Monotheistic Religion-Islam

The dire and unprecedented situation that resides to name calling, reviling, and stereotyping that our theological contemporaries (those that reside or originate from the Middle East), originate from an area of the world that is based on terrorism and unshared values and ideals is ludicrous. There is this misconception that this terrorism originated from Islam rather than historical events that increased and accelerated this terrorism. The failure to understand this sentiment, implies this nonsensical and uninformed understanding of history in that region of the world. It causes the uneducated and uninformed to condemn this monotheistic religion- Islam in its entirety. Hence, one can begin to understand this misconception on the origins of terrorism,

by first understanding that terrorism was not invented and did not originate in the Middle East because of this monotheistic religion.

Rather, this terrorism was a product that was pushed and accelerated through significant historical events using the religion of Islam as a tool to “perpetuate power” . These historical events that accelerated terrorism, include that of the United States intervention in the 1980’s, and propagandist ideologies like that of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabism. Thus, before attempting to analyze and understand the influences behind these events, one must first understand how this religion was used to perpetuate power, by approaching to understand religion in a more philosophical manner.

Religion is “reflected in many forms of social organizations and human activities” . It is an identity statement, one that allows individuals to validate and express their identity; “seventy percent of all Americans call themselves Christian” . It is very unlikely that those seventy percent in their entirety to be of those that go to Church or read the bible on a daily basis. Thus, they are validating their individuality, their nationality, beliefs, world views, ethnicity, politics, etc, and have used

religion as a way to define themselves and unite with other entities and organizations. And to say that they derive their values from religion is simply not true. It is more so that they instill or input their values, politics, and beliefs in their text. The “power of Scripture comes from its malleability” . If one is a hateful misogynist, plenty of verses can be found in scripture to justify that viewpoint. If one is a peaceful feminist, one can find just as much to again justify that viewpoint. Hence, “without interpretation, scripture is just words on a piece of paper” . It must be encountered for it to carry any meaning, or have any sort of impact. And when this transaction occurs (between the individual and scripture), one brings in his ideologies, beliefs, politics into the scripture itself, rather than deriving said so beliefs and ideologies from the scripture. This explains the many different and predominate sects within religion and explains the longevity of slavery in many different regions of the world. In the United States, two hundred years ago, both abolitionists and slave owners not only used the same biblical texts to justify their stance, but have used the exact same verses. Thus, people often incorrectly correlate religion and individuality that causes this misapprehension and confusion. Hence, the removal of said so beliefs, viewpoints, ideologies, and politics will thus allow individuals to find new ways to begin to define and label themselves.
In the situation where there is removal of religion, individuals and organizations begin to affiliate themselves with other beliefs and nation states, another organizing principle.