Its overarching messages have worked to bring together people of different backgrounds be it racial, political, or economic, giving masses a common goal. Much of the world’s charity work is on behalf of religions which instill values that provoke these selfless actions. However, there is another side to religion, one that is quite contrary to idea of unification and acceptance. When looking through the scope of history, we can also see religion as an exclusionary tool, often used to differentiate groups of people on an innate level. As many of these idealogies attempt to assert their beliefs as the sole “truth”, we see a war of perceptions. This is a dangerous topic of difference, as it is in its most fundamental form, a debate on the reason of existence. As one can assume, the perception on what the universe is can be a topic tied closely to emotions. Thus, when these debates on ideologies arise they can often become quite heated, elevating to the extent of hatred and violence. For this reason, religion has been a tool utilized to target people with dissenting views. By pointing out how these people are “fundamentally different”, those who weild religion as a weapon successfully alienate entire populations of people. This alienation makes it possible for repulsive acts to be committed against the religiously diverse, acts such as segregation, imprisonment, and even genocide, slavery and torture. This idea of religious persecution seems like an archaic notion, a ploy that has been utilized throughout our history books but can’t possibly be seen in the modern world. With globalization and the constant exposure of diverse cultures and religious idealogies it seems impossible for close mindedness of this degree to continue. However, even within the most liberal era in world history we see these