Analysis Of Religion, Identity, And Violence By Rabbi David Rosen

Summary

Upon investigation of the article titled, Religion, Identity, and Violence by Rabbi David Rosen, the author drew very clear conclusions on religion’s role in violence around the world. This article’s thesis gets at religions role in violence and why it seems religion is the main suspect in the cause of many of today’s wars and conflicts. Rabbi Rosen specifically ask the question, “Why is religion so easily exploited in this manner” (Rosen, p13)? This statement is directly referring to the thought that religion is automatically the cause of conflicts, while territorial conflicts and other issues could be the cause of violence, using religion as a sort of cover for their disputes. Rather than a cause for war, the author describes religion as a source of identity for people who practice it. The author states that, “Identity not only tells me what my own value is or what I am; but it enables me to understand what separates me

Now this can be used in a constructive ways, or it can be used in a destructive way” (Rosen, p 15). You can clearly see the authors religious standing as Jewish in several different ways. The context of this article is basically an augment supporting his view. This is a very Jewish way of addressing something. Jewish practitioners engage in arguing, not in the point to defeat the opposing view, but to better understand their view and strengthen their view by hearing the opposition view point. The question and answer section is a great example of this. Many statements of this article are not presented in a factual way. Instead there are several stories which the readers can draw their own conclusions. Teachers of Jewish background often times tell the history of the religion through narratives. Prothero, a distinguished writer of the world’s religions, describes Judaism as “beginning and ending with a