Izvorni znanstveni članak
Are the war and religion two separate social realities
Ivan Markešić
Sažetak
In this article, the author focuses on Željko Mardešić's thesis that both war and religion are one of the basic 'social realities' which have been realised throughout human history, thus becoming 'an inseparable part of our human destiny'; and he also focuses on Mardešić's claim that war and religion can live as separate and independent entities where for example Jesus' 'commandment of love', which is a part of Christianity has always offered a dialogue to humanity and not the war.
However, based on the historic experience of connections and intersections between the two social realities - war and religion - one often gets the impression that there has never been any contradiction between the two, that in fact they are drawn to each other and that it is not possible to lead wars without the influence of religion; that war and religion are not separate social formations and that we could put the sign of equals between them. In an attempt to explain these theses, the author tries to find the answer in texts which Željko Mardešić has dedicated to war and peacemaking, as well as finding links to the recent historical events which had occurred in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In his approach to these historical 'social realities', the author explains such terms as 'religious wars', 'confessional conflicts' and 'a war of faiths', whilst also speaking about the very common notion that the history of human kind itself has in fact been a history of warfare, bloodshed, murder and extermination. After that, the author discusses the liability of the claim that there used to be a state called "bellum omnium contra omnes" whereby at the beginning of the evolutionary cycle, there were religious rituals of war through which people tried to appease the gods of war to be on the side of those who intercede them in order to beat the enemy. Then, he discusses the relation between monotheistic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) towards war throughout history and today, whilst also listing reasons for their undying bellicosity, commenting the claim that bellicosity comes from the fact that monotheistic religions, unlike polytheistic religions, lay claim to possessing one true and final truth which can hardly be considered their own, and they therefore try to impose it upon others (often by force).
However, the war experience in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina clearly shows that this was not a religious war which was caused by the need to prove and attest to religious truths (dogmas) but that political and military elites used the power of religion as a mean of accomplishing earthly political and military goals.
Ključne riječi
Željko Mardešić; religion; war; peacemaking; monotheism; polytheism; religious wars
Hrčak ID:
28990
URI
Datum izdavanja:
23.8.2008.
Posjeta: 2.822 *