Interfaith and Intrafaith Boundaries

Religion, Culture, and Conflict

Some Key Culture concepts:• Ethnicity: Identity with or membership in a particular racial,

national, or cultural group and observance of that group's customs, beliefs, and language.

• Proselytize: to try to convert another person to your religion (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism… proselytizing religions)

• Fundamentalism: literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion… leads to extremism (and usually terrorism)

• Maladaptive diffusion: diffusion of a process with negative side effects or What works in one region may not in another.

• Globalization: the development of worldwide patterns of cultural, political, and economic relationships (fueled by: diffusion, acculturation, assimilation)

• Cultural Ecology: the geographic study of human environmental relationships

• Sequent Occupancy: refers to such cultural succession and its lasting imprint (Derwent Whittlesey)

Something to remember:

• Language and religion are two of the most powerful forces shaping the geography of culture. As much as language and religion can serve to unify and conserve a culture, when differences between cultures (or even within a culture) surface, the result is often devastatingly destructive conflict.

Sources of Conflict• Interfaith boundaries: the boundaries between the

world’s major faiths. Many countries that lie on or near interfaith

boundaries are subject to a greater potential for conflict caused by any religious difference that arises.

such as….

Nigeria• Remember, Nigeria is a polyglot state, it also

happens to lie on an interfaith boundary. The north is Muslim(Hausa-Fulani) and the south is Christian and Animist (Yoruba, Ibo).

• The north is calling for an “Islamic Republic” and pres. has permitted admittance into ICO

• Fundamentalism is increasing… consequences?– Cultural significance– OPEC producer #4– Loss of a model of cooperation = far-reaching

implications

Sudan• Muslim north and Christian south interfaith boundary• 60% of total pop live in north and are non-Arab

Muslim• Long-standing ethnic and religion-based civil war…

very, very brutal. • Government imposed sharia law destroying potential

for compromise or easy solutions. Result:– Refugees– Genocide– Regional political tension and conflict

janjaweed

Sudanese refugees in Chad

The Horn of Africa• Ethiopia’s complicated spot on the interfaith

boundary line has resulted in revolution in the 1990s. As a result, Muslim Somalia and Eritrea were created.

• Somalia is a governmentless no-man’s land. (think wild west, only with landmines, assult riffles, and RPGs… and starvation is used as a weapon)

Coptic Christianity (Ethiopian Highlands)

Downtown Mogadishu

South Asia• The end of WWII marked the end of British colonial

rule in the ‘subcontinent.’ That opportunity for political independence created another problem:

• There is an interfaith boundary cutting through the vast region which became a political boundary creating Pakistan. The creation of an Islamic Pakistan (and Bangladesh) produced one of the greatest mass migrations in modern times as Hindus moved out of the newly-created Pakistan and Muslims moved out of India toward the new Islamic states. Ever since, fighting has been ongoing over land and resource ownership disputes.

S. Asia, Points of Tension:• Contested territories: Jammu and Kashmir (mixed

population of Hindus and Muslims)• Sikh demand for an independent state (Khalistan) in

the Punjab (N.W. India) became violent in the 80s and continues.

• Shrine at Ayodhya (sacred to both Hindus and Muslims) became (and still is) a battleground

• “Save Hinduism” marches produce a Hindu militancy that hasn’t been seen in centuries (Hindu Fundamentalism)

Kashmir

Kashmir

Former USSR• The creation of the Soviet Union brought under one

flag hundreds of regional ethnic groups, many of which participated in the revolution.

• Even under the Czar, the empire was fractured religiously with E. Orthodox in the west and Islam in the steppes of the east and south.

• As the Soviet Union gathered territories in the Caucasus region (Armenia and Azerbaijan) and in the “stan” region of central Asia, they controlled some VERY strongly religious groups.

• Communist ideology supported no religion, in fact, they were attempting to create an atheistic state and took measures to do just that.

Collapse of the USSR• The collapse in 1989 meant that the individual republics

would become independent states, which many thought would be wonderful… it turned out to be really really hard work. Here’s why:

• The soviets had created regional “state” governments that crossed over ethnic and religious lines (intentionally) and encouraged (sometimes forced) people to move into another territory creating enclaves. When the Union collapsed, so did the power authority. It led to almost instant fighting.

• As soviet control lifted, so did bans on religion. All sides went back to their religious traditions which also led to, and continues to lead to fighting.

