Spond 1

Danny Spond

Mrs. Dietel-McLaughlin

First Year Composition

10 October 2010

Is Christianity the Root of Violence?

The Christian faith dominates the world with almost 2.2 billion people worldwide

associating with the religion. Christians are called to enforce peace and gain followers as their

main purpose on earth, but is Christianity actually fulfilling this purpose of peace? In contrast, is

Christianity causing more violence throughout the world?

Christianity has many different branches such as Roman Catholics, Independents,

Protestants, Orthodox, and Anglican. All of these different branches have separate practices but

are comprised of the same core belief that there is one God who created the human race in His

image and sent Jesus Christ to save the world from sin. Christianity is spread throughout the

world but mainly dominates the world's continents in North America, South America, Southern

Africa, and Europe. Many of these nations and their countries have been involved with recent

acts of violence that are attributable to the Christian presence in these countries. Although

Christianity is the overwhelming majority religion in the world, Christianity has been a source of

conflict, violence, and manipulation and has been a main cause of world violence both

throughout history and recently. Religion is one of the most sacred and personal matters to

people, making it a topic that is very easy to offend and insult and causing it to be a prime

perpetrator for violence throughout the world. Because religion is such a close and personal

topic to people, Christians put forth the effort, which often results in violence, to make their

presence known throughout the world.

A thorough historical analysis of the conflicts arising from Christianity reveals that

Christianity has contributed to more conflict than peace in America and globally. In this article,

I will explore examples of such conflict, namely the conflict between Christianity and Islamic

countries and acts of terrorism, the conflict arising over Christian religious holy land, and the

manipulation of Christianity to discriminate against minority groups in America. The verse from

the Bible and the Gospel of Matthew, “Those who live by the sword die by the sword,” can be

easily interpreted as, “Those who live by violence die by violence.” A difference in religious

views between various cultures and numerous interpretations of Christianity has caused global

conflict throughout history and currently.

The first and perhaps the most prevalent and current example of why Christianity has

caused more violence in the world than peace is the relationship of Christianity to Islamic

countries and the acts of terrorism posed on America and Christians alone. “From Nigeria to

Indonesia, which covers the majority of Islamic countries demographically, Christians are under

attack in virtually every single country in the Muslim world. For example, more than thirty

Christian churches have been forced to close in Indonesia, and dozens more throughout the

country in recent years, due to Muslim violence. During the outbreak of hostilities in Indonesia

from 1997-1998, hundreds of Christian churches were burned to the ground and never rebuilt

because of their mere existence in a Muslim dominated society. In Nigeria, police arrested

sixteen suspects after a Muslim mob stoned, stripped, beat, and finally stabbed to death a

Christian teacher after she caught a student cheating on an exam. Her body was then burned by a

mob who falsely accused her of desecrating a Qur’an.” (American Thinker 1). These two

examples are only a few of thousands of situations where Muslims have directed their violence

towards Christians solely because of their religious beliefs. The violence was brought upon the
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Christians because they were being perceived as prejudice and threat that the Christians imposed

on the Muslim community’s unity. Christianity has this effect in more places throughout the

world then just in Indonesia and Nigeria.

The most evident situation that took place in America with Muslim violence against a

Christian based country occurred on September 11th, 2001, when a terrorist group of Muslims

hijacked aircrafts and flew into New York’s World Trade Center, killing thousands. These

Muslim terrorist groups are called the Islamic Taliban who follow their religious book, the

Qur'an. The Taliban interpret the Qur'an as ordering all of its followers to kill all non-Muslims,

including and especially Christians. However, why would the Taliban focus its attacks upon the

United States, the most Christian country in the world, and not any other countries? Evidence

has shown that the Taliban directed their attacks towards the United States because of the

dominate Christian culture in the United States that has imposed upon the Muslim culture in their

holy land and heritage. After the U.S. September 11th attacks, the Taliban members also

attacked other Christian countries but wanted to make a direct impact on a country dominated by

Christianity to make a statement that Christianity does not run this world.

Trust has been another significant reason for the tension between the two religions as

well. American political leaders have always resisted giving aid to Muslim countries in fear of

partiality to them. The American political philosophy was that if U.S. political leaders gave

money to Muslim countries, who are dominated by their own violence, they would be sending

the message that violence is acceptable in the world, which is completely going against the

Christian values the U.S. is founded upon. The human rights violations in Muslim countries and

their treatment of women has been a prevalent issue in the U.S. political philosophy regarding

these nations.
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The clash between Christianity and Islam continues to dominate the relations between the

U.S. and these Muslim nations and remains central to the terrorist attacks on America. The

Talibans have been quoted stating that they hate Christians and the Christian heritage and plan to

eliminate the religion, such as their effort in the September 11th attacks. The Islamic terrorist,

Mohammed Atta, has been quoted as saying, “Oh God, open all doors for me ... God, I lay

myself in your hands. I ask with the light of your faith that has lit the whole world and lightened

all darkness on this earth, to guide me," shortly before flying a plane into the World Trade

Center. Osama Bin Laden, the terrorist group leader during the 911 attacks, was equally sure he

was following Gods plan saying, “Here is America struck by God Almighty in one of its vital

organs, so that its greatest buildings are destroyed.” The President of the United States at the

time, George W. Bush, responded to questions regarding his reasoning for going to war with Iraq

and Al-Qaeda, another Muslim terrorist group, by saying, “'God told me to strike at al-Qaeda and

I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did." He also later stated

that, “I swear by Almighty God ... that neither the United States or he who lives in the United

States will enjoy security before ... all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad.” All of

these quotations and examples of terrorist acts against the United States, the m main Christian

nation, are because of the way Christians and the Christianity has been portrayed negatively to

all Muslim countries.

