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The role of ethnicity in the Bosnian genocide
Christian beliefs prejudice and discrimination
The role of ethnicity in the Bosnian genocide
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Prejudice against religions has existed since the day religion was created. Since then, conflicts like the Holocaust and other genocides have arisen and caused major lasting effects on the world. These lasting effects have changed the way society today views the difference of religion. Unfortunately, there is and always will be serious political, economic, and social conflicts in the world that the human race cannot just stop. One ancient example of these conflicts is the Bosnian Genocide of 1995. As the Bosnian Civil War expanded its battle front, so did the hatred of each ethnic group towards one another. This hatred fueled the start of the Bosnian Genocide, the murder of thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats by Bosnian Serbs in which conclusively
Genocide is the act of killing a lot of people depending on their race, ethnicity, and religion. There are 8 stages of genocide which include extermination and denial. The victims of the Bosnian genocide consists of elders, women, men, children, and even babies. The Bosnian genocide is a war between Bosnian Serbians and Bosnian Muslim to which republic can control Bosnia. Many Serbains deny the fact that his genocide even happened even though there is scientific proof that this genocide happened. The purpose of learning genocide is so we are informed and we won't let it happen again.
The United Nations was formed on October 24, 1945, after the Holocaust, to prevent genocide from ever happening again. A cartoon depicted by Michael Sutherland illustrated the unsuccessful intent of the United Nations. The United Nations is pictured standing over many graves of countries and groups that have suffered from genocide. However, many genocides have taken place since the formation of the United Nations (i.e. the Bosnian genocide). Both genocides began as simple misconception or dislike between peoples but ended in tragic and unnecessary murder. The Holocaust and the Bosnian genocide had many similarities and differences in their course of events. Unfortunately, genocides like the Jewish Holocaust and the Bosnian genocide still continue to happen today.
Culture is made up of three main components: ethics, aesthetics, and religion (Lincoln 52). The lines of culture become skewed as it often blends in with political and religious views. In Western Europe during the time of the Reformation, the Church was the central ruler of the society. This meant that religion was not only a cultural view, but also a political one. As time moved on, the Church became less important, but today’s standards still connect religion to culture. This becomes an issue as individuals who are noticeably outside the culture in forms or religion are often judged and looked down upon (Lincoln 56). Due to this outcast it can cause anger to certain religions and culture which can often lead to these acts of violence. With the hate between cultures, religion becomes the justifiable mean on which violence can occur. Many individuals can state that God wants them to make their own religion superior, and one way they can draw attention to their religion is terrorism and other forms of violence. Due to this connection to culture, religion can not be separated into it’s own personal category, as it is forever affected by the changes and culture of the community (Lincoln 57). As time and culture progress, the religion of the community will either change with it, or fight the changes which will often cause conflict. This can be seen in the results of the practice of Jihad, the Reformation and
Genocide, the systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group. From 1992-1995 that was happening in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, conflict between the three main ethnic groups, the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims, resulted in genocide committed by the Serbs against the Muslims in Bosnia.
Prejudice comes in many forms. Two such forms of extreme prejudice are the Salem witch-hunts and the Ku Klux Klan. In the colonial time, from 1700 to 1775, the Salem witch-hunts took place. The KKK originated after the civil war and is still going on today. These two groups based their prejudice on religious beliefs. People from many different cultures founded our nation, which gives us a unique diversity that was and is not always respected. The Ku Klux Klan states they are based on Christianity and uses such symbols as the flaming cross. Burning the cross is supposed to represent “opposition to tyranny and obedience to God.” The KKK believes they are superior to all non-whites. The people responsible for the Salem witch-hunts feared and persecuted those whom didn’t share religious and personal beliefs. A way of testing your beliefs was being forced to recite the 10 commandments without falter. Ku Klux Klan often expressed their beliefs by putting burning crosses in non-white homes, setting homes and businesses on fire, and even hanging non-whites. In the same way, the witch-hunts would force those who were prosecuted to confess and incriminate, if not, they would be hung, burned, or in one case smashed to death. Both groups use Christianity against other people that differed from them. The KKK was an underground organization, and used robes and hoods to disguise themselves. Rarely did members become publicly known because they were denounced by majority of society. Public leaders such as, reverends and government officials conducted the Salem witch-hunts. The trials were often public events that were well attended by the general population. The Ku Klux Klan was not based on fear of non-whites, rather their own supremacy. While the witch-hunts feared those with different beliefs including what we would now consider, “mentally disabled.” What good are religious beliefs such as Christianity if they are twisted, warped, and used as an excuse for violence.
Most notoriously, the People’s Crusade, led by Peter the Hermit, was a good example of how these biases against each other led to a popular movement to destroy the “Muslim invaders,” or so Pope Urban II claimed. The People’s Crusade, despite being a popular movement, was not successful in it’s goals. It does show, however, that many European common folk were interested in taking vengeance even if they weren’t well organized. In the Illuminated Manuscript created to illustrate the People’s Crusade, it is clear that there isn’t a lot of organization, what with the large mass of people moving forth in a messy way. Either way, the motives behind said Crusade show just how intent the Franks were in accomplishing the wishes of the
One of the numerous results of the fall of communism in Europe, the Bosnian Genocide is considered to be the largest massacre in European history since WWII. Lasting for an estimated time of 3 years, the Bosnian Genocide wiped out millions of citizens; specifically Muslim Bosnians (known as Bosniaks). The country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, went through cultural desegregation as well as religious tensions that rose as time progressed.
