Tag: religion

Religions as revolutions

Posted on by kathiemm

By guest author Majed Ashy, Ph.D.

Moses and escape from Egypt
Israel's escape from Egypt. Image in public domain

From the time of…

  • Moses, who helped guide the Israelis out of slavery and oppression to freedom, to
  • Jesus, who preached equality and love and changed the whole human understanding of power structures, to
  • Mohammad, who fought tyranny and oppression in Arabia and preached for justice and human dignity …

… one can see that these religions were in some ways revolutions, forces against existing oppressive power structures and traditions.

No doubt, some of the followers of religions established their own oppressive power structures and committed violence, but violence and oppression can be committed by non-religious as well as religious individuals and forces.

What did any religion have to do with the 20 million people killed in WWI, or the 60 million killed in WWII?  With Vietnam, Korean, or Japanese wars, the Cambodian or Rwandan genocides, or the dropping of the nuclear bombs over Japanese civilians?  Or the oppression and killing of millions in Russia and Eastern Europe by Stalin and other dictators, or the oppression committed by military dictators in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, among many others?

Linking violence to one religion or another reflects:

  • Selective attention and reading of the history of violence and oppression that existed before and after any of these religions were established
  • Overlooking the role of religions and religious people in fighting oppression and contributing to humans’ well being in many areas of life
  • A dangerous way of offering unexamined answers that feed popular cultural prejudices and fears
  • A simplification of the problem of human violence,l which transcends race, culture, or religion

Instead of falsely attributing violence to religion, we need a serious scholarly non-ideological discussion to find the real roots of violence and the way toward greater peace.

To achieve peace, we need courage to look in the mirror and see our own faults before we point fingers at others, and we need courage in our struggle to be fair — even with those with whom we disagree.

Dr. Majed Ashy, assistant professor of psychology at Merrimack College and research fellow in psychiatry at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School

The immorality of torture

Posted on by kathiemm

[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today we are pleased to feature a book review by Carly Warren, who completed my course in Psychology of War and Peace this summer.]

Review of George Hunsinger’s Torture Is a Moral Issue: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and People of Conscience Speak Out

by C.J. Warren

In the aftermath of World War II, an international decree was established in an attempt to protect human rights. Following the events of September 11, 2001, the very same agencies that helped create and establish the international system for the protection of human rights began to reconsider it.

Torture is a Moral Issue book coverTorture, which is internationally forbidden under all circumstances, is now being openly presented and justified as a means to gain military intelligence. Consequently, the fundamental system that was established to protect all human rights has been weakened by its very own founders.

George Hunsinger’s edited collection, Torture Is a Moral Issue, sidesteps the question of whether torture is legally acceptable and instead asks if it is morally acceptable. This compilation of work, from almost two dozen active combatants and survivors of torture, turns to the basics of religion and morals to argue for an immediate end to the practice.

Hunsinger and contributors shift the focus of the torture debate from legalities and loopholes to moral values, thus taking it out of the shadows where governments have  justified its practice.

The book begins with background information that establishes the incidence and severity of torture, and importance of the debate. The dramatic firsthand accounts from a former U.S. military interrogator and torture survivor bring hard realism to the topic.

Muslim, Christian and Jewish arguments against torture form the bulk of the book. However, the religious theme is not overpowering, enabling both secular and religious individuals to understand and identify with its arguments.

This book has been described as hard-hitting because it refuses to let any justification for torture stand unchallenged. Its special value lies in the ethical and realistic advice on how to make changes and find solutions. Without knowledge and the will to understand, we cannot evolve or make strides towards eliminating this inhumane practice.

A recipe for tolerance on Thanksgiving

Posted on by kathiemm

What the first celebration of colonists and native people  symbolized more than anything else was the coming together in peace of people with different languages, different ethnicities, different cultures, and different religions.

U.S. Army soldiers eat Thanksgiving meal in Afghanistan, 2009
U.S. Army Soldiers eat their Thanksgiving meal on Combat Outpost Cherkatah, Khowst province, Afghanistan, Nov. 26, 2009. Photo in public domain; from Wikimedia Commons.

The Europeans were immigrants coming into a new land. It was the native peoples who helped assure their survival through the first winter, taught them much about farming, and celebrated with them their first successful crop.

Although George Washington issued the nation’s first proclamation for a day of Thanksgiving in 1789, it was not until the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, spurred by activist Sara Josepha Hale, that the November celebration was established as an annual national holiday. Lincoln’s proclamation urged all Americans to pray for “all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” These are words to live by.

Today when the drumbeat of hatred and intolerance grows louder, fueling wars worldwide, please use this Thanksgiving  to set aside your own prejudices. With your family and friends, reflect on how a key moment in U.S. history epitomized the principles of acceptance, open-mindedness and peace.

To help you set the table for tolerance, check out the Recipe for Diversity and Teaching Tolerance. And for more information about the history of Thanksgiving as a U.S. national holiday, you might enjoy this video.

Then liven up your menus with some recipes rooted in our historical traditions:
Stewed Pompion (Pumpkin)
Sullabub (a parfait-like precursor to eggnog)

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology
Pat Daniel, Managing Editor of Engaging Peace