Religion Essays Examples

Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilization delves into the growing tensions between Islam and the West. He focuses on how it is not the religions that are in conflict but the civilizations that are in conflict with each other. His article compares and contrasts the two as they have grown throughout the years and their civilizations and cultures have changed and adapted. The Westerners attempting to universalize their values pushes against the Muslims who are growing more confident in Islamic traditions and values. With Islam growing in numbers and gaining momentum amongst the Muslims, Islam feels like the West is just meddling and pushing their values unto them. Both feel that their culture is more superior to the other and that thinking also causes more discord amongst the two. Attacks by Islamic extremists also put more strain between Islam and the West because the Westerners point the blame onto all of Islam when it was a fraction of the culture. The values between Islam and the West vary and those differences pose problems for everyone involved, the West already has that preconceived notion that all Muslims and Islamic followers are extremists and are not to be trusted because of the attacks on 9/11. The Muslims who are tired of being forced to deal with the West and their culture, rebel against what’s being forced upon them and turn against the West to fight for their right to have different futures. The West allege that not all those that practice Islam are extremists even though there isn’t much proof to support that notion. According to Huntington, Islam’s people are obsessed with their superiority and lack of power and the West are obsessed with spreading their culture so as not to die out.