Sectarianism
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Sectarianism refers (usually
Sectarianism may, in the abstract, be characterized by dogmatism and inflexibility; sentimental or axiomatic adherence to an idea, belief or tradition; and idealism that provides a sense of continuity, orientation, and certainty. As a pejorative term, accusations of sectarianism may sometimes be used to demonize an opposing group.
The ideological underpinnings of attitudes and behaviours labelled as sectarian are extraordinarily varied. Members of a religious group may feel that their own salvation requires aggressively seeking converts from other groups; adherents of a given faction may believe that for the achievement of their own political or religious project their opponents must be purged. Sometimes a group feeling itself to be under economic or political pressure will attack members of another group thought to be responsible for its own decline. At other times, sectarianism may be the expression of a group's nationalistic or cultural ambitions, or cynically exploited to serve an individual demagogue's ambition.
In all cases, there is a real or felt opposition between 'Us' and 'Them', between insiders and outsiders. Sectarianism may take the form of hatred and fear of an outside sect or group. In such cases, sectarianism does not require a strong sense of religious belief, as much as a sense of group belonging.
A sectarian conflict usually refers to violent conflict along religious and political lines such as the conflicts between
[edit] Religious sectarianism
Wherever religious sectarians compete, religious sectarianism is found in varying forms and degrees. In some areas, religious sectarians (for example Protestant and Roman Catholic
[edit] United States
Despite a history of conflict and violence, Protestants and Roman Catholics in the United States mostly get along.
[edit] Ireland
- See also:
Since the 17th century, there has been sectarian conflict of varying intensity in Ireland. This religious sectarianism is bound up with nationalism. Since the
[edit] Persecution of Protestants by Catholics
In Catholic countries, Protestants have historically been persecuted as
[edit] Persecution of Catholics by Protestants
In places where Protestantism is the majority or 'official' religion, there have been examples of Catholics being persecuted. In countries where The Reformation was successful, this often lay in the perception that Catholics retained allegiance to a 'foreign' power (
Nowadays, bigotry and discrimination in employment usually only remains in a few places where extreme forms of Protestantism are the norm, or in poor areas with a long history of sectarian violence and tension, such as
[edit] South Asian communalism
- Main article:
In India, sectarianism is known as
Violence in Sri Lanka between the
[edit] Sectarianism in Pakistan
In Pakistan, there has been a brutal history of sectarian violence and unrest since the 1970s. In early years, the
Under the rule of
In the early part of the new millennium,
[edit] Sectarianism in Iraq
- Main article:
Iraq's Shia population was persecuted during the presidency of
[edit] Ethnic conflict in the Balkans
- See also:
The civil wars in the Balkans which followed the breakup of Yugoslavia have been heavily tinged with sectarianism.
[edit] Christian/Muslim conflict in West Africa
In certain West African countries, particularly Nigeria, competition between Muslims and Christians has exploded into severe violence.
[edit] Sectarianism within Judaism
Sectarianism also exists between
[edit] Anti-Semitism
- Main article:
Anti-Semitism has traditionally been the most widespread variety of sectarianism in Europe. However, this form of prejudice is not wholly religious in nature, as can be seen by the racial policies of the Nazis, who could be said to be more concerned with the "contamination" of Aryan blood than with the Jewish religion itself, and the experiences of Marranos who were treated with suspicion several generations after their families had converted to Christianity.
