Religious freedom is the right for everyone to exercise his or her religion according to his faith and beliefs. One can even opt not to practice any religion at all costs since it is their right and their decision, as in the case of pagans. On the other hand, religious liberty has two components, including the freedom to exercise your faith and to worship. The second part is the freedom from the particular government regulations and laws that are put down on paper and explains clearly the practice of religious freedom. For instance, the amendment of law specifically under the government of the Palestinians clearly states that the conversion from the Islamic religion to Christianity or any other religion is subject to a death sentence for the person involved. However, the same law outlines the existence of other religions. There are such cases where even senior politicians in the government are involved in the kidnapping cases of Christians by Islam (Ekmekcioglu 522-553).
From the old times or the early days, there has been existence of two religions that seems to overtake other religions all over the world. These religions are practiced almost all over the world, and they are known from the media to the articles and journals available online. These religions are the Christian religion and the Islamic religion. There have been discussions of these two religions for many years. In between, there has been a rise of conflict between the two where there is the existence of them both say, for example, in a particular place or country, for instance, in Gaza or even America. These conflicts arise due to the superiority of one dominant religion in a particular area. This is also aided by the law amendment of the particular country. For instance, in Gaza, Christianity is seen as inferior by the majority of Muslims. This has led to discrimination and the forceful conversion of Christians to Muslims. This has led to war and the death of innocent people who are on the verge of practicing their rights to religion. Therefore, the above topic is important as it can target several audiences, that is, Muslims and Christians, and come up with solutions to these problems and avoid future conflicts since we all, with our religion, hope for a life in heaven paradise.
Three of the dominant perspectives I have identified from the journals and literature reviews include, first, society functionalism, which is a perspective that is viewed as one that brings peace and harmony and socially brings people together. Therefore, it is optimistically viewed by society. The second perspective is the symbolic interaction in our day-to-day life. Additionally, a researcher employing this method might focus on this dynamic because interactionists study everyday interactions between people. An interactionist might research the interactions between religious leaders and followers, the place of religion in the routine aspects of daily life, and the various ways in which people show their religious beliefs in public (Yip 1-16).
The third and most important perspective is critical sociology, in which religion views as one which maintains the role of social injustice and inequality with oppressive monarchs and justifies unjust social rights reserved, for example, in respective country governments. These injustice social structures in different governments include the right to choose abortion which, according to Christianity to do abortion is a sin which is that of killing or committing murder to the unborn fetus. For instance, the supreme court decision of 1973 in Roe v. Wade upheld abortion as a constitutional right for all people. It was meant to mark the start rather than the conclusion of the struggle for women’s equality and autonomy. Since then, we have been compelled to defend it repeatedly as pro-abortion politicians and organizations put their attention on undermining and eroding our rights in order to fully eliminate access to legal abortion (Ratelle 195). While on the other hand, Christians in America are fighting against abortion and its implementation under the rule of law which seems to be unjust according to religion.
Another instance of the case of critical sociology as a dominant perspective is that of foreign beliefs and systems that downgrade the use and undertaking of family planning strategies. The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, which criminalizes homosexual behavior, was implemented in response to the influence of American evangelicals there. Also, there have been murders and persecution in the case of religious sociology. For example, two Christians from Gaza have been killed in the past five years, one by a Muslim acquaintance over debt and the other in less clear-cut circumstances that have not yet been determined. He allegedly perished at the hands of extremist Islamists for attempting to convert Muslims.
The creator of the ‘who’ in this article is a person who has been in a position to experience the challenges and conflicts that people undergo in different countries with different religions, whether they are treated equally or discriminated against or with injustice for their freedom of religion. They tend to bring out the information clearly to the people involved or, in other terms, the audience to whom the message is being communicated. For example, in the Palestinian’s betrayal and persecution of Christians where they are betrayed by their leaders. “So why do American Christians stand by while their leaders advocate the expulsion of fellow Christians? Could it be that they do not know that the Holy Land has been a home to Christians since, well … since Christ? (Abe, 2-3).” This shows that the message targets the religions and their political leaders representing them in the government as the audience.
The value perspective in freedom of religion is the respect for the human person in ways that are acceptable and necessary. One ought to do what is good for the other person, which includes the case of love. If there is no respect, then there arises differences and intolerance where close proximities and better communication have frequently resulted in conflict and mistrust rather than mutual understanding and camaraderie. Many people, especially in developing nations, now fear the global community as a cultural invasion and financial burden. Globalization poses a challenge to both their ideals and their bank accounts for them. This perception has been reinforced, and tensions between many peoples and cultures have increased as a result of the 9/11 terror attacks, the Middle East conflict, and unrest, as well as careless words and drawings.
Today, the myths behind the idea of a clash of civilizations have become more and more prevalent in modern society, at the precise time as worldwide migration has brought an unprecedented number of individuals of different creeds or cultures to live as fellow citizens. Some groups appear anxious to ignite a new religious conflict, this time on a worldwide scale, and they are made to do so more easily by others’ insensitivity to, or even outright contempt for, their sacred beliefs or symbols (Zakaria 109).
The third critical media literacy is why the message targets the named audience above. It is meant to eradicate conflicts and differences among religions and try to come up with solutions to some problems that can bring peace and harmony worldwide since society views the role of religion as one that brings harmony. This message also favors other groups, such as the Hindu religion, which is not the same as that of Muslims or Christianity. They are favored by knowing that all religions are equal with free right to exercise their faith. They are also favored in establishing just law amendments that will monitor the rights of all religions as the same. The message advantages other groups, as well as the Christians who are involved in the continuous fight against unjust laws, and disadvantages political leaders who are exposed worldwide due to persecution and creating fear and tensions among religions (Abram 3-19).
In my opinion, if I had been involved in the issue of freedom and liberty of religion, the media would have already dealt with my expectation about this issue. The media is doing clear and acceptable work on the above issues since they are stating well that the people involved over a long period with clashes and wars now and then are two or more religions where one is superior to the other. For this case, the media, either in articles or in journals is also stating that political leaders are involved more than often in cases of injustice and discrimination, as we have seen in the case of Gaza, where Christians are converted to Muslim forcefully and also in the Palestinians where the law outlines that there is no conversion from Muslim (Lybarger 777-813). Therefore, this message has reached my satisfaction that these things in the future are going to change, and religious conflicts will come to an end. In my opinion, the truth is that every person has equal religious rights and is free to practice them.
Works Cited
Abram, Faye Y., and Ashley Cruce. “A Re‐conceptualization of ‘Reverse Mission’for International Social Work Education and Practice.” Social Work Education 26.1 2007: 3-19
Ekmekcioglu, Lerna. “A climate for abduction, a climate for redemption: The politics of inclusion during and after the Armenian genocide.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 55.3 2013: 522–553..
Lybarger, Loren D. “For church or nation? Islamism, secular-nationalism, and the transformation of Christian identities in Palestine.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 75.4 2007: 777–813.
Ratelle, Nicole. “A positive right to abortion: rethinking Roe v. Wade in the context of medication abortion.” Geo. J. Gender & L. 20 (2018): 195.
Yip, Andrew Kam-Tuck, and Peter Nynäs. “Re-framing the intersection between religion, gender, and sexuality in everyday life.” Religion, gender, and sexuality in everyday life. Routledge, 2016. 1-16.
Zakaria, Fareed. “A Culture is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew.” Foreign Aff. 73 1994: 109.
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