THE EFFECT OF CONFLICTING DISCOURSE ON THE RELIGIOUS CONTEMPLATION

This study which is based on a socio-psychological point of view deals with how prejudices and conflicts between religious groups and communities influence religious thought. There are many different sources that feed and shape the religious thought. There are also some factors that set the suitable ground for the development or stagnation of the religious thought such as interpretation of fundamental religious texts, sociocultural environment, interaction with other religious structures, and individual factors. Another determinative factor in this respect is Zeitgeist–the spirit of the time. Modernity and post-modernity periods brought along individual and societal understandings that transform the believing people’s perception of religion and religiousness. A transformation as such, whether desired or not, also influence the religious thought. In a world that evolves from modernity to post-modernity, every religious group endeavors to construct their own reality, using a conflicting discourse. The religious thought, then, is influenced positively or negatively, depending on its place and situation, in this construction process. Whereas positive conflict takes on a creative and constructive function, negative conflict, on the other hand, may be destructive and disruptive. The conflicting discourse as observed among religious groups today do not make positive contributions to the development and enrichment of the Islamic thought, and, on the contrary, it rather has negative and destructive effects on it