Today's Religious Wars

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Today's Religious Wars

By Mike Haran
Aug. 4, 2006

Since the time wars of the Crusades and those following the nailing of Martin Luther's thesis upon the door of a church the west has been largely spared wars of religion. Northern Ireland and Kosovo are but a small bubble upon this otherwise clear canvas. In the rest of the world wars based upon religion are on the increase. Religion was the impetus that pushed the soviet union out of Afghanistan. Following the soviet ouster the religious factions continued to fight, this time among themselves, in order to decide who was to rule Afghanistan.Afghan civil war Sri Lanka's Tamil Sinhalese conflict seems to have been going on for ever as do those to the north in Kashmir. Israel’s wars are now viewed as a normal part of the social landscape. Those occurring within Mesopotamia have now drawn in the western nations.

It would seem that in order to diffuse these situations, or at least ensure their countries safety, those in the west responsible for foreign policy should take some kind of a crash course regarding the ins and outs of religious conflict. It is not the duty of any government to introduce democracy into areas of conflict. As the late Alister Cooke said in one of his broadcast-if President Bush thinks he is going to impose democracy upon any country within in the Middle East he must be awfully naive.

A good place to start would be 17th century France. External pressure created by the thirty years war(1618-1648)threatened to tear the country apart. Gallicanism, Orthodox Catholicism, Jansenism, the Jesuits and the Dominicans were the main contenders for power within the religious sphere. By adroitly choosing her allies from among all of the European competing factions she managed not only to come out intact but also stronger then ever.

17th century France

Now that the UN has set in motion a draft statement regarding its possible involvement within the Middle East it is interesting to note that France has stated that although willing to commit troops, she will first require a stated game plan. France must be hearkening back to her own history before committing to what is essentially (in the opinion of the Arabs anyway) a religious war.

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About the author: Read Mike Haran's essays on history at http://www.geocities.com/manzikertca/

Email: manzikertca@yahoo.com

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