[edit] Political sectarianism
Political sectarianism differs from religious sectarianism in that political affinity is usually more likely to be elective, as opposed to hereditary, than is religious affinity. In the political realm, the term sectarian is generally used to refer to the tendency of political movements to splinter into mutually antagonistic factions. Various
Political sectarianism among
[edit] Sectarianism in football
Most notable is the case of
[edit] See also
- Sect
- Fundamentalism
Solving the sectarian problem
The killings at Hangu, and the ominous presence of security personnel everywhere during Ashura, have once more proved that sectarianism remains deeply entrenched. Quite aside from the terrible murders and the mayhem created by them, the sense of fear and of discrimination that lives on in the country is deeply damaging. More and more Shias have complained of intolerance, which is causing new rift lines to emerge within an already fractured society. The real question is how the sectarian issue can be resolved over the coming years. It is obvious that the existing policies have had only limited impact, and militant elements continue to wreak havoc at periodic intervals. The fact of the matter is that a problem which has taken root over two decades or so may take at least as long to eradicate. After all, numerous studies have shown that prejudice of all kinds is an insidious social phenomenon, which can take generations to wipe out. It is, however, essential that the effort to tackle sectarianism begin immediately. This effort must be underpinned with far greater commitment and a longer-term strategy than has so far been the case. Mere cosmetic measures, revolving around policing militancy by locking up dozens in jails for weeks, or deploying security forces in an effort to keep vigilance over every street corner, is neither feasible nor wise. It must, in the first place, be accepted that the dozens of young militants who today form small bands, and unleash on society the violence that they have been trained in for many years, need to be dealt with. They also need to be considered as victims, not merely criminals. Rather than simply locking them into jail cells, there must also be an attempt to rehabilitate them as useful members of society. In this, the state needs to face up to its responsibilities. After all, previous governments played a major role in the training of militants and in the setting up of the seminaries where they received their education in the cruel rules of hatred. The result of those policies are now evident in the form of bomb blasts, the targeted shootings and the suicide blasts that have in recent years shaken cities and towns across the country. The government of today must then find ways of reversing the trends so deliberately created. Simply mowing the grass is not enough. Roots too need to be dug out. To attain this, those spreading militancy need to be stopped. While anyone guilty of criminal acts must of course face penalties under the law, there is also a need for the re-training and re-education of the many members of these armies. As with any cult, extremist forces operate essentially by cutting off young victims -- in this case often children or teenagers -- from other social contact, and brainwashing them into abiding by a particular set of beliefs. Examples from around the world suggest that these tactics can be so powerful that average citizens have been willing to kill, maim or commit suicide at the command of leaders. The same holds true for those inculcated into specific schools of thought by extremist forces. The extent to which the power of persuasion can work in changing individuals is readily visible today in society -- with celebrity figures, including pop singers, cricketers and other sportsmen, quite obviously a focus for preachers. For the task of rehabilitating those won over to extremist causes, and convinced that violence is a legitimate means to achieve their ends, it may be useful to study the methods used to undertake similar exercises in the US, UK, Japan and other countries, where large cults have from time to time taken command of the minds of individuals. Specialists in rehabilitating victims of such cults now exist in many countries. Having mental health specialists talk to members of extremist forces, for instance when they are in jail, may prove a useful exercise rather than simply holding them for a few weeks and then once more letting them loose on the streets. But it is also worth keeping in mind the fact that given the existing social order, simply providing people a means of survival in economic terms can motivate them to change the pattern of their own lives. Many of the militants have no training -- except in how to use a gun. Due to their lack of skills, many are unemployable and as such able to pursue only the kind of militancy that formed their lone lesson in life. A scheme for training young members of militant groups and offering them work could very well prove a means to limit the number of persons ready to gun down other citizens on the basis of belief or allow themselves to be used as suicide bombers in a game of destruction that has already shattered hundreds of lives. There are also longer-term strategies that need to be followed. In the first place, discrimination against persons on the basis of belief by the state must end. After all, extremism in the country was given a big boost when, three decades ago, the state took it upon itself to determine who was Muslim and who was not. Since then, more and more bars, social, legal and economic, have gone up which prevent non-Muslim citizens from holding the equal status guaranteed to them by the constitution. An example of this comes in the battle being staged by a young Christian girl denied a place at the King Edwards Medical College in Lahore. The girl, who comes from a low-income background, qualified on merit for a seat but was denied a spot because a Muslim student, tied with her in terms of marks, obtained 20 additional points as a 'Hafiz-e-Quran" -- another means of discrimination that has become institutionalised in the country. Similar rules, regarding remissions for prisoners who memorise the Holy Quran, reflect the same in-built bias. To push aside the prejudices that have invaded society, several steps are essential. Seminary schools must be replaced by public-sector institutions which can offer a meaningful education. The money being wasted on reforming seminaries must instead be poured into rebuilding a viable public-school network. After all, parents have turned to seminaries in response to the failings of government schools. Even if curriculums at seminaries are widened, and computers provided, a core learning which weaves hatred into it, inculcates deep biases on the basis of religion or gender and encourages an extremely narrow understanding of religion will inevitably remain in place at these institutions. It is also true, as has been pointed out many times, that it is the economic desperation of people, the frustration of jobless young men, that most often drives them into the waiting arms of extremist groups. These forces specialise in picking out the vulnerable -- and luring them into an expanding fold. For these reasons, policies that can create jobs, and that can offer socio-economic relief to people, are essential if the sectarian crisis in the country is to be resolved. If such strategies are not put in place, if ways are not found to pull back young zealots from the fringes of society to where they have been pushed by extremist waves, violence will continue to grow. There is as such an urgent need to end the culture of the gun, before more lives are lost and more fault-lines carved out across a country that is today locked in a desperate struggle to retain harmony and integrity within its boundaries.