1 Introduction to Conflicts, Religion and Culture in Tourism

1 Introduction to Conflicts, Religion and Culture in Tourism RAZAQ RAJ1* AND KEVIN GRIFFIN2 1Leeds Business School, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK; 2School of Hospitality Management and Tourism, Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin, Ireland Introduction come in to play when one considers themes such as conflict, religion and culture in relation to It has been interesting putting together this book tourism. The book seeks to illustrate the many entitled Conflicts, Religion and Culture in efforts being made to sustain networks of reli- Tourism, which provides a timely assessment of gious principles, to promote the enhancement of the increasing linkages and interconnections ties between religious followers and their sacred between religious tourism and secular spaces on sites. The development of ties between the faith- a global stage. The book explores key learning ful and their commanding figures and principles points from a range of contemporary case studies helps to maintain networks of religious pilgrim- dealing with religious and pilgrimage activity, age for individuals. While much of this activity linked to ancient, sacred and emerging tourist develops in safe, secure, uncontested and support- destinations and new forms of pilgrimage, faith ive environments, in many instances activity oc- systems and quasi-religious activities. curs in liminal, challenged or conflict situations. Religious tourism has increased in the 21st Thus, while Catholics can travel to visit Knock, century, while at same time, looking at world af- Lough Derg or Croagh Patrick (Griffin and Raj, fairs, it would appear that religion and freedom 2015), Muslims can visit Madinah and Makkah of expression are frequently in tremendous con- (Raj and Raja, 2016), Buddhists can visit holy flict. Balancing these two rights is particularly sites in Sri Lanka (de Silva, 2016), all with im- crucial for academic scholars and international punity, many worshippers cannot access their bodies, particularly since this battle of rights chosen sites without experiencing conflict, chal- often results in undesirable violence. Religion, lenges and extreme difficulties. belief systems and faith practices can be conten- Over the past decade or two, due to the ubi- tious issues between host communities and visit- quitous availability of social media and instant ors travelling to sacred sites. Personal belief and news feeds, we have become acutely aware of faith are difficult for individual visitors to com- wars, conflicts and terror attacks, many of which promise, particularly since religion plays such have caused great damage to the physical envir- an important part of many individuals’ identity. onment of holy places. The destruction of reli- The principle behind this book is to demon- gious heritage disrupts the network of religious strate to the reader the range of elements that capital related to places, which thus impacts on *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] © CAB International 2017. Conflicts, Religion and Culture in Tourism (eds R. Raj and K. Griffin) 1 2 Introduction the degree of attachment to a particular religious discuss the work of Hinnells (1984), who cau- practice/culture (see Al-Marashi, 2016). Un- tions about making generalist statements en- doubtedly, the religious tourism and pilgrimage compassing cultures such as those of the Abori- industry has suffered over the past 15 years due gines of Australia and Amerindians, who have to the relationship between religion and conflict. some of the oldest living religions that have been Conversely, religiously motivated visitors have subsumed and influenced by Western religious played significant roles in addressing many con- narratives. Violent and destructive historical flicts around the world. In fact, the positive inter- conflicts between religious traditions, nowadays action of visitors, goods and information in holy seen as unfortunate impacts of global coloniza- places has helped develop the vitality and vi- tion, set a poignant backdrop to many of the brancy of religious culture in certain spaces. challenges and conflicts highlighted in this vol- A particular case in point is Syria, where ume (see Albanese, 1999). contemporary conflict has destroyed Shi’ite reli- The study of religion encompasses a diverse gious heritage sites as well as other cultural range of academic disciplines, and traditionally elements in the country. In particular, the delib- it has attracted the attention of historians, erate act of sabotage by IS (Islamic State) has orientalists, classicists, archaeologists, sociolo- made a huge impact on the Shi’ite people and the gists, anthropologists, linguistics, art historians, world as a whole. The destruction of Shi’ite reli- philosophers and theologians (Hinnells, 