The Coming Religious Wars
Extracted from the August 7, 2004, Market Update
Anti Islam Sentiment And An Overview of Religions
By the beginning of the 16th century, the medieval Church and all that it represented, entered a period of profound crisis. By this time, the Church was nearly fifteen centuries old. Throughout its history, the Church always had to confront problems both within its organisation and from without. But by 1500, these issues rose to the surface, and the Church would shake at its very foundation. Political philosophers like Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) had already rejected the medieval idea that popes were superior to kings (see Lecture 1). As a citizen of Renaissance Florence, Machiavelli was a Christian, yet he distrusted and disliked the clergy. He saw no need to reform the Church and Christianity because his secular theory of the state was based on the notion that religion and faith were nothing more than the cement which held society together. He would certainly have agreed with Karl Marx who, more than three centuries later, would argue that:
Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. [Contribution to a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, 1844]
A second problem of the period concerned the merchants, bankers and artisans of Europe’s largest cities and towns who resented the fact that local bishops of the Church controlled all of their commercial and economic activities. Although capitalism as a form of economic organisation had not yet infiltrated Europe, these producers and money-makers knew that more money and power was theirs if only their lives were less regulated by the Church. Again, I think what we are witnessing here is the development of a secular concept of work and acquisition. Another problem facing the Church was that in the 16th century there were numerous reformers who were openly criticising the Church for its numerous offences. Priests married and then took mistresses, holy offices were bought and sold for the highest price, incompetence among the clergy became the rule, the congregation of more and more people in towns and cities perhaps exposed the amorality and immorality of the clergy. In a word, the problem was corruption.
Meanwhile, peasants in England, Italy, France, Germany and elsewhere were also on the move. They began to revolt openly against both the clergy and the aristocracy. Their grievances were the most complicated of all — their revolt was against political, economic, social and religious authority. And despite the Inquisition, the work of the Dominicans and Franciscans, and even a holy crusade, heretics and heresies continue to grow more numerous and more vocal.
Along comes Martin Luther (1483-1546), the son of a self-made copper miner from Saxony (see Lecture 3). As a Renaissance scholar, humanist, Augustinian monk and Doctor of Philosophy, Luther led an open attack on the issue of the sale of indulgences. While struggling with his sense of self-doubt, Luther could not accept that salvation could be won by “good works” alone. Salvation for Luther could be won, however, by one’s personal relationship with God, through faith (“the just shall live by faith alone”). This was a significant development in the history of Christianity and the Church. The Christian had, up to 1517, always found his or her faith by obeying the Church. Good works were the only path to salvation — in other words; there was nothing specifically individual about this faith. With Luther, on the other hand, faith was internalised — it was a matter of heart and conscience. It was “inner-directed,” to borrow an expression from the American sociologist David Reisman.
Luther’s ideas appealed to those people who resented the worldliness, arrogance, incompetence, immorality, cynicism and corruption of the clergy. And, his message fell on attentive ears — in other words, the German people were willing to listen to a man like Luther since he seemed to speak their language. These people resented the wealth of the Church. The nobility resented the land held by the Church, all free of taxes. And the peasants saw Luther as a champion of social reform. Luther’s confrontation with the Church, all prompted by the Ninety-Five Theses, led to a violent conflict between Catholic and Protestant. Such a conflict was not merely one of words but men fighting men. Outside Germany and Scandinavia, the two places where Luther’s ideas had their greatest impact, the Reformation was guided by the troubled conscience of John Calvin (1509-1564).
Unlike Luther, Calvin stressed man’s legal relationship with God. God’s laws must be obeyed without question. For the Calvinist, moral righteousness must be pursued, lusts must be restrained and controlled, and social life and morality must be carefully regulated. Such an ethic of self-control was predicated on the notion that we should all work hard at our calling. By living such a life, one could be saved. However, for Calvin, 99 out of 100 men are damned. This is God’s will, and he must be obeyed.
http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture6c.html
Perhaps this will enable you to one day understand why we view religion as a very dangerous instrument that is used by the powers to precipitate all sorts of problems.
Religion means, “to re-connect” in Latin. Are we really reconnecting with each other or disconnecting?
Someone seems to have found a very nice way to explain how we fight with each other because of our different religious beliefs.
Anti Islam Sentiment on the rise in Germany
The anti-muslim sentiment is on the rise across Europe, particularly in Germany, home to more people of Turkish origin than any country outside Turkey.
German prejudice against foreigners has risen sharply, in particular against Muslims, according to a new study from the Leipzig-based Competence Center for Right-Wing Extremism and Democracy Research.
More than 44 per cent of those surveyed believe Muslims should be banned from immigrating to Germany, up from 36.5 per cent four years ago. And nearly 56 per cent agree that the number of Muslims in Germany made them feel like strangers in their own country, up from 43 per cent in 2014.
Professor Elmar Braehler, who conducted the research, believes these views are fueling the surge of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which plays up fears of Islamization.
Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. Among the country’s nearly 4.7 million Muslims, around 3 million are of Turkish origin (the German census does not collect ethnicity data), more than any country outside Turkey. Full Story
Is Anti Islam Sentiment Based on Fear
The presence of some 25 million Muslims in the 28 countries of the European Union is currently sparking debate, controversy, fear and even hatred. Never before have we witnessed such a climate of mutual suspicion between Muslims and mainstream European societies. Public opinion surveys in Europe show increasing fear and opposition to European Muslims, who are perceived as a threat to national identity, domestic security and the social fabric. Muslims, on the other hand, are convinced that the majority of Europeans reject their presence and vilify and caricature their religion.
Surveys show increasing fear towards European Muslims, who believe that Europeans caricaturise their religion
Such a misunderstanding is worrisome as it fuels dangerous Islamophobia, on the one hand, and radicalisation, on the other. European states are alarmed by these developments since they place harmonious cohabitation in jeopardy. Consequently, they have taken measures and enacted laws to combat extremist forces, curb radicalisation and improve Muslims’ integration into the receiving countries. Full Story
New Comments Oct 2019
Clearly, the religious war’s have escalated since this article was first written and everything and more we predicted over a decade ago has come to pass. Europe has made a grave error in embracing multiculturalism. If you are going to bring immigrants into the country, you need to enforce the values of the land. Secondly, you need to bring in immigrants that can integrate with the existing population and are willing to integrate. You can’t bring in barbarians who refuse to integrate. We are not stating that all Muslims are barbarians; many Muslims are willing to embrace new cultures and are open-minded. However, radical individuals need to be stopped right at the border and sent home. Additionally, all immigrants irrespective of religion should be put on five-year probation; if they violate any major laws, they should be deported immediately.
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