t17 s10078905c How Jie Wei Assignment 1

8/3/2019 t17 s10078905c How Jie Wei Assignment 1

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Individual Assignment - Coversheet for:

Module Code / Name: 1WISP(eg: 1WISP, 1EPM, RW)

Lecturers Name: Keen Len Chan

Students Full Name: How Jie Wei

Student ID No.: S10078905C

I declare that this assignment does not incorporate without acknowledgment

any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any university

or educational institute; that to the best of my knowledge it does not contain

any materials previously published or written by another person except

where due reference is made in the text; and that I have retained a copy of

this assignment as I understand it may be required during the period of my

candidature.

Students Signature: Date:


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Religious intolerance

Religion intolerance as defined by the United Nations is the discrimination

against human beings on the ground of religion or belief constitutes an affront to

human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of the Charter. It also call on all

member states to help promote and encourage universal respect for and

observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction

as to race, sex, language or religion [1].

In this exploratory piece, I will be citing a few examples of religious intolerance

around the world. I will also be stating my personal views on the matter and also

what I think would be the long term impact if such acts are allowed to continue.

I choose to write this piece on religious intolerance because I felt this is a

sensitive topic which I should find out more about and have time to reflect on my

views about it. It is also an important topic to be discussed due to it affecting

everybody in this world and still not many would be comfortable talking about it.


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Religious intolerance stems from many different reasons such as a

misunderstanding of another religion or misguided teachings from a person with

higher authority in a religion or circle. The cause of it might be very different;

however the outcome is more or less similar. Many of these intolerance might

end up as daily squabbles with a very limited range of effect. But it can be

exploited by people who might benefit from these squabbles and lead it to

becoming an international crisis.

Firstly, I will discuss about an event which does not involve violence. The

Westboro Baptist church (WBC) is an independent church located in Topeka,

Kansas mainly consisting of the pastor Fred Phelps and his family. They are

known to have an extreme homophobic and anti-Semitic stance and regularly

hold protests all over America picketing at groups and individual they felt went

against their churches views. They gained media attention when they started

picketing at dead soldiers funerals stating that it was retribution as America

supported gay couples. Other countries such as the United Kingdoms have

banned them from entering fearing they would incite certain groups in their

countries [2][3][4].


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The church with its hard lined stance distancing themselves from mainstream

churches is why they do not have a huge following thus not being able to affect

the world on a large scale. They spread their doctrine in their family influencing

younger members of their families to develop similar mind sets early on. Many of

these family members would grow up confused and awkward choosing to leave

as they got a better view on the world outside [2][3].

However, the harm they can do is very limited as they have a very limited reach

outside their own community. But such emotions can grow and things can end up

badly if they manage to get enough support for their causes thus the need to

stem out such groups early.

Next, these are events which caused people harm or incited others to cause

harm. The events I would be elaborating on is the terrorism caused by extremist

Muslims in particular the case of the murder of Dutch film maker Theo Van Gogh

as well as the attempted murder of the creators of South Park Matt Stone and

Trey Parker.

In August 2004, Theo Van Gogh released a film titled Submission which is

about the troubles and violence faced by women in Islamic societies. This

angered several radical Muslims around the word and the film maker faced

several death threats. On the 2nd of November 2004, Theo Van Gogh was

murdered by a man with links to extremist groups [5][6]. More recently in 2010,


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the comedy cartoon show South Park attempted to show the picture of the

prophet Mohammad in one of their episodes which brought about the attention of

Islamic extremist groups with one in particular threatening the creators of the

show and even displaying their home addresses on its website [7][8]. Even

though no attempts were made on the lives of the creators, it shows that

extremist groups nowadays were more willing to target their victims openly and

encouraging people who held similar believes to carry out their intentions.

Such acts of violence are what make religious intolerance a sensitive subject.

Many people have developed a fear and tried to remain clear of sensitive topics.

However, is it wise to do that and hand victory to those who are issuing the

threats? Or is it better to stand up to them and let them know what they are doing

is wrong. Both parties did not mean harm to the Muslim society but only wanted

to share their views on the religion, but instead the extremist set them out to be

evil and worth harming.


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From this 3 examples discussed, it can be certain that people will always be

using religion as a tool to manipulate others to do their bidding. Threats whereby

if one does not carry out orders from the religion will lead one to sin has become

the most common method. More and more people would get misled leading to

the rise in tensions in this globalised world. Wars can also break out due to

intolerance from 2 different countries such as Israel and Palestine. In the end, the

people who gained from such activities are a small minority and instead, the

majority would suffer from years of violence and hatred.

It will not be easy to solve such a sensitive issue as religious intolerance as what

is seen by one as brutal might be seen by another as insignificant. I believe that

peace can only be achieved by the education of the general population on other

religions and believes and to imprison those who would use their authority to

cause harm. People have to also be tolerant of others and have an open mind to

how others behave. We all live in this globalised world and conflicts which

happen halfway around the world would have its effect felt even on this side;

meaning we all have to be able to identify the problems and prevent them from

spreading.

Word Count: 1026


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References

[1] Resolution adopted by the general assembly, 1996, elimination of all forms ofreligious intolerance, retrieved November 10 2011, from:http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/50/ares50-183.htm

[2] Extremism in America, 2011, Westboro Baptist Church, retrieved november10 2011, from:http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/WBC/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=WBC

[3] S.Cabb, E. Cooper, N. Mirsky, G. OConnor, L. Theroux (Producers), G.OConnor (Director), 2007, The Most Hated Family in America (Documentary),Topeka, Kansas: BBC

[4] BBC magazine, 2007, Americas most hated family, retrieved November 10

2011, from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6507971.stm

[5] Author not stated, 2004, German kills Dutch film director, BBC, retrievedNovember 10 2011, from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3974179.stm

[6] Author not stated, 2009, Anti-gay preachers banned from UK, BBC, retrievedNovember 10 2011, from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/7898972.stm

[7] Dave Itzkoff, 2010, South Park episode altered after muslim groups warning,

New York Times, retrieved November 10 2011, from:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/arts/television/23park.html

[8] Nick Allen, 2010, South Park creators warned by Islamic website, TheTelegraph, retrieved November 10 2011, from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7615310/South-Park-creators-warned-by-Islamic-website.html

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t17 s10078905c How Jie Wei Assignment 1