Christianity and Islam: comparative religious traditions

Christianity and Islam

Both Christianity and Islam are so much a part of human civilization that it is hard to imagine a world without them. However, both these major world religions began as humble sects with a small group of followers. That small group grew and grew, until it became large enough to amass significant political, financial, and cultural capital. Via a series of religious crusades, both Christianity and Islam used violence, force, and multiple types of warfare to impose their dogmatic belief systems on the indigenous peoples in conquered regions. Therefore, these two religions highlight the role of religion as a means of social control. The religions continue to serve as means of social control, but currently conversions are more common than crusades.

Moreover, the history and evolution of Christianity and Islam show how religion can become a unifying force. Christianity and Islam both united disparate people and diverse cultures under a common umbrella. Islam has embraced peoples as diverse as Turks and Arabs; Christianity has encompassed peoples from Native Americans to Africans and Teutonic tribes. Although Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world, it is Islam that remains the fastest growing (The University of Calgary, 1998).

Psychological and sociological methods of growing their base of followers include the use of fear as a powerful motivation. A fear of God and of the Day of Judgment, common to both religions, has always been a powerful impetus to follow a religion and its fundamental tenets. In addition to fear, Christianity and Islam also capitalized on the sense of security that belonging to a group can bring. Christianity was especially adept at adapting the teachings of Jesus, upon which the religion was based, to the local customs and traditions. For example, Christianity grew rapidly in Europe because it was able to forge its myths from the folklore and customs of Germanic and Scandinavian pagan groups. Islam retained a stronger core set of beliefs that effectively replaced the tribal and shamanistic practices of the peoples upon which the religion was imposed. In their first few centuries of development, both Christianity and Islam also capitalized on their lowly social status and political persecution by playing the underdog card.

Although both Christianity and Islam began as relatively small religious groups, they morphed into major world religions. These two religions also possess significant political clout throughout the world and especially in the regions in which they thrive. For example, Christianity retains a stranglehold on the religious fundamentalists in the United States and Islam retains a similar grip on the religiously fundamental extremists in the Middle East. A sense of self-righteousness characterizes the way fundamentalist followers perpetuate their dogmas and doctrines.