Jerusalem DVD

Certain concepts within the umbrella concept of religion confusing me; one concept in particular is the concept of religious wars. Although I had a slight idea in regards to the ‘Holy Lands,’ I had no idea that the tension that existed in such lengths to involve various different religions. These ‘religious wars’ happened to serve one sole purpose: to preserve the religious landmarks present in each of the different religions ‘holy lands.’

The basis the three monotheistic religions; Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all originate from variations of the same story or stories; as a result, each religion is ‘fighting for ownership,’ as each religion’s roots date back to same place.

Because these various religious sects believe in either the same stories; or similar stories regarding god, the creation of the universe, the creation of the human race, and other stories pertaining to similar ideologies, each faith but has different ideas or interpretations regarding the outcomes; because of this dispute, each faith has not been presented with the opportunity for overarching peace.

Each religion has differs when it comes to their beliefs, culture, and customs. These differences create a sort of ‘ethnocentric bias’ which is the major factor to incite these holy wars. Each religious sect believes that their own way is the right way to practice religion; additionally, each religion compares their individualized beliefs and practices to the overarching standard of the various other regions; in particular, the three primary monotheistic religions. Of all of this explains how a stress of tolerance, understanding, and the concept of loving your neighbor as it pertains to religious practices is evident; however, with these concepts comes a state of constant isolation, discrimination, in addition to frequent deaths amongst the people in this particular region. These killings occur as a result of the ownership of these various properties. 

After watching this film, I realized that the power of faith is extremely stronger than I had originally known. The concept that a family can only share a meal together once a week because they lack certain citizenship rights is absurd to me. These extremes are difficult to comprehend coming from a country where these basic freedoms are granted by law. The separation between physical places assists with both the religious and cultural freedom within a certain country. Additionally, these 'religious wars' seem to be both ubiquitous as well as never-ending. The overarching principles behind these battles are the same as they were centuries ago despite the fact that people are dying on a daily basis. I feel that it is ironic how one of the holiest places on earth can not come to a consensus to allow everyone to practice free-will.