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.