1. Religious Conflicts

2. Fundamentalism (return to the basics, often literal interpretation of a faith)
Religion vs. social change
often reaction to loss of control
Iran 1979
→ extremism
Fundamentalism + violence
9/11 attacks by al-Qaeda
Taliban vs. women’s rights
ISIS terrorism/beheadings
Jihadists = holy war vs. non-believers

4. Intrareligious conflict in Christianity (historical)
Post-Reformation
Wars of Religion (1520s – 1648)
→ Dutch Republic
French Huguenots massacred
English Civil War
Thirty Years’ War
German, Czech pop. ↓ 30%
Peace of Westphalia
Est. nation-state system
Freedom of religion
Enlightenment →
French Revolution, Communism leads to secularism

5. Religious Conflict Religion vs. communism Soviet Union/Eastern Europe
represses religion
revival since fall of communism.
Communist China
persecutes religion
“official” freedom of religion
oppresses Buddhism in Tibet
Hinduism resists social equality
Caste system
Dalits/untouchables
Outlawed by govt.
Buddhists advocate/resist social change in SE Asia
Vietnam in the 1960s
Myanmar (Burma) now
“anti-Islamic”

6. Percent “non-religious”

8. Culture Clash in Europe Islamic fundamentalism (extremism. ) vs
Culture Clash in Europe Islamic fundamentalism (extremism?) vs. European secularism (xenophobia?)
Violent attacks by extremists on those who insult their religious sensibilities.
Charlie Hebdo, cartoon
Theo van Gogh, Dutch filmmaker
Is this a true religious conviction or the consequence of ghettoization?
Bans against demonstration of religiosity (burkinis, minarets, niqabs)

9. Islamic dress bans How are these a reflection of Islamic beliefs?
niqab
burkini
Why might secular Europeans object to these?

10. Culture Clash in Europe Islamic fundamentalism (extremism. ) vs
Culture Clash in Europe Islamic fundamentalism (extremism?) vs. European secularism (xenophobia?)
Violent attacks by extremists on those who insult their religious sensibilities.
Charlie Hebdo, cartoon
Theo van Gogh, Dutch filmmaker
Is this a true religious conviction or the consequence of ghettoization?
Bans against demonstration of religiosity (burkinis, minarets, niqabs)
anti-immigrant policies
rise of right wing nationalism

11. Religious conflict hotspots

12. Intrareligious or “sectarian”
Northern Ireland
Ireland partitioned in 1921
North stays part of UK
“The Troubles”
Began in late-1960s
Reaction to discrimination against Catholics
Leads to sectarian violence
terrorism

16. Intrareligious or “sectarian”
Northern Ireland
Ireland partitioned in 1921
North stays part of UK
“The Troubles”
Began in late-1960s
Reaction to discrimination against Catholics
Leads to sectarian violence
terrorism
Tentative power-sharing peace since 1998.

19. Sunni vs. Shi’a Sunni Shia Millennium old conflict
Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, 40% Iraq, North Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc.
Shia
Iran, 60% Iraq, Syrian dictator (“Alawite”)
Pockets in Yemen, other
Millennium old conflict
Underlies regional conflicts and conflicts within countries
Syria, Iraq, Yemen, etc.

20. Interreligious Conflict

21. Christianity vs. Islam Historical
Battle of Tours (732 AD)
Reconquista in Spain (700 years)
Crusades (11th – 13th centuries)
Ottoman Turks lay siege to Vienna 2x
Current
Balkans
Caucasus
Southern Philippines
West Africa

22. Religious conflict hotspots

23. Nigeria (West Africa) 50/50% Muslim/Christian Boko Haram
2009 – present
demand nationwide sharia law
execution for apostasy, death for female adulterers, homosexuals
escalating violence
Kidnappings, bombings, government counterattacks
Why? religious fervor or…
North lacks development
Competition for arable land in Central zone as north desertifies.

24. Christians attack Muslims in the former Yugoslavia
Ethnic cleansing
Bosnia (1992 – 95)
Muslims cleansed by Serbs/Croats
Dayton Accords reward aggression
Kosovo (1999)
Albanians cleansed by Serbs
Stopped by NATO airstrikes

26. Ethnic Cleansing Rewarded!