However, not all Muslims are associated with the Taliban or any terrorist group for that

matter. Many Muslims follow the Qur’an how they are taught, submitting themselves to God. I

agree with the fact that it is wrong to group non-violent Muslims with these violent Muslim

terrorist groups, but the fact of the matter is, with history as evidence, the majority of Muslims
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have never been at peace with Christians and never will This is especially true in what they

believe to be is their home land, referred to as the holy land of the world.

This area of the holy land in the world is the second example of global conflict arising

from Christianity. The holy land is defined as an area spread between Israel, Jordan, and

Lebanon,with religious importance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three of these faiths

have major roots to their religions derived from this land. For Christians, the holy land is said to

be the place where Jesus, Christians’ leader, taught and lived during his lifetime. In contrast,

Jewish people believe that God promised them this land and that it should be rightfully theirs,

whereas Muslims feel their holiest cities are located in this same area. This has obviously raised

significant problems and tensions among these religions and has unfortunately lead to more

violence on this land than any other in the world.

According to the source Wikipedia, the Christian Crusades were the first acts of violence

in this area of holy land and the Crusades were designed to restore Christian control of the holy

land from Muslim rule and were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and

1291. Historically, this reveals how long the violence has been occurring. Dating from this time

period, there has never been peace in this area of the world. Christians are to blame for the

uneasiness in the holy land mainly because of historical evidence that was displayed in the

crusades and has never been resolved. Tragically still today, we still suffer from these problems

that were never fixed.

The desire to control the holiest land in the world to so many people has brought many

different cultures into violence. Jews, whose religion is based upon the Old Testament of the

Bible, have long fought violent wars against Palestinians and Muslims living in this specific area
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to retain their land and home. The reason for the violence in the holy land is simple and direct.

Christians, Muslims, and Jews each desire to own this sacred geographic location.

One may argue, however, that the actual tension between these religions in the holy land

has nothing to do with these faiths and rather has everything to do with border control and

security in this land. I agree that these issues are important and prevalent in the area, but the

issue at hand for decades and topic of main concern has always been the violence due to

religious beliefs and Christianity that has lead to insurmountable deaths. These religious groups

continue to engage in wars in this area in the name of God.

Lastly, the manipulation of Christianity and religious teachings has caused discrimination

against minority groups in America and has lead to incredible amounts of violence over the

years. America is a country that has been created on the fundamental principles of the Christian

faith from its founding fathers. However, Christianity has historically been directed in such a

way by some to use God's name as a strong influence in bias, hatred, and violence in America.

Slavery is one of the biggest contributors to this violence in America resulting in part

from a manipulation of Christianity. Misinterpretations of Biblical texts and the Bible caused

Christianity to serve as a contributor to the discrimination of African Americans in the U.S. The

Civil War is a prime example of this violence in America, where a version of Christianity was

used in attempt to promote slavery in this debate and the Civil War was prompted by the acts of

slavery. Because of the misinterpretations of biblical texts, Christianity is the root of why the

Civil War began.

In addition, the women’s suffrage movement in America faced opposition from

traditional Christian groups. These Christian groups used an interpretation of Christianity to

attempt to maintain women in the home and outside of the workplace. Bible verses were often

used during the suffrage movement against women. The quote, “Thy desire shall be to thy

husband, and he shall rule over thee," comes from the book of Genesis and was used in

opposition to the women's rights movement to assert that the husband should rule over his wife.

The argument was made that women should to maintain the household, submitting fully to their

husbands, bearing children, and raising them for Christ. Like slavery, women’s suffrage was a

major crisis the United States had to face and go through. If Christians were able to interpret the

Bible like it was intended, slavery and women’s suffrage movements could have been mended in

a less violent and devastating fashion like it had on the victims of these problems.

In conclusion, Christianity has been a source of conflict, violence, and manipulation

and has been a main cause of world violence both throughout history and recently, as the

evidence has shown. However, this violence is not due to the fact that there are Christians in the

world; rather, Christianity as a religion has caused the violence between other various religions,

cultures, nations, and even between groups within the United States. Christianity has caused

more aggression and cruelty between nations than any other source today, and the manipulation

of Christian texts has lead to devastating events for men and women throughout the world.

Individuals throughout history have used the name of God to support their own agendas and

political beliefs, and recent history has shown that various groups remain willing to die in the

name of God for their religion.

Works Cited

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Web. 20 Sep 2010.

<http://w ww .beyondintractability.org/es say/religion_and_conflict/?

nid=6725>.

"Crusades." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 28 November 2010.

Web.

Little, D avid. Peace, Jus tice, and Religion . New Y ork, New York: Oxford

University P ress, 2006. 149-175. Print.

M armur , Rabbi Dow . "Is faith source of conflict or peace? Remarks by Rabbi

Dow Marmur at a symposium at Tyndale University College and

S eminary, Toronto, M ay 30, 2005." Catholic New Times (2005): 1-3.

Web. 20 Sep 2010.

<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0M KY /is_11_29/ai_n14858518/?

tag=content;col1> .

Poole, Patrick. "Islams Global War against Christianity." American Thinker

(2010): 1. Web. 30 Nov 2010.

<http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/07/islams_global_war

R oberts , S ir Adam. Just P eace: A Caus e Worth F ighting For . New Y ork, New

York: Oxford U nivers ity Press, 2006. 52-89. Print.

The English Standard Version Bible:  Containing the Old and New Testaments with

Apocrypha.  Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.  Print.

Wooldridge, M ike. "Can Religion be blamed for War?." BBC News . N.p.,

F ebruary 2004. Web. 11 Oct 2010.

<http://new s.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes /w tw tgod/3513709.stm