Religious Intolerance

Ethnocentrism

I would like to go so far as to say that it is almost impossible to have a strong nation without having ethnocentrism of some size, shape, or form.  The fact that it has appeared in throughout history time and again (I'd argue that it has never left society), should indicate the prominence of ethnocentrism to growing and sustaining nations.

European colonization and imperialism

Europe is one of the most well know examples of ethnocentrism from Roman period and earlier to Crusades and now with NATO.  During European colonization and imperialism the success of conquests and enslavement were often rationalized using an ethnocentric ideology.  The New World people were at first  considered to be the lost tribes of Israel, descendant of the lost cities of Mu or Atlantis, or descendants of none races in general (Egyptians, etc.).  Europe ideology moved from this thinking to Europeans being superior and others being inferior.  With it, came theories of human evolution from uncivilized to civilized cultures.  This way of thinking, however, is ethnocentric in nature.  To call any civilization uncivilized based on the European standard, is a short sighted accusation.  The colonization of Africa took on a different rationalization with the added dimensions of race superiority.


Africans became the antithesis of everything European, dark versus white, which helped justify their enslavement.  I personally think it would be much scarier to see someone without skin (a white person to a black person) then someone with a really bad tan...  The differences between the Africans and the Europeans didn't end with skin color, but was many including their differences in religious practices.  Slave labor ranged from the race being enslaved and by the nation as well.  While the French were prone to live like the natives, other landowners and mine operators would use the natives as slave labor for weeks, months, and even years before allowing them to return 'home'.  The differences in treatment from the English settlers to the French could probably be contributed to the amount of colonists from each respective country.  The French only had a small amount of settlers going to the New Worlds, and thus, didn't have the luxury to farm their own food or create major towns.  Therefore, the positive relationship that the French fur trappers need to create with the natives was necessary for their survival and success at their given trade.

Intermarriage in central and south America was looked down upon for centuries by racially pure individuals and groups.  Even to this day in north America, interracial relationships is not socially accepted in most places.    Despite the superiority complex of mainstream Europe, there was also a counterculture saying all humans were citizens of the world or making the 'savage' life out to be a romanticism life.  Still some thought of the 'savages' as the remnants of the lost tribes of Israel.  Then there was science.


Blumenbach used biological terms to differentiate races based on skull measurements.  Lavater correlated outside appearance to inner virtue (i.e. light skin and small facial features meant great intellect and inner virtues).  However, it was the social Darwinism that gave support for the people in power being in power since they were the most fit.  I think Darwin would have turned in his grave with the social Darwinism.  Still, social Darwinism impacted the Western World giving Christian notions of being favored by God and the wealth freedom to not care about the rest of society (freedom to be wealth).  Moreover, social Darwinism fueled the race war in America justifying the inequality of blacks in America.

Identity and ethnicity 

Identities are created by humans, that they are externalized in symbols, rituals, and institution, and embodied in individual bodies...

Ethnocentrism is just another form of ethnic identity.  It won't be a positive mindset if one believed that their own race was inferior to another.  If an individual had this mindset, they would never believe they were good enough, and would be constantly getting in the way of their own success.  You would think that it would be close to impossible to think of yourself as lesser than another race, but this kind of mindset was common in black children in the mid-twentieth century.  Ethnocentrism creates a tie for a group of people whether it's with a state or nation or a race.  It creates a unity with distinctions between the group, 'us', and outsider to the group, 'them'.  


Ethnocentrism is the sense that one group and its society and culture is superior to another/others.  This type of ideology can create prejudice and discrimination, which can include both passive and aggressive; ostracism, apartheid, legal mechanism, mass massacres, and genocides.  But this isn't that much a problem as it was back in the day... right?  I'm from Indiana, and I can tell you that there are parts of Indiana where a person of color just isn't welcome.  Places where you don't want to even look like you might be commenting a petty crime, because the legal system will not be in your favor.  Racism is still very strong, maybe not as aggressive as a lynching, but passive none the less.

With all this talk about the ethnocentrism of Europe, one can forget that ethnocentrism isn't all that uncommon.  The Athenians destroyed cities and killed all the male inhabitants while enslaving the surviving women and children.  The Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and Asia all have displaced or outright killed the natives of the land.  A little known fact about the Japanese is that the current majority of Japanese people were not the natives of the island nation.  The natives were mostly killed and only a few groups remain today.  There are so many examples of the killing and enslavement of other races that the practice can be seen as common in history.

Genocide

Genocide is to kill a tribe, race, a people, a group.  In this day and age, the Holocaust is the most known example of genocide of a people, but it was hardly.  The United Nation defined genocide after the Holocaust in article two of the convention:

Any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group, as killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

This definition doesn't include non-humans like the buffalo killed to decrease the food supply of a group of native Americans.  Ethnic cleansing, a synonym for genocide, describes the forced removal, rape, torture, and murder of ethnic populations by other ethnic populations can be seen often throughout history.  The blacks cleansed from 260 American locales including Indiana in 1864.  The cleansing of Turkey after the Greco-Turkish War, and much more.

