In my “Great Decisions” study group last night, we discussed the rise of terrorism in Africa. While the discussion was centered on the rise of “Islamic terrorism”, I objected to the pairing of the word for a world religion and an act of violence perpetrated by an extremist person. I stated that the relentless pairing of the term “Islam” and “Terror” led uninformed people to perhaps associate every Islamist with being a terrorist or a supporter of terror.
The world’s adherents to a particular religion, by denomination and %, is:
Christianity 33%
Islamist 21%
Non-religious 16%
Hinduism 14%
Primal-indiginous 6%
Chinese traditional 6%
Buddhism 6%
Sikhism 0.36%
Judaism 0.22%
If any person, of any religious persuasion (like Timothy McVeigh and Christianity), were “tagged” with their religion affiliation any time they were mentioned, people might begin to associate their individual terrorist acts as an a result of their religious beliefs. I understand that there are Islamic extremist who couple their interpretation of the teachings of Muhammad with the elimination (through terroristic acts) of “westerners” and “Americans”. I also know there are “Christian” extremist who lynched negroes or, today, believe in “correcting” homosexual through mental terrorism. The press does not refer to them as “Christian Terrorist” but rather aberrations, radicals or deviants.
My objection is the seeming inability of the press to be careful how they discuss these extremist in the context of the millions of law abiding and caring Islamist. If unsuspecting children hear their parents declare “those Islamic terrorist” daily–lashing out, though anger, fear or ignorance–then they are likely to have imprinted on their susceptible minds the notion that all Islamist are terrorist.
Major Religions of the World
Ranked by Number of Adherents
(Sizes shown are approximate estimates, and are here mainly for the purpose of ordering the groups, not providing a definitive number. This list is sociological/statistical in perspective.)
- Christianity: 2.1 billion
- Islam: 1.5 billion
- Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
- Hinduism: 900 million
- Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
- Buddhism: 376 million
- primal-indigenous: 300 million
- African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
- Sikhism: 23 million
- Juche: 19 million
- Spiritism: 15 million
- Judaism: 14 million
- Baha’i: 7 million
- Jainism: 4.2 million
- Shinto: 4 million
- Cao Dai: 4 million
- Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
- Tenrikyo: 2 million
- Neo-Paganism: 1 million
- Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
- Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
- Scientology: 500 thousand
Source: http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html
people weren’t scared of mcveigh, instead some admired him.
Jeffrey, thanks for this. I weary of labeling, categorizing, and how quick we are to define others with ‘canned’ definitions. You inspired my latest blog post! http://celebratelifeincolor.com/blogs/item/167-the-trouble-with-facebook
Thanks