I.

Intro
a. Religion is an age old concept that is a very complex idea. People have faith, spirituality,
community, and morality.
b. Ethnic religions are more beneficial to the health of the world as they are less intrusive;
this means there is more peace, less forceful, and a stronger sense of identity is made in
the community.
II. Ethnic religions are more peaceful
a. A specific even in history that was a war in the name of God is the Crusades. The
purpose of the Crusades was to go against all other religions, especially Muslims. The
Crusades spread over a lot of the Mediterranean, the Baltics and the surround regions,
Balkan, and Western Europe. It lasted between the 1095-1291 centuries. The wars was in
order to be in control and have the Christian religion as the best religion of the area
(ABC CLIO)
The protection of Christians and the recovery of territory from the Muslims were not the
only motives for the First Crusade. From the Catholic Church's standpoint, such a
glorious ventureif successfulwould bring power and prestige to the Church for
issuing the initial call.
i. The Christian religion is a very expansive and needy one as it controls regions
and is hungry for power. The religion wishes to dominate the cultural landscape.
Ethnic religions have no interests in expanding their religion as they only grow
from the people that are born into that religion
b. The conflicts in Northern Ireland are an intrafaith one. It is a conflict with the
British Protestants and the Irish Catholics. This conflict even spawned a militant
group called the IRA. The conflicts can be traced back to the 17
th
century when
the British Protestants conquered the Irish island and tried to spread their
Protestant views. The Irish Catholics did not wish this and responded with
retaliation. This not only caused conflicts but in present-day Ireland, Northern
Ireland is suffering from bad economy and conflicts with the Protestant and
Catholic conflicts.
The conflict between the Catholics and Protestants stretches back for centuries.
In the early seventeenth century the British effectively conquered Ireland and
began sending mainly Scottish Protestants to settle in Ulster. For the next three
centuries, Catholics in Ireland agitated for independence.
i. This reveals how even people from the same faith still find a reason to fight as
they are not in the same sect. This causes a more split and diverse world even
though they are still in the same sect. The Catholics and Protestants resorted to
violence rather than peaceful terms and this decision has caused a large death toll
(ABC CLIO)
c. Al-Qaeda is a large instigator of conflicts in the Islam. Al-Qaeda is a radical Islam
organization that has gained notoriety with the use of terrorism. Al-Qaeda literally
means base or foundation in Arabic. Al-Qaeda believed Muslim should have no
foreign influences and to eliminate Israel and use it as the new center of Islam.
The group consists mostly of Sunni Muslims and is known mainly for their attack
on 9/11 and their involvement in conflicts with the US. Al-Qaeda has also formed
other religious fundamentalists that associate themselves with Al-Qaeda. There is
a large history of violence caused by Al-Qaeda. (ABC CLIO)
Al Qaeda is an international, radical Islamic organization, the hallmark of
which is the perpetration of terrorist attacks against Western interests in the name
of Islam. In the late 1980s, Al Qaeda (meaning the "base" or "foundation" in
Arabic) fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The organization is,
however, best known for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United
States, the worst such attacks in the history of that nation.
i. Al-Qaeda is a radical Islamic group and Islam is a universalizing religion. The
group uses violence and terror in order to spread their religion or keep their
religion safe. The use of violence is the key point used by this group and their
malicious manners can be seen even in the mission objective of the group, to
eliminate Israel. Ethnic religions are not interested in spreading their religion.
III. Universalizing religions are forceful
a. The Mormon religion is known for their active local scale evangelism going door to door.
This pressures people into joining their religion and becoming part of them. This could
offend many people if they are strong believers in a certain type of religion,
universalizing or ethnic religions. Because of their outlandish traditions and expansive
behaviors it caused many people to turn to violence and caused even more commotion.
