Ever since the beginning of human civilization, two things have remained prominent: religion and politics. Many nation-states throughout history masterfully incorporated their religion into the very structure of their political framework. In some cases, religion served as a great unifying factor of the people and because of a shared religious tradition, some states flourished for hundreds of years. However, in other cases religion has been a destructive force leading to social divisions and even genocide. In international relations, religious differences have, and continue to cause great conflict amongst states, often leading to war. Whether a person believes that it is best to completely remove religion from politics or that it is best to completely unite the two, one thing is clear; religion and politics share a close tie to one another, especially in international politics.
One place where the tie between religion and politics is especially prominent in our world today is in the Middle East. With the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 Americans were introduced, and some reintroduced, to the political and religious tensions in the Middle East. Also, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has been a prominent news-getter in recent years because of the global significance the conflict entails. However, the Middle East is not the only place where religion is a major headline in recent news. For example, religion is currently outlawed in North Korea. Also, there are many nations that currently have theocratic aspects including Andorra, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Vatican City, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Israel. These examples are used to show the variety of different ways that religion has been influencing international politics.
One current example of how differences in religion have affected international politics is discussed in an article entitled “India’s Muslims in Crisis”. This article was written following the incident on November 27, 2008 where a Muslim from India took 40 people hostage in the Oberoi Trident hotel in Mumbai, India. The man was angry with the unfair treatment and inequality that was has been commonly given to Muslims in India for over one hundred years. Muslims are the largest minority religion in India, making up 13.4% of the total population. However, statistically Muslims are among the poorest people in India. Compared to the majority, Hindu Indians, “Muslim Indians have shorter life spans, worse health, lower literacy levels and lower-paying jobs” (India’s Muslims in Crisis). All of these things led to the high level of resentment of the Muslims towards the Hindus in India. There is a very long political history behind the way in which the Muslims fell from power in India and ended up becoming the oppressed minority. A brief history shows how “in India, Islam is, in contrast, the other — purged by the British, denigrated by the Hindu right, mistrusted by the majority, marginalized by society” (India’s Muslims in Crisis). The marginalization of this religious group has led to great hostilities and political turmoil in India.
Another article that I read, “Terrorism’s Christian Grandfather” discusses the life of a man, George Habash, who is often thought to be creator of many of the modern forms of terrorism that we have grown accustomed to today. Habash “pioneered the hijacking of airplanes as a Middle East terror tactic” (Terrorism’s Christian Grandfather). The story of Habash is particularly interesting because he was a Palestinian leader that was raised a Greek Orthodox Christian. The media today often portrays there to be a major religious conflict between Christianity and Islam. Therefore, the fact that one of the world’s most famous Muslim terrorist leaders was born and raised in a Christian family leads one to believe that there is much significance in his story. Having grown up in Palestine during Israel’s 1948 War for Independence and having been forcibly removed from his home along with the rest of his family, Habash and the rest of his organization, the PFLP, targeted the Israeli government in their attacks. He helped raise awareness for the many injustices that the Israeli government were subjecting the Palestinians to; however, the methods that he used inspired a future generation of more ruthless and angry fundamentalist terrorists.
A third, very important article concerning religion in international politics is “In Afghan Christian, Story of a Larger Conflict” by Roger Cohen. The article discusses Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Muslim who converted to Christianity. According to the article, “Apostasy is about as bad as it gets under Islamic law and Rahman is facing a possible death sentence in Kabul” (In Afghan Christian, Story of a Larger Conflict). This situation raises important ethical questions. Is it ethical to kill someone for changing their religious beliefs? According to our Western society, no it is not okay. However, in a state like Afghanistan where Islamic traditions are such a major part of the political structure, converting to Christianity is a major offense. This is very similar to the reason why Christians were persecuted back in the first century in Rome. During that time period politics and religion were viewed as one. If a person were to deny that the emperor was god, they were seen as being treasonous to the Roman Empire. By viewing the controversy in this light, it becomes slightly easier to understand why converting to Christianity is seen as such a major problem in Afghanistan today. It is seen as treasonous to the state. To people of Western upbringing, this occurrence serves to show that the West and Islam are in a major conflict with one another. A conflict that apparently does not have an end in the immediate future.
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