Religion and Ethnocentrism

With different religions located in the same region, cultural tensions are created and are associated with religion.  The Holocaust, for instance, arouse from a long history of anti-Semitism.  Once Christianity became the church of Roman, Jews were regarded as Christ killers.  The fact that pagan Romans were the ones to actually kill Jesus seems to be forgotten here.  Myths like blood libel and desecrating of the host would influence the relationship of Europe with the Jews.  


Side Note:  For those like me who didn't what blood libel or desecrating of the host are, blood libel is when a Christian child who has not entered puberty is kidnapped by Jews taken to a secret location, tortured, tried, crowned with thorns, tied or nailed to a wooden cross, and finally killed with a thrust through the heart from a spear, sword, or dagger.  Afterwards, the child's blood would be caught in bowls and drank in a mock version of Christian Eucharist.  [Clearly the Christians didn't hold Jews in a very high light...].  Desecrating the host is the deliberate piercing of holy communion wafers (since Jews live to harm the Christians way of life).

Jews were blamed for just about every thing that went wrong; the black plague, must have been them Jews poisoning the wells so that both Jews and Christians a like could get sick and die.  The Nazis used the Jews as the reason that Germany was in such poor economic times.  If something went wrong, it was probably a good guess that it was caused by the Jews.  So, it's not that surprising that the Jews had limits placed upon them.  Jews were not allowed to join guilds, required to pay taxes to local bishops, allowed to make their living as moneylenders (since good Christians were prohibited).  If that wasn't enough, Christians dictated where Jews could live creating the first ghettos.  They were told what to wear, after all it would be pretty hard to distinguish one white person from another, so you add something unmistakable.  (It's so much easier to discriminant against blacks...)  Finally, when that wasn't enough the Jews were expelled, England in 1290 and Spain in 1492.  Therefore, the Nazis didn't have to work too hard to build up hatred toward the Jews.  It was already there.

Beyond Anti-Semitism: Religious Intolerance

Religious intolerance is not a Jew only party.  Islam, heretics, in America Catholic, and many other non-mainstream religions have all been discriminated against.  The Christians were discriminated when they were a non-mainstream religion as well.  If your different, then it's more than likely that they will be discrimination and prejudice toward you at some point in time.

Contestant Number 2

Summary: Follows the journey of a Druid girl who wants to become Ms. Israel.  Her life is threaten by her own family over the issue of wearing a bathing suit in front of the world, which is against her religion.  What surprised me the most was the inflexibility of the competition for her.  Throughout the competition even after it became apparent that her life was in danger, the pageant did not give the option to her to wear a less reviling bathing suit.  This is a sort of religious intolerance.  Since every other girl could wear the bathing suit, the directors of the pageant didn't see fit to allow the Druid girl something that would cover her up more.  

Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft
Neo-paganism/witchcraft is a spiritual orientation and a variety of ritual practices using reconstructed mythological structures and pre-Christian rites primarily from ancient European and Mediterranean sources (Miller 1995).  A common misconception of neo-paganism is that it is similar to Satanism, since satanic organizations often imitate the practices and language of neo-pagans.  Neo-pagans have been criticized for their generally libertine attitudes toward variant sexual orientations/practices and the use the word of 'witch' and 'magic'.  The fear of witchcraft has lead to neo-pagans' losing their jobs, their homes, and their children in come cases.  A neo-pagan was lynched by a group of fundamentalist who deemed him a danger to the community.  Neo-pagan ritual sites have been vandalized and festivals threatened.  This is just another example of religious intolerance.

The Influence of Europe and America on Religion of the World

For God, the Tsar, and the Fatherland

For God, the Tsar, and the Fatherland is a documentary about the people of Durakovo, which in Russia means the village of fools, and their thoughts on democracy.  The leader of Durakovo is a man named Mikhail Fedorovich leads the people of Durakovo to a better life.  

The people who go to Durakovo (inmates of Durakovo) have some problem assoicated with their life.  Once becoming apart of the social group, they are strengthened.  Here the people of Durakovo are the in group.  They feel loyalty and respect to Mikhail, which is demonstrated in the documentary.  

The out group in Durakovo is not all the other Russians, but democracy in general, and thus, the opinions toward Europe and America are filled with contempt.  During the Paratroops celebration, the common that the strong Russian men could easily defeat NATO shows just a degree of this contempt.  Moreover, the comment from the boy (who lives in Durakovo) illustrates the he's negative feelings toward America.  He blamed Russia's current economic problems on democracy.  This brings the mind the question of democracy itself.  


Is the American democracy a one size fits all?  Without taking into account the people of a nation, I can say democracy cannot possible be the solution to every nation.  This is not a every nation should have freedom of speak kind of thing, I only want to take into account the different cultural difference of America versus Russia, or for that matter America versus China.  How could the same type of system, like democracy, work for these very different cultures?  So, it's easy to see why this child and the people of Durakovo would have negative feeling about democracy.  It's not working for them.

