2008 Woodie Awards
Ruckus Redirected to Religion
Andy Feher
Issue date: 4/25/07 Section: Opinion
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In the last two years, blaming religion for the world's ills has become vogue. A fusillade of books - most notably, "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris - document the alledgedly destructive effects of religion. Their popularity is evidenced by months on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Even with the avalanche of criticism - some of it warranted - there are better reasons to explain conflicts around the globe.
Take the apparent civil war in Iraq, for example. The Sunni-Shia rift, dating back nearly 1,400 years over the succession of the prophet Muhammad, speciously bares the brunt of the blame for warfare.
The real culprit of the bloodshed is power. In international relations, power becomes a zero-sum game. Simply put, as Sunnis lose power, Shias gain. Saddam Hussein defended the minority Sunnis against Shia rebellions. Once Hussein was toppled, Sunnis lost power and have been fighting to reclaim it ever since.
Merely labeling Iraq a religiously motivated civil war evades complex internal divisions. There are multiple wars going on inside the Mahdi Army, a Shia militia. According to US military and intelligence officials, 23 militias inhabit Iraq, and most are fighting for mutually exclusive objectives.
Another clash in the Middle East falsely attributed to religion is the Israeli-Palestinian issue. It's not about Jews against Muslims, but a problem of real estate.
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel annexed Sinai, the Golan Heights and Gaza. Israel has returned large portions of land, but the Palestinian unity government of Hamas and Fatah remains stubborn. Hamas refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist or renounce violence until Israel returns to the pre-1967 borders.
To make matters worse, Fatah's leader, Mahmoud Abbas, downplayed the Holocaust in his dissertation, and he's considered the voice of moderation responsible for reconciliation.
A constant power struggle makes the Hamas-Fatah coalition weak. Since Hamas ended Fatah's 40-year hold on power in January 2006, violence between the two parties has continued unabated. In March, Hamas supporters fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the home of a Fatah senior commander, wounding seven and killing one.
Even with the avalanche of criticism - some of it warranted - there are better reasons to explain conflicts around the globe.
Take the apparent civil war in Iraq, for example. The Sunni-Shia rift, dating back nearly 1,400 years over the succession of the prophet Muhammad, speciously bares the brunt of the blame for warfare.
The real culprit of the bloodshed is power. In international relations, power becomes a zero-sum game. Simply put, as Sunnis lose power, Shias gain. Saddam Hussein defended the minority Sunnis against Shia rebellions. Once Hussein was toppled, Sunnis lost power and have been fighting to reclaim it ever since.
Merely labeling Iraq a religiously motivated civil war evades complex internal divisions. There are multiple wars going on inside the Mahdi Army, a Shia militia. According to US military and intelligence officials, 23 militias inhabit Iraq, and most are fighting for mutually exclusive objectives.
Another clash in the Middle East falsely attributed to religion is the Israeli-Palestinian issue. It's not about Jews against Muslims, but a problem of real estate.
After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel annexed Sinai, the Golan Heights and Gaza. Israel has returned large portions of land, but the Palestinian unity government of Hamas and Fatah remains stubborn. Hamas refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist or renounce violence until Israel returns to the pre-1967 borders.
To make matters worse, Fatah's leader, Mahmoud Abbas, downplayed the Holocaust in his dissertation, and he's considered the voice of moderation responsible for reconciliation.
A constant power struggle makes the Hamas-Fatah coalition weak. Since Hamas ended Fatah's 40-year hold on power in January 2006, violence between the two parties has continued unabated. In March, Hamas supporters fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the home of a Fatah senior commander, wounding seven and killing one.
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