With the idea of gods and goddesses came the concept of religion. And, with the creation of religion came wars over differing values and beliefs. Unlike wars over resources such as land, where settlements could be made through distributive means, wars over religion usually could not be resolved through compromises. To force a certain value or belief upon an individual might prove nigh impossible. Because of their strong beliefs, people balked at the existence of another religion. Like wolves competing to become alpha wolf, worshippers of each religion compete to prove their superiority. In short, people of different religions automatically assume opposing positions, seeking to eradicate the other. As seen in religious conflicts throughout history, such as the Crusades, the Thirty Years’ War, and even the September 11 attacks, a large portion of their motivations were of religious reasons. The Crusades were military expeditions carried out in the late 11th century by European Christians in response to the spread of Islam. Their goals were to stop the expansion of the Muslim empire, reclaim the Holy Land and other formerly Christian territories, and to spread Christianity to pagan areas. The Thirty Years’ War in 17th century Europe was caused religious friction; Protestant nobles in Bohemia and Austria rebelled against the attempts of Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II to force Catholicism over his empire.
On September 11, 2001, Islamist terrorists bombed the Twin Towers and the Pentagon—both symbols of American power—hoping to undermine the US’s standing in the world and pave the way for their political and religious goals for the Middle East and Islam. In all of these cases, followers of different faiths fought to assert their dominance. In the Crusades, Christianity clashed with Islam. In the Thirty Years’ War, Catholicism conflicted with Protestantism. And in the September 11 attacks, the Islamist terrorists sought to declare the superiority of Islam over all other religions; in Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon’s book, The Age of Sacred Terror, they argue that the attacks were "a sacrament … intended to restore to the universe a moral order that had been corrupted by the enemies of Islam" (40).
This same concept is also seen in Dr. Edward Said’s definition of Orientalism, which describes the relationship between the Orient and the Occident as binary opposition. He points out Orientalism as “the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient – dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient” (3). Similar to the seemingly predetermined enmity between different religions, the Orient—the East—and the Occident—the West—are seen as opposites and constantly locked in dispute. Studying the mysterious Orient and deciding them unfit for self-rule, the Occident takes it upon themselves to educate and rule the Orient, rather than acknowledge their differences and allow for independence.
Prior to entering high school, I, as a Catholic had a similar mindset; I did not question the unending dispute between followers of different religions. My Catholic high school, however, made it one of their goals to help students become more worldly scholars. Rather than focus on Catholicism, we learned about the world’s cultures. From the Aboriginals of Australia to the Lakota tribe of North America, we studied the different traditions and beliefs of each civilization. We then compared it to our own Catholic Christian lifestyle, noting the clear distinctions between our respective religions with open-mindedness rather than negativity. Reaching this state of awareness greatly contributed to my appreciation of cultures and religious different from my own. Likewise, increasing religious literacy could greatly reduce animosity; “teaching about religions is not advocating for them any more than teaching about war advocates for war.” By educating believers and nonbelievers alike, awareness and acceptance would take place of the ignorance and resentment that leads to religious conflict.