Here in lies the function of Mikhail's Durakovo as a primary group.  I believe Charles Horton Cooley best summarizes the impact of Durakovo to its people:

Primary social groups are usually small, characterized by face-to-face interaction, intimacy, and a strong sense of commitment and unity among its members. Primary groups tend to exert a long lasting influence on the development of our social selves and include family, friends, and peer groups (Helfrich). 

The influence that Mikhail exerts over the people of Durakovo could be debatable on whether it is positive or negative.  What cannot be debatable, however, is the amount of influence Fedorovich has over them.  They are to do as they are told, and they 'do not need to think' any more.  The thinking is now up to Mikhail.  In some ways you can see how this could be a positive influence on the people.  Mikhail gives them a purpose in life, a purpose that they might not have been able to find otherwise.  Mikhail is their reference, a standard for judging attitudes and/or behaviors.  Mikhail is the people of Durakovo's looking glass self. 

The movement to bring back Orthodoxy Christianity here is cement that Mikhail and many others in this video believe will hold the Russian society together.  This is in agreement with Emile Durkheim argument of religion as one of the cements that held social order together.  

Everything set aside, I find myself wondering what am I not seeing?  Was everyone else's view about America and Europe negative?  Why were the people there at Durakovo to begin with?  I would seem that they had one problem or another.  But what was the problem, is it common?  For instance Oleg's mother said he was aimless, did this mean that he was having a drug problem?  Moreover, what would the intelligent agency want with Durakovo?

What is the function of deviance?

In some ways, the people of Durakovo are social deviants of democracy.  Their way of life shots out at the way democracy.  The people do not have a voice, they do not even have thought of their own.  Instead of cohering to the social norms of democracy, they choose (for Durakovo does not take anyone that doesn't want to be there) to form bonds with Mikhail and to form a society of their own.  The Durakovo society is a social sanction that ties both mechanical and organic society together.  The members themselves are interchangeable and can perform the functions of every other member of society, mechanical society, while Mikhail is interdependent from the rest of the members (Durkheim).  

First Peoples Religions and Western Cultural Imperialism

The religious leader of the First Peoples is Handsome Lake.  Western influence can be seen in several forms, but most importantly is Handsome Lake's alcohol addiction which lead to some of his rhetoric.

Fully recovered Handsome Lake began preaching about the dangers of alcohol abuse and he established a moral code which outlawed witchcraft and several of the outcomes of alcohol abuse including promiscuity, wife beating, and gambling. The Code also counseled Seneca to learn English and that the family should replace the clan as central in Seneca life.

There are a lot of western thinking in the Code created by Handsome Lake.  The outlaw of witchcraft, and family as a central unit being the most glaring.  Both of the practice of spirits and clan central, where central to the Natives of North America, and would contribute to assimilation of native culture with western culture.

Alcohol influenced another First People religious leader, Tenskwatawa.  Tenshwatawn also saw visions that made up his new beliefs.  He saw a heaven that would appeal to the First People and ancient Shawnee spirits being tortured for their wickedness like alcoholism.  This is analog to a heaven and hell, where the hell is the punishment of Shawnee that are wicked.

The Role of Punishment

Punishment in mechanical societies was punitive justice.  It marked off the boundaries of what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior (Durkheim).  This is seen in the notion of hell for Shawnee.  Today's jails and prisons is more of an organic society approach.  It is aimed at the individual and tailored to fit the crime in the hopes of rehabilitation (Durkheim).

Black Jews

The Church of God and Saints of Christ is a mixture of Jewish, Christian, and African nationalist content.  William Saunders Crowdy, the leader of the church, preached that Africans were the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel and thus the true surviving Jews...  Wait a moment, doesn't this sound familiar?  *cough*British-Israelism *cough*, *cough* Christian Identity *cough*.  (Sorry about that, I think I might be coming down with something.)  The religion key theme is the Exodus, the liberation of people in bondage, like many African-American religions.  Jesus to them is a racial equality, but not part of the Lord (or God).  Marcus Garvey a black nationalist how advocated the return of blacks to Africa (the back to Africa movement) influenced many black Jewish and black Islamic groups.

Vodou
I have the interesting experiment to have living relatives that practice and/or believe in vodou (voodoo).  What could be considered more interesting is that these same believers in vodou are also devote Christians.  This is just another example of official versus popular religion.  Moreover, it's not surprising that my Creole relatives believe in voodoo as it's one of the African-derived religious traditions in the Americas.  In fact the origins of vodou sum up my grandmother's (on my father's side) background nicely.  The Fon (Haiti) ideas and practices mixed with the Catholicism of the French produce the traditions call vodou.  What I find most interesting, is the ability of vodou traditions to co-exist with Christian beliefs.