Religions have shaped global society throughout human history, inspiring and justifying variations of beliefs and practices. With the rise of secular practices and scientific developments, religious influences were predicted to decline; yet, religion remains widely accepted and potent in determining the norms and trends of modern society (Moore 1). Many scholars explain this popularity of religion through its appealing offering of security and comfort to believers. Accordingly, the beliefs, practices, and nationalistic factions of Christianity and Hinduism illustrate that religion provides a reassuring sense of order and certainty, which empowers believers in private and public spheres.
Religion provides a sense of order to believers through core beliefs and texts. For instance, despite Hinduism’s overwhelming internal diversity regarding gods, beliefs, and practices, most Hindus believe in and live according to the cosmic order of life, dharma. Dharma dictates the “duties, prescriptions, and obligations of all beings” at both societal and individual levels (Brodd et al. 94). One example of such order is the Hindu caste system, a social hierarchy that divides Hindus into four main classes of varnas, each with their privilege and responsibilities (Coogan 158). According to “Who Are Dalits?” by the Navsarjan Trust, the duties and hierarchical structure of varnas are grounded in dharmashastras, sacred texts that define righteousness in Hinduism (2). The outlining of the caste system in the dharmashastras illustrates that one’s adherence to the duties of their predetermined caste status is considered righteous, and thus, dharma (160). Such foundational beliefs and texts act as a guide for believers to understand the world and their expected roles within it, allowing them to feel a sense of order.
Such a religious order is often readily embraced by nationalists who seek a sense of traditionalism and stability during times of change. According to Taking America Back for God by Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry, international nationalist movements incorporate narratives surrounding their “national religious identities” in response to perceived threats (xxii). One example is Christian nationalists, who, feeling threatened by the modern changes in traditional hierarchical relationships regarding citizenship, language, race, gender, and more, use the “American Christian nation narrative” to uphold their conservative ideologies and an “older order” (13, 17, 105). This narrative revolves around how God has “guided and protected [America] throughout its history” and thus, Americans must remember the past and advocate for the maintenance of the aforementioned traditional standards (1-2). Such embracement of religiously-affiliated narratives by nationalists to hinder social change illustrates that religion provides a sense of historically-grounded order.
Through these orders, religion helps believers to be certain in their thoughts, actions, and outlook. One example can be found in the Hindu epic, Bhagavad-gita, where Arjuna is portrayed as a warrior who feels conflicted to fight in a war against his relatives and mentors (Pluralism Project 4). When Krishna, Arjuna’s charioteer and an incarnation of the Hindu deity, Visnu, reminds Arjuna to perform his righteous dharma as a warrior without being attached to the outcome, Arjuna decides to participate in the war (Pluralism Project 4). Such a role of religion in providing confidence and conviction to believers can also be seen through Christian texts. The Sermon on the Mount, a discourse in the New Testament, portrays Jesus’ message for the kingdom of heaven, where he promises a blessed future for the pure, poor, persecuted, and other, now-marginalized and defeated groups (Matthew 5:8). This core message allows Christians to maintain an undeterred positive outlook for the future regardless of current hardships.
Such a religiously-founded sense of certainty often translates to believers’ justification when setting standards and boundaries for others. In Taking America Back for God, Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry illustrate Christian nationalists’ belief that the kingdom of heaven has already been established, and thus, American civic life should be brought under the complete influence of Christianity (11). Such advocacy for Christian dominance and privilege implies that non-Christians are “merely tolerated as an afterthought,” drawing clear lines between Christians and other religious groups (25). Furthermore, Whitehead and Perry explain that such boundaries are, in the perspective of Christian nationalists, imbued with cosmic significance, causing them to equate themselves with righteousness while viewing out-groups as inferior and threatening (114). For example, Christian nationalists argue that embracing immigrants of various cultures is “inherently polluting” America’s Christian values (65). Similarly, Hindu nationalists promote the idea that India and Hinduism are synonymous and, accordingly, set boundaries against religious minorities, especially Muslims, who they perceive as threatening Hindu dominance in India (Abdelfatah et al. 2019). Christian and Hindu nationalists’ use of religion-based justifications to form biased and rigid divisions illustrates that religion provides believers with certainty in their standards and boundaries towards others.
