Religion And Conflict In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

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Since religion was formed, religion has been used as a way to justify going to war. Another use of religion throughout the course of history has been for the justification of crimes against humanity, whether that be executions, genocides, or even forcing others to change their own beliefs to follow another set of beliefs. Religion has been a catalyst for conflict in the past, and has remained a catalyst in modern times. Therefore a common catalyst for cultural conflict in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and the modern conflict with the Islamic State is religion. The war waged by the Islamic state has been a religious war fueled by the belief that there is only one true religion, and there is only one way to follow that religion. …show more content…
"If you convert to Islam you can stay in your home, otherwise, get out." (Belz) The population living in Islamic State territory are being forced to evacuate a location due to the attempted force conversion of all people within the territory, no matter what ideology they may follow. This creates a conflict in which the Islamic State is attempting to nullify the beliefs of another person 's culture by forcing them to make the choice between leaving and potentially dying, or staying where they are, but having to convert their beliefs. This shows that when cultural collisions are catalyzed by religion, the a party in the collision gains a forcefulness that allows the party to control and overpower the other party. The forcefulness of a party within a cultural collision is also present in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Acheba. "Mr. Smith stood his ground. But he could not save his church. When the egwugwu went away and the red-earth church which Mr. Brown had built was a pile of earth and ashes. And for the moment the spirit of the clan was pacified." (Achebe 177) The people of Umuofia that do not follow the Christian ways collided with the Christians by burning down their holy place. Despite the attempts of Mr. Smith, the villagers burned the chapel, ultimately showing a large cultural collision that was catalyzed by religion. As people began to be converted around the non-believers, they grew angry at how they willingly gave up their own beliefs for another set of beliefs. Christianity went against the Umuofians religion and culture before the white man 's arrival. Due to this, religion managed to act as a catalyst, or a method of causing an attack on the white men to happen faster. Religion was the determining factor that caused the Umuofians to burn down the church due to

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