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See also two closely related sections
which
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Quotation (repeated elsewhere because we are so fond of it):
 | A man told his grandson: "A terrible fight is going on inside me -- a
fight between two wolves. One is evil, and represents hate, anger,
arrogance, intolerance, and superiority . The other is good, and represents
joy, peace, love, tolerance, understanding, humility, kindness, empathy,
generosity, and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, inside
every other person too." The grandson then asked: "Which wolf will win?" The old man replied simply: "The one you feed." Anon. |
Why is there so much religiously-based conflict, oppression and discrimination? (Also repeated):
Consider the following examples of violence or discrimination:
| To our knowledge, no mathematician has ever intentionally flown an airplane into a building, or blown up a subway, or exploded a bomb in a crowded marketplace, in a subway, or in front of a federal building. But many people have done these things, motivated by their religious faith. |
| Municipalities have voted to turn down a building permit for a mosque or Muslim cemetery, even while approving a construction of a church. |
| Most Americans do not consider race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or a history of multiple marriages to be much of an impediment for a presidential candidate. But most people would not vote for a generally well-qualified Atheist. |
Why does religion encourage some people to perform ethically and others to commit discriminatory and even violent acts?
A partial list of some of the factors involved includes:
| Many people are motivated to adopt a religious faith out of a need for security in a dangerous world. Their faith can be brittle; they may fear that their entire belief system may collapse like a house of cards if a single belief is shown to be untrue. When their religion is challenged, they may react emotionally and sometimes violently. |
| Religious beliefs are largely based on faith rather than reason. This means that conflicts among religions cannot be easily settled through dialogue. Disagreements can often escalate. |
| Many people believe that there is only one "top-down" religion: i.e. there is only a single religion revealed by God to humanity. That sole religion is, of course, their own. Meanwhile they believe that all other religions are "bottom-up" faiths: i.e. religions created by humans to express their concept of God or perhaps their concept of no God. It is difficult for a person to respect other religions if they "know" that their religion, alone, is the true one. |
| Many feel that they are God's only representatives on Earth; in effect, they are God's arms and legs. They feel a need to be God's defenders and to act in the place of God against unbelievers. |
There are no quick fixes to this situation.
Topics covered in this section:
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Religiously motivated conflicts, oppression, etc.
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Overview of religiously motivated conflict:
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Specific North American religiously motivated conflicts:
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Religious misinformation and frauds:
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Sponsored link:
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Hate-based American religious organizations:
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End of the world & Y2K fears:
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Attempted solutions to religious persecution:
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Other related menus on this web site:
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Religiously "hot topics" from abortion access to equal rights for homosexuals |
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Laws restricting and protecting religion from school prayer to the wearing of religious jewelry |
Reports on oppression and hatred involving, in part, religion:
| U.S. State Department's annual human rights reports: The Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. Department of State
publishes Country human rights and religious freedom reports annually.
Sadly, although the reports catalog human rights abuses and victories in
over 175 countries, it neglects conditions within the U.S. itself. See:
http://www.state.gov/ |
|  Hatewatch.org "monitors the evolving problem of online bigotry.
Visit their news feed or their
web site. |
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Home > here |
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Home > Human rights > here |
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