It seems that everyday there is
some kind of major act of senseless violence occurring somewhere in the world. Recently,
a group of Islamic terrorists held patrons at a Kenyan mall hostage, killing at
least 5 of them. It is apparent these men were driven by religious zeal, but is
faith, itself, to blame for this atrocity and the plethora of evils like it?
Our friend Karl Marx would likely
uphold this opinion. He often found that religion of any kind is unhealthy to
man, in that it robs them of personal freedom and glory, and to society by
causing unnecessary emotional conflicts. He is of the belief that society ought
to work collaboratively for its ultimate good—however, are communalism and religion
mutually exclusive? Furthermore, is society to blame for a single group’s
wrongdoing, as Marx would perhaps suggest?
As a Christian, I typically
disregard the idea that religion is the main cause of these irrational
killings. Some find that religion, aside from it being false entirely, is also
a cancer to society and should be eradicated entirely. I see the validity of
this sentiment, however, I dispute this by pointing out that no religious texts
instruct people to do things that are so detrimental to humanity. I’m no
theologian, but I’ve never read any manuscripts beseeching anyone to fly planes
into buildings or to shoot up movie theatres. Man is simply to blame for the
evil in this world. Regardless of one’s motivation to do wrong—misplaced
religious fervor, insanity, personal pleasure—people of all religious and
ideological stripes commit heinous acts like the Muslim terrorists in the
Kenyan hostage situation. Perhaps Marx is right, society’s shortcomings might be
partially to blame for outbreaks like these, but I believe in personal
responsibility and that these maniacs must be held accountable for their
wrongs. Religion itself is not evil, but rather zealots’ misinterpretations
that lead to the problems we face today, and, as we have seen for thousands of
years, preventing man from doing as they please, on some level, is impossible.
Press, Associated. "3 Islamic Militants Dead, More
Hostages Freed in Nairobi Mall
Terror Attack." Fox
News. FOX News Network, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013.
I agree with your point in that I also disregard that religion is the main motive in these killings. I feel that no religion justifies the mass killing of innocent human beings. I also liked your connection with marx in this post. Well done
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your blogs, you have a very formal and sophisticated language. I liked how you tied the situation to Marx's thoughts and religion. I completely agree with you in saying that no religion gives reason to murder. There's just too many senseless, evil people in this world with no compassion for human life.
ReplyDeleteWell put sir. I also see that maybe lack of true education might have had a role here. If you think about it, these people were likely uneducated and all they knew was they were Muslims. With that being said they probably could not think critically enough to ask themselves if this was right or not. They probably couldn't read the Quran, and so they took the word of some evil being that twisted their religion into something that it truly wasn't. He used their ignorance as a tool to misguide them and turn them into monsters. So perhaps it's not the religion itself, but rather their understanding of it.
ReplyDeleteCullen, You raise a very interesting point about religion and social disorders. Many do follow Marx in seeing religion as a way of misleading people. You are right that it is not clear if Marx actually thinks religion is totally incompatible with religion. Certainly he was not religious, and wanted to see religion fall away. But I don't know if he thought it was the ultimate root of conflict as you note. There are certainly religious socialists, too, who have tried to reconcile the two. I doubt Marx would say that the real problem here was religion. He would look at the social structures in Somalia. They were a kind of radical traditionalists, supporting violence in order to defend a certain social order. I think Marx would consider this a type of false revolutionary zeal, but I'm not totally sure.
ReplyDeleteJose, your point about education is an interesting one. In some instances, it turns out that some extermists are relatively well educated and privileged. This was the case with Bin Laden. There was a passage that said the gunman tested whether people were Muslim by having them read Arabic (which was not their native language). This suggests some level of education. What might this mean? Cullen, perhaps it is not so much religion as the education that religion provides: maybe it is just enough to do damage in some cases?