Religious Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Religious Liberty - Essay Example It is, therefore, the very first amendment, introduced in the constitution in 1791, provides an absolute and unrestricted religious freedom to the masses, where the followers of all faiths are declared free to perform their religious practices without any prohibition, interference or restrictions from the state or government altogether. The first amendment in the US constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...† Runquist (2007) observes that the first clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion (including preferring one religion over another or over no religion). The second clause guarantees the free exercise of religion. Father of the US nation, George Washington, hand-wrote in his own personal prayer book that it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and th e Bible (Judiciary House, 2011). Hence, the Americans are free to attend churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples without any checks on their religious performances from the state as well as from their religious opponents and rival communities. Religion can rightly be stated as one of the most fundamental elements of human life. Though it is a diversified subject, and thousands of faiths exist in the world, yet believe in the supernatural and metaphysical powers is common in all cultures of the world. An overwhelming majority of the people at global scale maintain that some Supreme Being certainly exists in the universe, which could solve all their difficulties and problems, and can protect them from the disasters and calamities they themselves are unable to combat with. Consequently, people develop emotional attachments with the deity they adore and do not allow any type of hindrance or obstacle that could stop them from displaying their sincere compliance, reverence, and worship to the deity. History is replete with the examples of horrible wars fought in the name of religion, which resulted in heavy and irreparable losses in men and material. Adherence to the religious teachings is not confined to one single community or social class only; rather, it is equally popular among the rich and poor and the strong and weak. It is, therefore, George W. Bush (2001) had declared the war of terrorism as the continuity of the crusade wars fought by the Christians against the Muslims in the medieval times. Judis (2005) submits to state that in putting forth his foreign policy, George W. Bush speaks of the United States having a calling or mission that has come from the Maker of Heaven. Thus, the religion is central in the life of the American people; it is therefore 79% of the population openly declares it as the follower of various Christian factions. Keeping in view all these facts and realities, along with the mental condition and sentiment of the people behind the m, the founder-leaders of the USA decided to offer unrestricted religious liberty to the masses in order to avoid and escape any unpleasant state of affairs for the future years to come. I

Relation Between International Terrorism with Ethno-national Identity Essay

Relation Between International Terrorism with Ethno-national Identity Problem - Essay Example Majority of these theories accepted that cultural conflicts are one of the major reasons for international terrorism. Ethnicity is a community of people whose members recognize each other, on the basis of a common ancestry. On the other hand, nationalism is a political ideology that identifies people on the basis of a common nationality. For example, India is a secular democratic country in which Hindus, Muslims, Christians and lot of other religions are prominent. It should be noted all these people of different religion have different ethnicity. However, when it comes to nationalism, these people may not show any differences in their attitude with respect to ethnicity. For example, Indians all together celebrated their victory over Sri Lanka in 2011 ICC world cup one day cricket match competition. However, when it comes to terrorism, different religions in India have different attitudes. It has been accused by India that Pakistan is engaged in terrorist activities in Indian soil fo r the last few decades. Majority of the Indian people do believe that India’s claims are genuine. However, a minority groups in Indian Muslim community do believe that India is making unnecessary allegations against Pakistan. It should be noted that Indian Muslims and Pakistani Muslims have a common ethnicity. In short, ethnicity and nationalism can affect international terrorism in one way or another. This paper analyses the relation between International Terrorism and Ethno-national Identity problem. Terrorism and Ethno-national identity Nationalism, in particular, remains the pre-eminent rhetoric for attempts to demarcate political communities, claim rights of self-determination and legitimate rule by reference to ‘the people’ of the country. Ethnic solidarities and identities are claimed most often when groups do not seek ‘national’ autonomy but rather a recognition internal to or crosscutting national or state boundaries (Fenton and May, n.d., p .4). Ethnicity and nationalism are entirely different topics as far as international terrorism is concerned. For example, Mohamed Atta, a terrorist and one of the major culprits of the September 11 attacks was an Egyptian. Egypt is a country in which people of different ethnicities are staying together. Moreover, Egypt is keeping healthy relationships with United States for the past few decades. Same way, Osama Bin Laden’s origin was in Saudi Arabia and Saudi is one of the closest allies of America in Middle East. Under such circumstances, it was surprising for America to see the involvement of an Egyptian in 9/11 terrorist attack. It is evident that Atta and Osama decided to attack America, not because of America’s atrocities towards Egypt or Saudi Arabia, but because of America’s aggressive behaviors towards Muslim community in general. It should be noted that instead of attacking Egypt or Saudi Arabia, America started its war on terror in Iraq, Pakistan and A fghanistan in order to take revenge for the 9/11 incident. In other words, America realized that the role of Egypt as a nation in 9/11 incident is negligible compared to that of Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan provided secure shelter to Osama and his allies until recent times which clearly point towards the ethnic and national dimensions of international ter