Sectarianism refers (usually pejoratively) to a rigid adherence to a particular Sect or party or denomination. It often implies discrimination, denunciation, or violence against those outside the sect. The term is most often used to refer to religious sectarianism, involving conflict between members of different religions or denominations of the same religion. It is also frequently used to refer to political sectarianism, generally on the part of a tight-knit political faction or party.
Sectarianism may, in the abstract, be characterized by dogmatism and inflexibility; sentimental or axiomatic adherence to an idea, belief or tradition; and idealism that provides a sense of continuity, orientation, and certainty. As a pejorative term, accusations of sectarianism may sometimes be used to demonize an opposing group and thus serve as a convenient ploy to evade taking what somebody says or does seriously.
The ideological underpinnings of attitudes and behaviours labelled as sectarian are extraordinarily varied. Members of a religious group may feel that their own salvation requires aggressively seeking converts from other groups; adherents of a given faction may believe that for the achievement of their own political or religious project their opponents must be purged. Sometimes a group feeling itself to be under economic or political pressure will attack members of another group thought to be responsible for its own decline. At other times, sectarianism may be the expression of a group's nationalistic or cultural ambitions, or cynically exploited to serve an individual demagogue's ambition.
In all cases, there is a real or felt opposition between 'Us' and 'Them', between insiders and outsiders. Sectarianism may take the form of hatred and fear of an outside sect or group. In such cases, sectarianism does not require a strong sense of religious belief, as much as a sense of group belonging.
A sectarian conflict usually refers to conflict along religious and political lines such as the conflicts between between Shia and Sunni Muslims, or between Catholics and Protestants in Ulster. A sectarian conflict may also refer to general philosophical or political conflict between different schools of thought. Non-sectarians espouse that free association and tolerance of different beliefs are the cornerstone to successful peaceful human interaction.
Since the 17th century, there has been sectarian conflict of varying intensity in Ireland. Since the Irish Free State became independent in 1922, this has been particularly intense in Northern Ireland. Irish emigration has taken this conflict to other lands, including western Scotland (see Religious rivalry in Glasgow), Newfoundland, Canada's Maritime provinces, New York State, Ontario, Liverpool, and elsewhere. See also Know-Nothings for anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States.
Nowadays, bigotry and discrimination in employment usually only remains in a few places where 'strong' forms of Protestantism (such as Calvinism or Presbyterianism) are the norm, or in poor areas with a long history of sectarian violence and tension, such as Northern Ireland. In places where more 'moderate' forms (such as Anglicanism / Episcopalianism) prevail, the two traditions do not become polarized against each other, and usually co-exist peacefully. However, in western Scotland, where many people have some Irish ancestry, sectarianism can frequently be found between Catholics and Protestants.
In India, sectarianism is known as communalism, which refers particularly to conflict between the Hindu and Muslim communities. It can also refer to Hindu/Sikh conflict and Hindu/Christian conflicts.
Violence in Sri Lanka between the Tamil, Sinhalese, and Muslim communities often has heavy sectarian overtones.
In Pakistan, there have been many sectarian attacks between Sunnis and Shias, and between Sunnis and Ahmadis.
Iraq's Shia population was persecuted during the presidency of Saddam Hussein, and certain elements of the Iraqi insurgency have made a point of targeting Shias in sectarian attacks.
The civil wars in the Balkans which followed the breakup of Yugoslavia have been heavily tinged with sectarianism. Croats and Slovenes have traditionally been Catholic, Serbs and Macedonians Eastern Orthodox, and Bosniaks and (for the most part) Albanians Muslim. Religious affiliation served as a marker of group identity in this conflict, despite relatively low rates of religious practice and belief among these various groups after decades of Communism.
Anti-Semitism has traditionally been the most widespread variety of sectarianism in Europe. However, this form of prejudice is not wholly religious in nature, as can be seen by the racial policies of the Nazis, who could be said to be more concerned with the "contamination" of Aryan blood than with the Jewish religion itself, and the experiences of Marranos who were treated with suspicion several generations after their families had converted to Christianity.
Political sectarianism among Judaean nationalists was parodied by Monty Python in The Life of Brian.