E. OrthodoxSt. Basil’s Cathedral

Islam: Former USSR

• Central Asia

The Balkans: Former Yugoslavia• The former Ottoman Empire brought Islam to the region

and there’s been large pockets of Muslims ever since, creating many Interfaith boundaries around Bosnia (Sarajevo), Kosovo (in Serbia) and in Macedonia.

• Furthermore, there was also an intrafaith boundary between the Serbian Orthodox and the Catholic churches with Muslims caught in the middle.

• When Yugoslavia fell apart, the region descended into violent clashes fueled by ethno-national territorial aspirations. BUT, in order to make your own ethnic country, you’ve got to get rid of anyone who aren’t part of your ethnic group … the term “ethnic cleansing” is born.

Sri Lanka• The large island has been predominately Buddhist for

centuries, however, recently a growing population of Tamil-speaking Hindus have developed in the north and n.east.

• Since 1984 this group, led by a force called the “Tamil Tigers” have fought a war of secession… and its gotten very violent.

• Buddhist shrines were targeted and Hindu sites were attacked in retaliation.

• When India tried to negotiate peace (supporting the Buddhist gov.) Indian P.M. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.

• In 2002 there were peace negotiations resulting in truce.• The peace didn’t last and by 2008 the 25 yr old civil war

moved into it next phase with an all-out assult on the Hindu North by the Sri Lankan government forces. The Tamil Tigers were nearly decimated. They’re rebounding!

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (S.W. Asia)• After WWI (1919) the newly-created League of

Nations (the 1st UN) gave control of the former Ottoman Empire (loser) to the British (winner).

• The Jews of Europe sided with the Brits during the war. With British control of the holyland, the Jews were in a position to ask for a huge favor… the creation of Palestine, a national homeland for the Jews (zionism). The League of Nations agreed.

• As European Jews streamed into Palestine, the fighting erupted almost immediately. The Ethnic Palestinians had been waiting for centuries to shake off Ottoman rule so that THEY could have their own state… and now it was filling with European Jews.

UN Partition Plan & war for independence

1967 Six-Days War Jewish Settlements in disputed territory

Just before the post-war influx

• After WWII (and the Holocaust) many more Jews flooded into the region. In the postwar negotiations, the UN voted to partition the region into two states, Israel and Palestine… one for each.

• The surrounding Arab states responded with violence and attacked… The Jewish state survived and even gained territory. (Israeli Independence) Palestinians flee into Arab borders and set up Refugee camps in Gaza Strip and W.Bank

• 1967 Six-Days War… Israeli preemptive strike, they take: Sinai Pen., Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, W.Bank. Refugee camps fall to Israeli control: tensions rise.

• Liberation/terrorist organizations have developed in an attempt to oust Israeli control: PLO, Hamas, Hezbolah

• Israeli gov. has permitted the building of Jewish settlements in the disputed territories taken in 1967, which has led to further violence.

No End in Sight…• Despite numerous peace negotiations (that fail due

to renig, assassination, or violence), the conflict continues. Key terms:

PLO, Yassir ArafatResolution #242 (Land for Peace)Camp David AccordsIntifada (1&2)Jewish settlementscheckpointPalestinian AuthorityHamas & Hezbolah

The development of Israel in Palestine has led to the creation of the most hotly contested and most violent interfaith boundary on the planet. This place is the hearth of three of the world’s most influential faiths… each fighting for control of a land that, in their mind, was given to them by their God.

… solutions for this complex problem are incredibly difficult to find.

Intrafaith Boundaries

• As you have already learned, religions often (over time) fracture into separate branches, denominations, or sects. When these groups occupy territory adjacent to one another, it creates an intrafaith boundary.

…here are a few:

Northern Ireland• For centuries Britain tried to occupy, and otherwise

acculturate Ireland… especially religiously. During that colonial period many British Protestants immigrated into the Catholic island. The Irish resisted but there wasn’t much they could do about it.

• In 1922 British colonialism in Ireland ceased… then the trouble began. There remained a 2/3 Protestant majority in N. Ireland who leveraged regional control politically and economically over the Catholic minority… this didn’t sit well with the rest of Ireland. Acts of terrorism against Protestant targets began and have escalated ever since.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA)

The Islamic RealmThe Sunni-Shiite Split:

The Conflict:• Even though they’re only 12% of the total Muslim

population, Shiite Muslims are VERY militant in their beliefs. They proclaim to be the TRUE followers of Muhammad and see the Sunni as blasphemers. The mix is a violent one:

• The Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s• Post Persian Gulf War in southern Iraq• Lebanon shirmishes• Violence during the hajj to Mecca