Matt Reeser, Week 11, Reflective

Today, in class we discussed religion's supposed resurgence in the world, whether or not that is the case. I think that most of us agreed that religious conflicts have been going on consistently throughout our history, so a sudden surge in religious activity does not make much sense. I think the question in which the class was not so sure on was how does religion affect IR and why is it being seen as a resurgence through the IR lens?

I think religion affects IR because it serves as a catalyst for action and consensus among peoples. It inspires state's identities and agendas. It is a variable that must be considered. I think that this has always been the case even in Western modern history. Even though our governments are separated from the church directly, there are still strong religious influences from popular institutions, communities, and history. Religion has always been around U.S. history, form manifest destiny, God choosing sides in the civil war, the Cold War, and now in our reasons for liberating peoples across the world from themselves.

I think the IR community has formed this view that religion is re surging because of what has happened since 9/11. It has been a long time since a major attack on the U.S. was made, especially one inspired from religion. The West is largely Christian and an attack by Muslims automatically triggers a a responsive of over reaction and revenge. I think religion has started to dominate the discourse of the war on terror because of the lack of understanding between the two cultures.

I also think that religion has been increasingly used as an excuse for not focusing on alternatives to violence, ironically. When you become more fundamentalist you are less likely to compromise and try alternative strategies for peace. I think this strategy has been shown throughout history to be very effective in rallying masses against one another. I suppose this is no coincidence since fundamentalist religious movements are also on the rise. It does not have to be this way but because of ignorance on all sides and a lack of positive action we are digging our own graves. If only we all just used critical constructivism!!