1984). gious heritage disrupts the network of Shi’ite Increasingly, the study of religion is combined religious capital because it results in a decline of with other emerging academic disciplines to ex- interactions between visitors and such religious plore new insights into the significance of reli- places. However, the people of these holy places gion within the contemporary sociocultural mi- have facilitated the sustenance of their net- lieu. Sociological discourses include functionalist works, to enhance their degree of engagement perspectives applied to the study of the science with their faith, without direct interaction in the of religion, with a sense that this functionality places that they would normally visit. creates societal solidarity (Hinnells, 1984: p. 128). A postmodern discourse of religion would not position the concept within one academic discipline, and would ‘question any possibility of Theory of Religious Tourism rigid disciplinary boundaries’ (Rosenau, 1992: p. 6). Within Religionswissenschaft (the science Despite the ever-changing global political, social of religion) are a group of disciplines that in- and economic landscapes, religion has retained clude the phenomenology of religion – this in- a significant place as a social movement with cludes a classification of ideas, actions and sym- complexity of structures and functions, and still bols and is a study or method of describing and pervades cultures and traditions. Raj and Griffin, gaining an empathetic understanding of reli- in the introduction to their 2015 volume, sug- gious phenomena without offering an explan- gest that religion is an: ation of truth or falsity of religious beliefs (Hin- nells, 1984: p. 250). age-old and dynamic concept which embraces a breadth of activity such as ancient, living/ Dealing with the idea of religion and con- current and emerging new religious and flict, Said and Funk suggest that: quasi-religious movements, also including traditional living religions of primal societies Religion is a perennial and perhaps inevitable and modern secular alternatives to religion. factor in both conflict and conflict resolution. Whilst there are common elements to the Religion, after all, is a powerful constituent of concept of religion which include transcendent cultural norms and values, and because it deities, heavenly beings, demons, and divin- addresses the most profound existential issues of ations, there are defining elements which human life (e.g., freedom and inevitability, fear characterise distinct religious movements. and faith, security and insecurity, right and (Raj and Griffin, 2015: p. 3) wrong, sacred and profane), religion is deeply implicated in individual and social conceptions In highlighting the tendency to adopt Western- of peace. focused conceptualizations of religions, they (Said and Funk, 2002: pp. 37–38) Introduction 3 In cataloguing the emergence of religions of the when Muslims visit pilgrimage sites in Madinah Near East and the West (Judaism, Christianity and Makkah, they should show great respect by and Islam), Sherratt and Hawkins (1972) de- being aware that Prophet Muhammad’s pre- scribe the association of these religions with the cious steps have trodden in every place around worship of a God with polytheist beliefs in many Madinah; thus, the pilgrim ought to walk with gods and monotheist belief in one God. Added to dignity and caution, recalling the Messenger’s this, they identify the major religions of India humility and graceful gait. and southern Asia (Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoro- Therefore, it is accepted among religious vis- astrianism and Sikhism) and the religions of the itors that shrine, sanctuary, cathedral, mosque, Far East (Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto and synagogue and temple are sacralized, confined Mahayana Buddhism). In light of these diverse and restricted spaces for individuals to practice religions and religious practices (and acknow- their belief during their visits to religious sites. ledging that these are simply the main religious This sensitivity cannot be overlooked if one seeks affiliations), the potential for divergence, and to avoid conflict with the host community. Raj indeed conflict, between varying forms of reli- and Griffin (2015: p. 108) comment that conflict gious practice is enormous in terms of: worship; over clothing conventions, in particular, are a engagement with landscape; ethical, moral and frequent cause of struggle: it is not uncommon social norms; and economic elements, owner- to see people wearing shorts and vests at reli- ship and access to sites, etc. gious sites where prominently placed signs ask Religious tourism and pilgrimage has be- visitors to cover their heads, shoulders and legs. come a provocative issue in sacred sites,

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