Religious imperialism is a form of religious ethnocentrism in which people, often a subordinate group, are required to convert to a different religion. Religious imperialism also involves the active suppression of other religions. The two classic examples of religious imperialism involve Ireland and the United States.
Ireland:
Beginning in the late seventeenth century, the British government passed a series of anti-Catholic laws in Ireland known as the Penal Laws. The first of these was passed in 1695. This was followed in 1697 by the Bishops’ Banishment Act, and in 1704 by the Act to Prevent the Further Growth of Property. The Penal Laws were designed to force Catholics to the lowest socioeconomic status. For example, under the Penal Laws, Catholics were not allowed to own a horse worth more than five pounds. Furthermore, any Catholic who was offered five pounds for a horse was required to sell it. Catholics were also prohibited from possessing arms.
Only Protestants were allowed to hold political positions or allowed to practice law. Catholics were excluded from political power and they were not allowed to be members of a grand jury. Catholics were not allowed to vote in parliamentary elections.
The land laws also served to divide the Catholics by conferring extraordinary privileges on any member of a Catholic family who became a Protestant. For example, an eldest son could deprive his father of the management and disposal of his property by becoming a Protestant.
Bishops and members of Catholic religious orders were banished from the island. Ordinary priests had to register their names and parishes and were required to promise that they would uphold the law. Only one priest was allowed per parish. No new Catholic clergy were allowed to enter the country. Since bishops were required for ordination and with no Catholic education allowed, it was assumed that the Catholic clergy would die out within a generation. However, the laws were not rigidly enforced nor was there any attempt to promote the conversion of the Catholic masses to Protestantism. By the 1720s, Catholic priests and bishops operated fairly freely, but discreetly, in much of Ireland.
The United States:
The policy of the United States with regard to American Indians has assumed that “civilizing” the Indians so that they could be assimilated into American culture required them to become Christians, preferably Protestant Christians. The United States government actively encouraged and financially supported missionary efforts on Indian reservations. The period of time from 1870 to 1934 can be considered the Dark Ages for American Indian Religious Freedom. During this time, the active suppression of American Indian religions reached its peak.
While the government had always supported missionary efforts, conversion of Indians and suppression of Indian religions took a new dimension with the implementation of President Ulysses Grant’s Peace Policy in 1870. Under the policy, a single Christian denomination would become responsible for administering all Indian programs on each reservation and would have a monopoly on proselytization. There was no concern at this time for either the existence or validity of any Indian religions. In fact, Indian religious leaders were seen as barriers to progress and could be jailed for expressing their religious concerns.
In 1883, the Secretary of the Interior reported that the heathen practices of American Indians had to be eliminated. He instructed the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to compel the discontinuance of dances and feasts. He asked Congress for greater power to deal with the Indian spiritual leaders (often called “medicine men”). He asked that steps be taken to compel “these impostors to abandon this deception and discontinue their practices.”
Following the recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior, missionaries, and other influential “friends of the Indian,” the United States formally outlawed “pagan” ceremonies in 1884. Indians who were found guilty of participating in traditional religious ceremonies were to be imprisoned for 30 days. This was seen as an important step in the destruction of the Indian way of life.
In 1892, Congress strengthened the law against Indian religions. Under the new regulations, Indians who openly advocated Indian beliefs, those who performed religious dances, and those involved in religious ceremonies were to be imprisoned.
During the first part of the twentieth century, much of the suppression of Indian religions focused on four areas: (1) the Sun Dance of the Plains Indians, (2) the Native American Church, (3) Indian “doctors” and healing practices, and (4) the Pueblos in the Southwest.
The Dark Ages ended with the election of Franklin Roosevelt as President and the appointment of John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Regarding the government’s prohibition of Indian religions, Collier stated:
“It was illegal, unconstitutional, and wrong, and it is not going to be done anymore.”
While Collier was characterized as an atheist and a communist by many missionary groups, this began a new era for American Indian religious freedom.
Other Examples:
Religious imperialism doesn’t always involve the brute force of military and/or police enforcement. At times it can take the force of social pressures which require certain kinds of learning or behavior and which ban others. Book banning and censorship are often forms of religious imperialism. Similarly blasphemy laws and the requirement of a belief in a god in order to serve in public office may also be seen as forms of religious imperialism.
Another example of religious imperialism is the insistence by some Christians that American students must be taught creationism as an alternative to evolution. Guy Harrison, in his book 50 Popular Beliefs that People Think are True, writes:
“Creationism is most often defined as the religious belief that the Judeo-Christian god created the universe, Earth, and all life as described in the Genesis story.”
Religious imperialism may involve the refusal to acknowledge the existence of other religions or other viewpoints. Thus, in the United States non-Christian religions, such as Wicca and Santaría, are regularly discriminated against in the military, in schools, and in public meetings. With regard to the discrimination against non-Christians, Warren Blumenfeld, in an article in
Free Inquiry, writes:
“It is the institutionalization of a Christian norm or standard, which establishes and perpetuates the notion that all people are or should be Christian, thereby privileging Christians and Christianity and excluding the needs, concerns, cultural practices, and the experiences of people who do not define themselves as Christian.”
There are also times when religious imperialism morphs into religious terrorism with the destruction of sacred sites and icons of other religions. The destruction of ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan by Muslims is one example. In the Middle East, the attempted genocide against religious minorities by the Islamic State (ISIS) would be another example.