Religious Conflict

Conflicts along Religious Borders

• Interfaith Boundaries– Boundaries between the world’s major faiths.

• Intrafaith Boundaries– Boundaries within a single major faith.

Interfaith Boundary in Africa

Nigeria

• Islam in the north• Christianity in the south• Imposition of sharia law

there• Ibo in SE (secessionist

sentiment there)

Civil War in Sudan

• Slavery

• Since 1983, attempts to impose sharia law on the Christian south

• truce

• Has not been friendly to the US

Situation in Darfur is not a religious conflict--both groups are Islamic.

Ethiopia--Coptic Christians in the highlands

--Islam in the lowlands

Indigenous religions remain in pockets,

Partition of India

Conflict over Kashmir

Ayodhya

Sri Lanka--30% Tamil (Hindu-Dravidian)

Separatist movement

--70% Sinhalese Buddhists

Armenia and AzerbaijanSoviet Union’s divide-and-diminish plan

The Former YugoslaviaGenocide

Ethnic Cleansing

Israel and Palestine

The West Bank

with a the proposed security wall, parts of which the Israeli

government has already built.

Northern Ireland (Intrafaith conflict)

Identities are tied to Religion, but are deepened by:

- economics

- colonial experiences

- activity spaces (segregation)

Sunni-Shi’ite Conflict

(intrafaith conflict)