An artists depiction of the Ghost Dance
Religion has always had a revolutionary element; most religions began as a rebellion against one or another established order. Christianity began as a Jewish protest against behaviors and beliefs that the protesters felt were violations of God’s word. The gospels of the New Testament are clearly revolutionary in intent, as we shall see when we examine the emergence of liberation theology, while the Old Testament documents the struggles of people against what they believe is illegitimate authority.
The readings in this section each address the issue of religious protest. Throughout we need to ask the question to what extent religion contributes to the expansion of the culture of capitalism (as, for example, Western missionaries certainly did) and to what extent was it a vehicle for protest, as it seems to be in the case of Islamic and Christian Fundamentalisms, and as it seems to have been in the instance of indigenous religious movements such as the Ghost Dance and Cargo Cults?
A. Religion as Protest
Reading 1. Will Economism End in Time
hhttp://www.religion-online.org/article/will-economism-end-in-time/
John B. Cobb, Jr. has written extensively about the dangers of capitalist expansion and the role of community and religion in remedying the problems that it causes. In this article Cobb equates “economism,” “a world in which the economic order reigns,” with idolatry, and claims that Christians, as well as others, must resist it. The article is valuable for its historical treatment of the relationship between religion and capitalism. You can find other articles by Cobb (who is Professor of Theology Emeritus at the Claremont School of Theology)
Reading 2. Globalization and its Impact on Human Rights
This book, edited by Mathews George Chunakara, outlines the effects of globalization on human rights from a church perspective. It reveals the extent to which church officials are beginning to participate protesting some of the negative influences of global capitalism.
B. The Rise of Religious Fundamentalism
The presence of large-scale, religiously-based alternatives to the culture of capitalism made headlines with the Islamic revolution in Iran. Since that time, Islamic, Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, as well as other religious groups, have sought to gain political power by either creating their own state, or by increasing their participation in the politics of a specific nation-state. Yet the presence of religious opposition to the expansion of the Culture of Capitalism, as we describe in Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, goes back at least to the nineteenth century. Attitudes toward these movements vary enormously, even, as we shall see, among social scientists. Even term “fundamentalist,” is itself questioned by some, partially because of its negative connotations. Some writers suggest the term “religious nationalism,” but that too carries a negative meaning; in addition, most of the religious movements we will explore have political aspirations that go beyond national boundaries.
Reading 3. Fundmentalism in the World
In this review of Fundamentalisms Observed, edited by Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, Robert Wuthnow provides a good overview of the role of religious fundamentalisms worldwide. While emphasizing the differences among fundamentalist movements, Wuthnow describes some similarities. Fundamentalisms, for example, define themselves in opposition to modernity, concerned about the growing secularity of society. They also, according to Wuthnow, tend to be an annoyance to national governments and reinforce ideologies of male dominance. But Wuthnow also cautions us about stereotypes of fundamentalist movements that are often depicted in the popular media
Reading 4. Fundamentalist Resurgence: Causes and Prospects
http://www.marxist.com/fundamentalist-resurgence-causes-prospects.htm
This article by Lal Khan views the emergence of Islamic Fundamentalism with some alarm. One of his more interesting observations is that the rise of religious protest was strongly supported by Western (particularly American) governments as a way to contain communist expansion. But he examines also the affects of socioeconomic conditions, suggesting that fundamentalist resurgence is largely a consequence of the failure of capitalist expansion to succeed in solving the problems of hunger and povertym
Reading 5. Jihad vs McWorld
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1992/03/jihad-vs-mcworld/303882/
In this article that summarizes his book of the same title, Benjamin R. Barber suggests that there are two opposing forces in the world, one that he labels “McWorld,” and the other that he calls “Jihad” (Holy War). McWorld represents the forces of market capitalism (or the culture of capitalism, as we treat it), the other represents local ethnic, religious, and political groups. Jihad (into which the various religious protest movements we discuss fall) resists the homogenization, uniformity, and integration imposed by McWorld. The danger, as Barber describes, is neither McWorld or Jihad promotes or is sympathetic to democracy
Reading 7. The Next Christianity
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/10/the-next-christianity/302591/
Philip Jenkins outlines the direction of global Christianity and finds a growing domination by Third World churches, and with it, a growing (rather than diminishing) conservatism.
Exercise 1.
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
http://www.rawa.org/
(b) National Abortion Federation
https://prochoice.org/education-and-advocacy/violence/violence-statistics-and-history/
(c) National Task Force on Violence Against Healthcare Provider https://www.justice.gov/crt/national-task-force-violence-against-health-care-providers-0
Resistance to the spread of religious fundamentalism often comes from those who see themselves as victims of discrimination. Since most fundamentalist movements espouse an ideology of male dominance, women are the most marginalized. This is true of both Islamic and Christian fundamentalisms. To get an idea of the problems, browse the sites on women in Afghanistan and the sites documenting the violence associated with the anti-abortion movement in the United States.
C. Religious Violence
Religion, as we mentioned previously, has always had a revolutionary dimension. Most (if not all) religious movements begin at a moment of dissatisfaction, if not despair, and sought to reorder or revitalize a world that its members found wanting. In addition, virtually all the major religions of the world contain texts detailing violent battles between the forces of good and the forces of evil. They all have what Mark Jeugensmeyer refers to as �shadowy foes,� �thems,� �strangers,� and such who dwell in the�shady edges of known civilizations. . . They represent what was chaotic and uncertain about the world, including those things that defied categorization altogether.�
Therefore it should not be surprising that religion is used by some as a justification for violent acts. The juxtaposition of religion and violence has become more common since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and focused added attention on radical religious groups. The following readings address the relationship between religious violence and the political goals that seem to inspire them
Reading 8. America, the War, and Israel
The Arab-Israeli conflict is often cited as one of the main reasons for Islamic militancy, particularly that directed at the United States. The topic is highly volatile and completely objective reports are difficult to come by. A reasonably good history of the conflict is available at Time Europe, in an article Time Trail: The Arab-Israeli Conflict. In the article included here, Tony Judt in The New York Review of Books, replies to letters regarding his views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of the United States. The conflict is critical because Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is often cited by militant Muslims as the reason for their violence.
Reading 9. Full Text of bin Laden’s Letter to America
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/11/1545135.php
In this letter, attributed to Osama bin Laden, the author details the reasons for the violence directed against the West by al Qaeda. Obviously there are religious justifications, but political factors such as the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the stationing of United States troops in Saudi Arabia, the United States support for oppressive governments in the Middle East were as much reasons for his acts as anything religious. The letter does illustrate, however, how religion is often used to justify political violence
Reading 10. Militias, Christian Identity and the Radical Right
http://www.religion-online.org/article/militias-christian-identity-and-the-radical-right/
This brief article by Michael Barkun describes the connection between the militia movement and the religious right, particularly the Christian Identity movement.
