Western religions: history, beliefs, and practices

¶ … Roots of Religious Conflicts

The three major religions in the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as their adherents (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) have for long periods in history been involved in violent conflicts against each other. This may seem surprising to some due to their common Abrahamic origins (all 3 faiths trace their origins to the Biblical Abraham) and several other similarities such as Monotheism (the belief in one God). However, distrust and conflict among the three religions continues even in the 21st century. In this essay we shall briefly examine the historical roots of the conflict, hatred, and war between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The oldest religion among the three is Judaism, dating back to more than three thousand years. Christianity grew out of the Jewish religion, initially as a Jewish Sect, about two thousand years ago. Islam too incorporates several practices of Judaism and recognizes most Biblical figures of Judaism and Christianity such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as its own "prophets." The Koran (the holy book of Muslims) also terms the Jews and Christians as people "of the Book" and acknowledges the holy scriptures of Jews and Christians as "words of God."

The Jewish people have since ancient times tended to keep their distinctive identity and have not assimilated into other cultures easily. This has perhaps been the major reason behind the hatred and prosecution that the Jews have faced at various times in history since it is a primitive human instinct to view with distrust and hostility all those who are not "one of us." (Lewis, "Historical Roots of Racism.") From the early history of Christianity, when the new religion was taking roots, the Jews were condemned as "killers of Christ" and hated for not having recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Like many early Christians, the famous theologian St. Augustine believed that the Jews should live in "a state of poverty and humiliation" as punishment for their refusal to acknowledge the new (and "true") revelation in Christ. (Harris, Para on "Spread of Christianity.") This lingering religious belief of Christians about Jews has resulted in their repeated prosecutions and virulent anti-Semitism.

The conflict between Islam and Christianity, on the other hand, is more of a.." combat for power, land, and soul." (Esposito quoted by Huntington, p. 209) According to Huntington, "Each has been the other's Other" and the fortunes of both religions have risen and fallen in a sequence of "momentous surges, pauses, and countersurges." Their rivalry also lays in the claim of "universality" of both religions, the parallel concepts of "jihad" and "crusade" and the common missionary belief among the adherents of both that they have an obligation to convert nonbelievers to the "one true faith."(Ibid. p.211) In the initial period of Islam's expansion in the seventh and eighth centuries Muslims conquered vast territories previously ruled by Christian Romans and Byzantines and the Christians launched the "crusades" towards the end of the 11th century to regain the "Holy Land" from the Muslims.