In the late 1980s through the 1990s, the republics of the former Yugoslavia experienced serious ethnic tensions, escalating into all-out war which resulted in some of the worst war crimes committed in Europe since World War II. In 1993, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was formed with the goal of punishing perpetrators who carried out acts of genocide and crimes against humanity in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and to prevent any such atrocities from ever occurring again. One of the most significant and high-profile trials of this tribunal was that of Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of both Serbia and the former Yugoslavia, who was accused of committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, and abuses of power and corruption. Milosevic died in 2006, and his trial was never concluded. Whether or not he would have been convicted of these crimes is a subject of debate.
Prejudices shape our perceptions of various people and influence our attitudes and actions toward particular groups and prejudicial attitudes that are negative often lead to hostile relations between domi...
Brenda Katten who is the chairman of the Zionist Federation said that, “As Jews, we are quite horrified at what is going on: we lost a lot of our people in the 1930s because the gates were closed on us- What is sad, is that we don’t learn from our history.” (3) This seems to be the recurring theme about genocides: They happen and are an immense tragedy but yet they continue to happen throughout time and all over the world. In the Bosnian genocide in 1992-1998, another group was was exterminate by a group for specific reasons. In this case, an estimated 200,000 Bosnian civilians were killed (2) by Serbians. But all of this conflict can be traced back to the resolutions which transpired at the end of the second world war. (1) After Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia became apart of Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, when the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito died in 1980, the union between the several countries under the Yugoslav power seemed to be threatened to separate. When a Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic provoked a dissatisfaction between Serbians in Bosnia and Croatia and their Bosnian and Croatian neighbors, lead to an insuming war. When Milosevic was elected president of the republic of Serbia in 1989, an oncoming movement violent uprisings of several Serb nationalist political parties in neighboring Croatia. These events frightened the other members of Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, which lead to their uncertainty towards the future of the republic that had just recently been established. As fears engulfed many civilians, a large population of non Bosnian Serbians began to not only boycott the voting of Milosevic, but urge others to take similar measures in March of 1992. These actions lead to the sec...
The Rwandan Genocide was a terrible event in history caused by a constantly weakening relationship between two groups of people. The country of Rwanda is located in Africa and consists of multiple groups of people. Majority of Rwanda is Hutu, while a smaller amount of people are Tutsis. The genocide started due to multiple events that really stretched the relationship between the two groups to its end. One of the starting factors was at the end of World War 1. Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power then Hutus.
Prejudice refers to one’s biased opinions and ideas of others, based on secondary information. Hence, the internalized ideas concerning the prejudiced members in society does not result from personal experiences, but information from third parties. Where prejudice is prevalent, the social relationships between the concerned individuals become strained and unmanageable. The existence of equality in society discourages the frequency of prejudice on racial grounds. The content of this discussion explores the concept of prejudice, as it relates to racial inequality and discrimination. The discussion features the Emmanuel AME Church shooting scenario, which characterizes racial discrimination and inequality. The discussion further examines the role
It’s commonplace for people to feel like they are right and other people that disagree with them are wrong. People rationalize all of their thoughts and beliefs in a couple of ways. More often than not, people hang around with those whom share similar beliefs and values as they do. That is, grouping for the sake of not being around any evidence that contradicts shared beliefs. Also, people create an “otherness” to the people that believe differently than they do. This often leads to demonizing groups and creates an undue hate for people that just don’t understand. Each religious denomination/sect believes they are the truth when it comes to understanding religiosity and faith. Man is inherently prone to “other-hatred.” But not always, not everywhere, not against everyone who is different. Some filter must be brought forth which isolates and clearly identifies the “otherness” which will elicit the emotional flux. Otherness is the trigger that brings forth the human characteristic of prejudice. It is a very subjective thing. It might be racial, it might be political, it might be cultural, and it might be religious. But it has to be something. Religion, regrettably, is a very efficient catalyst, a very efficient trigger. Because so much of it is based on very deep emotionalism, differences, which to an outside observer might seem superficial, are, in fact, quite profound to the believers. Religion, therefore, becomes much more problematic than secularism when dealing with world politics. Westernization and modernity have been key players in the creation of otherness amongst nations. Through the spheres of influence, Western societies have tried to push their beliefs on other societies. Ultimately, what it comes down to is Judeo-Chris...
Prejudice and discrimination have both been prevalent throughout human history. Prejudice deals with the inflexible and irrational attitudes and opinions that are held by others of one group against those of another. Discrimination on the other hand refers to the behaviors directed against another group. Prejudiced individuals have preconceived beliefs about groups of people or cultural practices. There are both positive and negative forms of prejudice, however, the negative form of prejudice leads to discrimination. Individuals that practice discrimination do so to protect opportunities for themselves, by denying access to those whom they believe do not deserve the same treatment as everyone else. An example of discrimination based on prejudice involves the Jews. “Biased sentiments and negative stereotypes of Jews have been a part of Western tradition for centuries and, in fact, have been stronger and more vicious in Europe than in the United States. For nearly two millennia, European Jews have been chastised and persecuted as the “killers of Christ” and stereotyped as materialistic moneylenders and crafty business owners (Healey, p.65). The prejudice against these groups led to the discrimination against them.
Religious prejudice is defined as the act of treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe in. There are many cases throughout history of established religions tolerating other practices. Specifically, religious prejudice is when believers of different religions are treated unequally, either before the law or in institutional settings such as employment or housing. Even in societies where freedom of religion is a constitutional right, sometimes supporters of religious minorities voice concerns about religious prejudice against their group. Cases that are perceived as religious discrimination might be the result of an interference of the religious sphere with other spheres of the public. For a religious establishment to mistreat other religions for being ‘wrong’ ironically puts the oppressing religion in the wrong, undermining its own validity. Religious intolerance is unacceptable in general and more specifically, in the Holocaust and simply the idea that started the Holocaust. People have an inherent right to express their beliefs and not to be treated indignantly and inhumanely based on those beliefs.