Difference

Naeem Inayatullah and David Blaney argue very persuasively that IR needs to address, rather than continue to defer, the problem of difference. What has perhaps struck me most is the way they ground the problem in some of the debates (read: wars) that took place in pre-Westphalia Europe--mainly those surrounding Christianity. That there were, according to the authors, multiple layers of the problem of difference (ie. horizontal, vertical, between continents, within theological schools) is fascinating.

I am a bit ashamed to say that I hadn't really thought of religion through the lens of difference before, but it makes a lot of sense. In the three Abrahamic religions, the notion of difference is central, both to understanding religious practice and, most importantly, to understanding the notion of salvation. There are Jews and Gentiles. There are Christians and non-Christians. There is Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb. The 'problem' of difference is inherent in these religions as currently and historically understood, and being 'different' from the norm carries dire eternal consequences.

Also interesting is that the Abrahamic faiths exhibit what could be viewed as a "vertical" difference. Muslims believe that Muhammad received the final, most complete revelation of God's message, built on (most of) the revelations of Judaism and Christianity. Christians believe that God has been more fully revealed in Jesus, augmenting the knowledge of God provided by the Old Testament. There is, depending upon where one is placed, a very definite notion of 'progress' from Judaism to Christianity to Islam, though not all things are kept as the faith 'progresses'.

There is also, as the authors reference with regard to the splits within Calvinism (pp. 73-80), the notion of difference within religions. This is perhaps what is most disheartening about The Thirty Years' War and all subsequent violent action between Catholics and Protestants--they both descend from the Christian faith. They both ostensibly believe that Jesus is the Son of God, sent to Earth to take away the sins of all those who would believe by Grace. Without getting into bits of theological minutiae, I would argue that internal difference within Christianity , though bellicose actions would seem to betray my argument, are much less eternally significant, to Christians, than inside/outside difference. The same could be said of the internal difference within Islam between Sunnis and Shi'a, playing itself out so horrifically in Iraq. I understand that there are differences of practice, theology, and so on, but it is extremely disheartening to see internal difference take on such a violent character.*

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*This is not to say that violence based on inside/outside difference is any better, it just seems more understandable, if I may use that word, than violence based on internal difference.