Such religion-based order and certainty empower believers in the private sphere. By perceiving the world as ordered and understanding its place within it, believers may feel a sense of control over themselves and their situations. For example, the promise of the kingdom of heaven may provide believers with comfort and a positive outlook, empowering them to live through their current situations and hardships. Furthermore, through religion, believers obtain and feel confident about the standards used to formulate and judge their thoughts and behaviors. By abiding by such standards, like the Hindus who live according to dharma, believers may perceive themselves as well-disciplined and self-controlled. Thus, religion’s offering of a sense of order and certainty ultimately allows believers to feel empowered and in control on a personal level.
When these privately-empowered believers gather, they gain control in the public sphere. Such public empowerment can be seen in how religious nationalists use religious beliefs and justifications to execute widespread violence–direct, structural, and cultural–toward others. Direct violence represents actions that harm others’ physical and emotional well-being, structural violence refers to the systematic hindrance of others’ access to equal opportunities and needs, and cultural violence represents the social norms and narratives that allow direct and structural violence to be framed as acceptable (Moore 4). Consider the case of Christian nationalists, whose individual beliefs for religious and ethnonational boundaries gather to translate into national-level direct and structural violence. Such include Christian nationalists’ condoning of police brutality toward Black Americans and their significant role in the election of Donald Trump as president in 2017, who argued for deportation and walls against Mexican immigrants (Whitehead and Perry 94, 104). And, by promoting narratives surrounding America’s Christian origin that frame religious and ethnonational minorities as threats, they enforce cultural violence that justifies such public divisions and violence (Whitehead and Perry 65).
Likewise, Hindu nationalists have prominent control over India’s social and political spheres which leads to the successful execution of violence. Under the influence of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s lower and upper houses have been working to approve the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which prevents Muslim immigrants from gaining Indian passports (Abdelfatah et al. 2019). Moreover, the BJP and Modi promised to build a Hindu temple in the place where the Muslim mosque Babri Masjid was burned down by Hindu nationalists, implying their support for Hindu nationalists’ killing of thousands of Muslims in communities surrounding the mosque (Abdelfatah et al. 2019). Such structural and direct violence is accepted by Indian society through the narrative that Muslims are a threat to Hindus (Abdelfatah et al. 2019). The prevalence of such violence supported by religion-based justifications illustrates the public empowerment of believers, showing that religion provides believers with control in public spheres.
To conclude, the outlining of the world by core religious texts and beliefs establish an order that can be applied to societal and individual-level situations. Such order provides believers with certainty in their standards to judge themselves and others, whether it be when abiding to religious teachings and duties or setting social boundaries. Through religion’s offering of a sense of order and certainty, believers are empowered in private and public spheres, which, as can be seen by Christian and Hindu nationalists, often result in the execution of direct, structural, and cultural violence toward minority groups. Understanding such appeals and dark sides of religion, it is important to acknowledge religion’s popularity and influences in shaping the norms, trends, and divisions of our modern society.
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Abdelfatah, R., & Arablouei, R. (Hosts), & Frayer, L., & Goswami, M. (Performers). (2019, May 30). Savarkar’s India [Radio broadcast]. In Throughline. npr. https://www.npr.org/2019/05/23/726319930/savarkars-india
Brodd, Jeffery, et al. “Hinduism.” Invitation to World Religions, New York City, Oxford UP, 2012, pp. 83-94.
Coogan, Michael. “Society and Religion.” The Illustrated Guide to World Religions, New York City, Oxford, 1998, pp. 158-61.
Moore, Diane. “Our Method.” Religious Literacy Project, Harvard Divinity School, 2015, pp. 1-5.
Pluralism Project. “Hinduism.” Harvard University Religious Literacy Project, Harvard Divinity School, 2015.Whitehead, Andrew L., and Samuel L. Perry. Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. New York City, Oxford UP, 2022.