Toth 1

Justin Toth
John Kubler
English 114A
4 September 2014
Religions Influence on Fighting
Madeleine Albright is a very influential figure in our world. She is a Professor of
Diplomacy at Georgetown but, more importantly the first woman to serve as the U.S. secretary of
state. She earned her Ph.D. in public law from Colombia College. Madeleine was raised as a
Catholic but found out she was Jewish in her later ages. Her opinion on topics involving religion
and politics is very strong. Religion plays a big part in nations overseas.
A world without religion would be good in way that there would be no fighting. People
currently fight based on their religious views. It got to a point where we harm others in Gods
name. According to Madeleine, It is easy to blame religion for all our troubles, but that is too
simple (35). Blaming our problems on religion happens because there is no reason we fight so
we just say thats the reason. There is more to the big picture then simply just religion. Madeleine
basically says that we should change the direction over foreign policy to take account of the power
of religion.
In 1981, Madeleine visited Poland. During her visit Pope John Paul II was in Poland as
well. He represented the convincing act that religion played in the history of the country. His title
was great bridge-builder, which meant that he was good at bringing to sides together. For
example, he brought Europes East and West together with his words and they realized that both
sides had the same qualities that make them proud to be a Polander. Madeleine acknowledges,
the popes visit sparked a revolution of the spirit that created Poland (36). The pope helped
Poland come back together and be one.

Toth 2
Another significant factor in this essay is about overcoming hate. This story is about a
young Lebanese woman called Mary. Because she was a Christian, she was shot by a militiaman
and got a cross carved onto her chest. The next day the militia came back to take over the village
and found Mary alive. Instead of killing her they helped her onto a stretcher and took her to the
nearest hospital. In an interview with Madeleine she was asked how she felt about the man that
pulled the trigger and she said that she forgave him. There are two lessons to this story. First that
people are willing to harm others and die for their faith. Second, is that religion helps us forgive
others when times are easy and difficult.
Along with this story, there is a group called the LRA (Lords Resistance Army). They
attack people in the name of the lord and enslave children for their army because they are easy to
control. Even though these were tortured, volunteers always had a smile on their faces and helped
people get through the tough times. One positive out of this essay is that, we all share a kinship
with one another, however distant it may sometimes seem; we all are created in the image of God
(39). No matter how far we get from each other we always come together because we all are
Gods image.
It is very important to know about religion to understand all our problems. According to
the International Center of Religion and Diplomacy, know your faith at its deepest and richest
best, and enough about your neighbors faith to respect it (41). We as a whole need to follow by
this and then there will be less fighting. Madeleine uses ethos in this essay because she begins by
showing how important she is to our society.