Religion is Violent: A New Atheist Perspective - [University Name]

This essay delves into the contentious relationship between religion and violence, focusing on the arguments presented by the "new atheist" perspective. It begins by defining religion and introducing the core tenets of new atheism, which emphasizes the potential for religion to incite violence. The essay then provides a historical overview of religious violence, examining instances from the Roman Empire and the Crusades, as well as contemporary examples such as the US involvement in Afghanistan and the rise of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram. The essay further explores how political conflicts are often intertwined with religious ideologies, leading to extremism and intolerance. It analyzes specific cases in Nigeria and Sri Lanka, highlighting the roles of religious leaders and institutions in fostering conflict. The essay critiques the new atheist claims and offers a comprehensive analysis of how religion can contribute to global animosity, drawing upon historical and contemporary examples to support its claims.

Running Head: RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
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1RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
The fundamental idea of religion is that it is a medium or a dogma that connects human
beings with divinity. The term ‘religion’ is derived from the Latin word “religio” which connotes
a moral bond and self consciousness related to God. However, the literal meaning is to some
extent differed from its practical trend (VanAernum 2014). It can be argued that in the 21st
century there are a number of incidents that are directly related to religious atrocity (Blyth,
Colgan and Edwards 2018). In fact, violence in religion is not a new phenomenon, ample of
evidences derived from the past can prove a correlation between terror and religion. Since
classical age Christianity and its followers are predominantly tried to suppress individual voice
and the next popular religion in the world, Islam in its core believes possesses some kind of
violent habits (Syed et al. 2016). In this context, atheism in terms of practicality and rational
approach was developed side by side with the rise of religion. The term ‘new atheism’ gained
popularity in Britain in 2006 through a number of scholarly articles and popular perception
(McAnulla 2014). Based on a secular fundamentalism the ‘new atheist’ approach is solely puts
emphasis on the adversity of religion (Gray 2015). Despite immense criticism from the religious
side, the new approach of atheism became intensely popularised because of their rational
approach and strive for knowledge. In addition to this, it can be argued that the increasing
atrocities caused by religious institutions or individuals in the name of divinity makes people so
much fearful and concerned at the same time about the consequences of belonging to a religion.
The basic idea of religion itself creates a negative identity which further fosters people to lose
their faith in religion. In response to that the purpose of this essay is to figure out the role of
religion in society and the way it can spread animosity across the globe. In fact, the discussion
extends its dimension by analysing the relevance of the new atheist claim of religion creates
violence. Therefore, the essay puts focus on some religion endorsed violence and its past history.

2RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
With this a prolong discussion on the religious violence in recent times has also been taken into
the discussion.
It can be argued that new atheist claim on religion causing violence is facing a series of
criticism. The fundamentalist approach of the atheists is going into speculation which damages
the real motive of new atheism. Despite facing challenges in their course of understanding, the
claim about religion that it is associated with terror, has gained appreciation from a number of
secular person.
While analysing the role of religion in violence it is imperative to track the practice of
religious violence from the past. Since the ancient age religion has been considered as an
effective tool of aggression. In fact, during the reign of Roman emperors, the civilization had
expanded its territory by converting people of other religion mercilessly and with an act of terror
(Aslan and Hermansen 2017). It can also be asserted that during the medieval period, religious
clash between Islam and Christianity in the name of Crusade was so intense and fierce that it
ushered a communal clash across the world (Martin 2016). In the People’s Crusade, thousands of
Jews were slaughtered for the sake of protecting religion. It was known as the Rhineland
massacres (Buc 2015). In fact, there were nine times in the ancient age that communal clashes
had been taking in place between Islam and Christianity. The spread of atrocities and violence
due to the intention of expanding religion impacted very badly for the poor and common people.
Moreover, killing of people in the name of cleansing witchcraft was also considered to be
inhuman and never suits the very notion of religion (Geljon and Roukema 2014). It can also be
stated that an essence of violence bestows in both Christianity and Islam. According to the law of
Sharia beheading, stoning and flogging are considered to be legal as judicial and extrajudicial
practise. It further makes the Islamic violence more specific by using the term Jihad and Mujahid

3RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
(Cook 2015). The meaning of Jihad, to protect Islam by external threat, is now associated with
the term terror in such a manner that jihad juxtaposes the term terror. In Christianity as well
violence is lingered prominently with religion. It can be argued that the crucifixion of Jesus was
a sheer example of violence which was against humanity (Salamati et al. 2015).
In order to understand the violent attitude of religion in recent times it is important to
keep focus on the political conflicts of each country which are closely related to religion.
According to Max Weber, there is a close affinity between politics and religion (Kaplan 2017).
Moreover, religious outrages are often transformed into political conflicts. The religious
dimension of political violence can easily be seen in case of the US occupation in Afghanistan.
As famous American historian Samuel P. Huntington aptly remarked that the conflict between
US and Islamic states was a ‘clash of civilisation’ which was broadly based on religion (Piri and
Piri 2016). The US invasion in Afghanistan in 2001 has been regarded an instance of religious
atrocity. In his comments about the military deployment in Afghanistan the then President of
America Mr. George W. Bush Jr. remarked that it was an act of retaliation against the terror
manifested by Islam and as a protector of Christianity it is the responsibility of America to
neutralise any kind of threat to religion (Saiya and Scime 2015). In fact, during the US
occupation in Syria and Iraq, the inhabitants of those countries identified America as heathen and
evil in the eyes of Allah.
Terrorism as an act of protecting religion became a trend after the attack of 9/11 in the
year 2001. Al- Qaeda, the terrorist organisation of Afghanistan admitted their direct involvement
in that attack and justified this punitive measure by claiming it a Jihad against the Christian
domination (Brubaker 2015). After the assassination of Al-Qaeda chief Osama-bin- Laden in
2011 most if the American people treated it as a victory over Islam. A petty idea of religious

4RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
enmity circulated all over the world and even today the role of US and Israel in the Middle East
region can be recognised is associated with a religious overtone. In response to this, it is
imperative to understand the diverse culture of both the countries based on religion. In the name
of religion the Middle East countries formulates radicalisation and hostile environment to
practice other faiths unlike Islam. In order to provide the so called liberal approach of western
civilisation the European countries and U.S. are trying to intervene in the regional politics of
Middle East (Cammack and Muasher 2016). This political outlook of the Western domination
was further indoctrinated with Christianity and perturbed the political and cultural environment
of Middle East. In response to this the Islamic countries initiated a counter action plan to protect
Islam which became furbish with terrorism.
In fact, the world is now perceived a sense of religious extremism which is in many
senses similar to the militant nationalism which perverted the world before the advent of First
World War. In recent times, most of the countries are arguably focusing on protecting their
religion in a manner that instigated the sense of fundamentalism. Religion is resembled to
simplicity and is supposed to create peace and prosperity for human beings. On the contrary,
religion posed a serious threat to humanity. In order to understand the effect of religion in
enhancing intolerance, it can be asserted that the African continent is facing a severe challenge
originated by the religion. Boko Haram, the extremist Islamic group who are strongly active in
Nigeria are being accused with the massacre of 5000 people since 2009 (Agbiboa and Maiangwa
2014). In fact, dethrone of the secular government and developed a religion and ethnic tension all
over the country are straightforwardly put question about the role of religion. The Maitatsine
movement in Nigeria was developed by an Islamic preacher named Muhammadu Marwa who
was going to restore the tradition of Islam in the country which was according to him ravaged

5RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
due to the introduction of modernisation (Perliger and Pedahzur 2016). Several numbers of
people were murdered and butchered in the hand of the followers of Marwa which erected a
trend of religious violence in Nigeria. In this context, Boko Haram came into existence in
Nigeria from 2002 (Stone 2016). The name of this terrorist group personifies their hostility
towards western education and in the name of Allah they are taking punitive measures like
killing mercilessly, abduction, kidnapping and using suicide vests. In a interview with BBC
journalists the leader Mohammed Yusuf asserted that the evil feature of modern education
damages the idea of Islam. Hence they would strictly continue taking measures against
Christianity. The militant group has a close link with Al-Qaeda and a top ranking spokesperson
of Boko Haram in 2011 had corroborated the fact that they have a strong connection with the
terrorist groups in Afghanistan who help them by providing training and financial support. It is in
fact can be Argued that Boko Haram is going to control the entire terrorist activity in Nigeria. In
this context, the radical extremist group is divided into a number of small group spread over the
entire country. In this scenario it can also be argued that recent researches on the activity and
structural framework of Boko Haram have reflected a growing trend of participation of Nigerian
people specifically the Muslims in large number into the rebel groups. This is not because of
frustration or lack of healthy lifestyle but the most evident reason behind this is the impact of
religion. The Boko Haram group was founded on the principles of attacking modernisation and
rendering a terrorist occupation by recruiting young Nigerians. Religion plays a major role in
solidify the members of Boko Haram into a concept of brotherhood which is detrimental for
Nigeria as well as for the rest of the world in preserving and maintaining peace.
Besides the emerging tensions between Islam and Christianity violence can also be seen
in other parts of the continent comprised with various types of religion. It will be better if the

6RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
discussion is going to shift its focus from Islam versus Christianity to the East Asian perspective.
The Asian continent is highly dominated by Buddhism and its principles. From Mongolia to the
Philippines the whole East Asia is influenced by Buddhism (Le 2016). In respect to that the
discussion is going to emphasise the relationship between violence and Buddhism. In many
Buddhist countries people were fighting in the name of religion where as Buddhism in theory
preaches the message of peace. However, in case of Sri Lanka, the country had a long history of
battle between the Buddhist Sri Lankans and the Tamil minorities. In order to get a clear picture
it is important to analyse the role of Buddhism in instigating the ethnic battle between Sinhalese
and the Tamils. The head of the Sinhala Buddhist community Athuraliye Rathana ventilated his
agitation towards the Tamils during the Sri Lankan Civil War (Cragun 2015). In due course the
Buddhist community also put pressure on the government to crush the Tamil outbreak. In fact,
the Sinhalese Buddhist followed a hard line while dealing with the Tamils of Sri Lanka. War
against the Tamils was further supported by monk Rathana who wanted to create a country only
for the Sinhalese. It is true that the LTTE, who fought for the rights of Tamil inhabitants of Sri
Lanka, was a terrorist organisation and had to be suppressed. In addition to this, a significant fact
was the role of a religious leader in this context. In the backdrop of the civil war in Sri Lanka the
exponents of religion are supposed to keep peace in the region but in case of Sri Lanka, the
situation had changed and continuous speaking against the Tamils created an impetus of violence
which heightened the situation. Moreover, there was a tradition of participating in war among the
Chinese Buddhist monks in the medieval period. The monks had also taken part in various
punitive tasks in fighting against Dharma.
The Rohingya crisis added a new flavour into the discussion. This incident was the most
recent activity staged in Myanmar in 2017 (Hasan 2017). At the start of 2017, the Rohingyas of

7RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
Myanmar had fled their homes and started immigrating in neighbouring Bangladesh and India.
The estimated number of 7 lakh Rohingyas entered into the border of Bangladesh and India as a
state sponsored outraged had spread over the region. According to the UN report it was a perfect
act of ethnic cleansing which was conducted by the Myanmar government. As the government
report it was claimed that the Myanmar armed forces took a retaliatory action to suppress the
Rohingya militants (Amin, Islam and Lopez-Claros 2016). It was also alleged that the minority
Rohingyas of Myanmar have a close connection with international terrorist organisations like
ISIS. Despite of the government claims, there is no doubt in claiming that religious
underpinnings also a pivotal factor in the crisis.
Before going into the role of religion in ethnic violence, it is necessary to identify the
different kind of religions that the conflicting parties have possessed. Traditionally Myanmar is
considered to be a pre-dominantly Buddhist state where the Buddhist people enjoy most of the
privileges. Rohingyas are primarily the ethnic minorities of Myanmar who practise the Islam as
their core religion. Most of them did live in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. It was claimed by
some scholars that the Rohingyas have an Arab lineage and descendants of the Arab traders.
Therefore, it was obvious for the Rohingya people to build up their own religion and culture
which was distinctive from the mainstream custom of Myanmar. In the light of this, in 2014 the
Buddhist Myanmar government was refused to give the Rohingyas the citizenship rights and as a
result of that they became the illegal occupants of Myanmar lands which the government did not
want to entertain (Hasan 2017). In fact, the enmity between the two groups was not a recent
event. It had its roots since the advent of the Arab traders. Historically, the Arabs were tried to
grab the power in Myanmar and started a clash with the existed Buddhist institutions in that

8RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
region. However, the initiatives of the Arabs got in vain but the essence of bitterness started to
develop in return.
In response to this, the Buddhist government did not want to give the Rohingyas the right
to citizenship and ushered a new phenomenon of ethnic violence. It was reported that at least
6700 Rohingyas are killed and their daughters and sisters got raped and abused by the Myanmar
army. The attack was continued up to one month in which the Rohingyas lost their home and
shelter (Hasan 2017).
It can be argued that the crisis was an act of political manoeuvrings but a strong impact of
religion always perceived there. The prolonged clash between the Rohingyas and the Buddhist
followers perturbed the very nature of the political environment of Myanmar which further
affected the socio-cultural condition of the country. The conflict was at first started in 2012
between the Rakhine Buddhists and the Muslims (Hasan 2017). A number of rape and sexual
assault had been reported by both the community and lack of government initiatives escalated the
tension intensely. Despite the absence of government intervention, tremendous threats and
hostility professed by both the religion was also considered to be a grave threat for the Myanmar
people. It can be seen during the Meiktila violence in 2013 where at least 10 Muslims and 20
Buddhist people were sentenced because of their link to the communal unrest. This religious
overtone to the political outbreak proved the violent nature of religion and created a popular
perception of the ungodly nature of religion.
In course of the discussion it can be argued that it was the to some extent the presence of
Islam which can affect the stability of the world and not only this, in most of the cases there is a
continuous hostility between Islam and the rest of the religions. It is in fact the presence of Jihad

9RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
that widens the dimension of popular perception towards Islam. At present, the term connotes the
similar tone of terrorism and using the word as an example of spreading atrocities. Therefore, it
is important to understand the actual meaning of Islam and the role of religion in recent times. In
response to this, it is also necessary to understand that the versatile nature of religion can be
posed an obstacle for attaining peace and prosperity across the world. The new atheist perception
is strongly aware of the fact that people are driven so vigorously by the impact of violence in
religion that the aspect and concept of religion becomes shattered (Taira 2016).
It can be asserted that religion was constructed for the need of the people but the way
religion is set to go for introducing violence, it poses a severe threat to humanity. Religion as a
whole not in particular can create an adverse impression and is going towards this. It will lead
towards the growing intolerance among people to create instability and chaos in the name of
religion. On the contrary, a close relationship with rationality and pragmatism can foster
development and progress in individual life. It is the responsibility of people to get proper
education and enlightened by the liberal approach rather than bogged down into the core
principles of religion. Religion is meant to be practised for inner peace and not to create
atrocities and violence. It means religion is based on its followers and must have resembled a
humanitarian approach. Therefore, it can be concluded that, violence in the name of religion
must not be tolerated and in respect to the present scenario the role of religion about restoring the
moral value is not working properly. The rational approach with more proneness towards
humanity should be followed which can stop the religious violence and prevail a secular practical
humanitarian approach because this world is full of men and there is no room for God.

10RELIGION IS VIOLENT: A NEW ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE
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