Capacity of Humans to React to Pressure and Disagreements, Outline Example

Outline

• Religion usually seen as a uniting force
• Reality changes when several religions co-exist
• Competition among religions lead to divisions
• Religions often the force behind military campaigns
• Conquerors would either kill conquered subjects or force them to change religious affiliations

Current Religious Divisions

• Competition among religions continues to exist
• Outcome is often violent conflicts
• Religious convictions lead to ethnocentric beliefs
• Such ideas disturb the prospects of peace
• One form of competition among religions is number of adherents
• Religions try to find validation in numbers

Learning Implications

• Religions become source of identity
• Religions provide guidance for life
• Islamic extremists engage in violence out of sense of duty to spread Allah’s word
• 9/11 tragedy is an example
• Many Muslims consider West to be morally corrupt
• Actions of Islamic extremists have given birth to stereotypes
• Terrorists do not always come from Islamic background
• Many suspects are termed terrorists without being proven guilty
• It may be that religions do not cause war
• The human desire to be proven correct does
• Religion may have an indirect role since it influences individual thinking