(ABC CLIO)
Smith's theology incorporated many aspects of other evangelical religions of the early
19th century, including restorationism (the belief that all existing organized churches
were corrupt and that the purity of the early Christian church must be restored);
millenialism (the belief that a new religious era of human history was dawning); and
perfectionism (the belief that a person could alter his or her behavior and lead a sinless
life). Smith combined those elements with popular beliefs regarding the spiritual powers
and mysticism of Native Americans to create a powerful new religion.
i. The Mormon religion is a very expansive and very invasive one that will
interrupt ones day in order to force a religion upon someone. This would not
happen with an Ethnic religion as there is no need or desire to spread the religion
they practice
b. The development of religious conflicts, missionaries, and fundamentalists from
universalizing religions are large and the numbers are still growing. This indicates
that the religion itself is growing and the growing population of that religion is
taking the jobs and growing their religion. But not only does this indicate growth
but also the push to expand and spread the religion.(PROQUEST)
Nevertheless, with an annual growth rate of 7.6 percent, we can expect Korean
churches each year to send out over 1,000 new foreign missionaries, which still
represents one of the fastest growing national missionarymovements in the
world
i. Universalizing religions have the idea of spreading their religion and spreading
their teachings. The development of groups and jobs in religions for the purpose
of expanding indicates the forceful expansion of religion. Ethnic religions are not
concerned with growth other than what is born into that religion which means
there is no development of groups for expansion.
c. Buddhism is known for being peaceful but there are acts of violence and extreme
measures used by Buddhists. Self-immolation, the act of lighting ones body on fire, is
commonly used as protests from Buddhist monks. The act is extreme and causes the
monk to die. There have also been cases of violent acts. There have been attacks on
Muslims in Myanmar by Buddhist monks in order to drive them out. Japanese Buddhists
also justified violence with the Japanese military during WWII (ABC CLIO)
Another brand of Buddhist sohei, the Ikko ikki of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist sect carved
out a huge territory around ancient Kaga province. These worthies were a mix of
peasants, monks, woodsmen, and fishers who were especially fierce warriors since they
shared a belief in a Pureland Buddhism that promised them instant salvation in holy
war.
i. Buddhism is stereotyped by being peaceful and often times very conscious of
their surroundings however this is not true. Burning ones body will not only
cause horror for the onlookers and passersby but the people that are cursed with
the job of cleaning a dead body are also affected very severely. The acts of
violence caused and justified by Buddhists are causing a lot of conflicts and
inhumane acts against humans
IV. Ethnic religions provide a stronger sense of identity
a. Ethnic religions are usually all the same identity in ethnicity
i. This means that the people from the same ethnic religions are of the same
ethnicity which also means there will be a stronger identity individually and
within the group as everyone is of the same ethnicity. For example, people that
practice the Hindu religion they are usually all Indian.
b. As the ethnic religions are usually located in a specific region the language will usually
be the same
i. A religion where mostly people are speaking the same language means that a
stronger sense of identity is created. This also is better as the people in the
religion will feel that they are part of their own unique community thus creating a
stronger sense of humanity among the people.
c. Traditions are usually kept within the ethnic religion as the ethnicity is usually the same
and the region is generally part of a particular country
i. Practicing traditions with the people you practice your religion with will create a
stronger sense of community which creates a stronger sense of identity within the
individuals and the group.
V. Universalizing religions bring a community together with more people
a. Christianity is the largest widespread religion in the world.
i. Christianity has a large number of followers which means that the community is
big. It gives the followers of the faith to become a large community. Despite the
large community it has the large numbers can hinder the hive mind and cause
conflicts
b. Buddhism is a large religion in SEA
i. The fast expansion in this region has as large number of followers in SEA.
However, the monks that follow the religion are very passionate and can cause
problems. They also have passionate followers that cause havoc and destruction
c. Islam has a lot of followers in the Mediterranean regions and Middle East
i. The large number of followers means there is bound to be fundamentalists and
extremists. The number of terrorist groups that identify themselves with the Islam
religion are large and the one large group Al-Qaeda has caused a lot of terrorism
acts
VI. Conclusion
a. Ethnic religions are more beneficial to the health of the world as they are less intrusive;
this means there is more peace, less forceful, and a stronger sense of identity is made in
the community.
b. Ethnic religions are better for the health of the world as they bring more positives than
what universalizing brings to the world. Universalizing religions are disruptive and cause
a lot of conflict. Ethnic religions are respectful for all religions and peoples and dont
wish to push their beliefs onto other.