Religion and Theology

Conclusions and Views on Western Religions

Introduction
These are several ways in which nationalism is expressed. It can be said that it is ones love and loyalty to his country and countrymen. In a sense it is seen when one places deep and full emphasis in promoting or maintaining the culture, traditions and customs in hisher motherland. The development of nationalism however, can be said to have several influences, one of them which will be topic of this paper, Judaism. This paper will tackle issues on religion, and its role in the reestablishment of the state of Israel as well as how Judaism becomes a solution to conflicts in Middle East in means of similarities and connections of faith in a given place. Finally, this paper will also compare western religions such as American Christians with Judaism in terms of their origins and how they shape or do not shape a sense of national identity.

Judaism Religion or Nationality One of the oldest monotheistic religions and one of the oldest to survive into the present day, Judaism is a Jewish religion based on ancient Hebrew beliefs and writings or the Torah (the Law of Moses). People who practice Judaism believes that there is only one God, and consider the religion as their religious system or polity. Unlike other religions like Christianity, Judaism entails some sort of national identity. Most of the time, when the term Judaism is heard, we tend to think about Jews, and then immediately relate the word Jews to the state of Israel. In a way, Judaism as a religion gives a sense of individual identity which is then forwarded or expressed into a national identity. In a nutshell, Judaism as a religion can become a nationality as well. The question is how and why does this happen One of the major reasons why a sense of nationalism is formed through Judaism is because of the past history of Israel, wherein there was a conflict between the people and their need to have a Jewish homeland. A political non religious reform called Zionism which is centralized on Judaism paved the way for the creation of the state of Israel.

The main purpose of this movement was to seek refuge from the oppression done to Jews, especially in Russia. Theodor Herzl who headed the movement aimed to establish a state of Israel, and be recognized by the world through legal processes. Eventually, the Zionists created a Jewish homeland in Palestine, marking the new state of Israel formally created in 1948. Because of this, the state of Israel was recognized by many western countries. The time of the holocaust also made the need to have a Jewish homeland even greater, because some Jews in Germany who fled from the Nazis needed a place to go back to. The movement shows that Judaism can be branched to political involvement which can go further to nationalistic participation. This characteristic of Judaism that involves seeking to dictate all details of life, religiously and politically creates a strong sense of nationalism. Overall, Judaism is nationality one into which Jews are born, and within that, nationality and are bound by certain obligations, beliefs and practices which represents it as a religion. Since it shows that Jews care much about their national identity, in a way it dictates how strong their belief in Judaism is. On Middle East Conflicts The birth of Israel in 1948 did not come without a price. The newly formed state of Israel created conflicts with the Middle East, most known as the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is true that the root of the conflict is due to territorial concerns, but there is more the story which can be explained by differences in religious beliefs. It is these beliefs that affect the solutions to the problems faced by Israelites and Arabs.  The tension between the two started with different ideologies but ironically ended with their commonalities in traditions. When Zionists declared a Jewish enterprise in Palestine, many of the Muslims living in the area became irate. It is believed by the Arabs that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf holy possession consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day (Smith, 2006). While in Judaism it is believed that the Jewish peoples link to the land of Israel is incontrovertible and unbroken. It spans nearly four thousand years.

Exhibit A for this connection is the Hebrew Bible (referring to Palestine). With these two different territorial beliefs, two nationalities and religions had clashed. However, solutions to the conflicts can be drawn from similarities. Not commonalities between countries but commonalities in religion and practices. It seen that both Islam and Judaism have very similar structure and practices. There are great similarities in the practice of prayer, mourning, even bioethics, for example helped humanize each side to the other (Mollov, 2009). This shows how religions play a big role in not just depicting ones nationality but also going beyond it. Conclusions and View on Western Religion Looking at how Judaism as both a religion and a nationality can be seen on a historical aspect. Being it one of the oldest religions still being practiced today makes it clear how strong and how influential the religion is. Regarding my views on western religion and why it is very different in Judaism in depicting nationalism, I can say that the reason for this is still because of its historical roots. It is known that Christianity traces some of its roots from Judaism (e. g. the Old TestamentTorah in Judaism). Another reason is that western religions tend to draw themselves back from politics, unlike in Judaism which was politicized by the Zionists to not only preserve their culture and religious beliefs, but also attain a sense of national pride.