The Great Frontier: Contributor to Religious Violence

In my Religion and Film class this summer I wrote a paper where I argued that the Frontier Myth is a potent contributor to religious violence in the history of American culture. Below is an excerpt of my paper. I would like to start a discussion on this thought though, please leave comments:

An important aspect to draw from the cinematic representations of the frontier through these films is an understanding of how these themes have played a role in the cultural history of America and why the frontier is such a potent contributor to religious violence. There are several reasons as to why the frontier is so powerful and dangerous even at times. First, there is an understanding that violent confrontations take place over and in different kinds of spaces, whether that is national spaces or even religious spaces. It is generally understood that conflict and violence arises in these spaces because they cannot be divided among rival groups. This is clearly evident in the recent history of the United States through issues battling with minority groups: women, people of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, etc. Since there is a common goal shared by both groups that can only go to one group—limited resources—there is competition, and because of the theory of realistic conflict, the groups will compete with one another, become hostile, and ultimately attempt to eliminate their opponents. Secondly, there is conflict over what actually makes a nation-state. The most crucial factor to that conflict is the ability to control borders. If a nation-state cannot control their borders the legitimacy of the nation-state falls away. Therefore, groups are always battling on the frontiers to convert the space in their space, and by doing so; they add the space to the nation-state. Groups place their hegemony over territories that may not be their own. Maintain the theme of the traditional frontier, this was seen during the Americanization of the Native Americans even in the second-half of the twentieth-century. Converting their lands into major cities and only giving them very poor parts of the lands. Another example of this placing control over “enemy land” was the building of the Arlington National Cemetery which is located on the plantation of Jefferson Davis; creating a monument for your own people in a land of your “other” is a slap in the face. A third reason is that frontiers are places where identity is confused unless you are powerful. Therefore, striving to be the strongest and the most feared as a nation would make others aware and decrease the likelihood of having their space trumped on. Finally, frontiers are also places where the nation-state is most vulnerable and therefore the settlers on the frontier have a very important role to place in the drama and history of the nation-state.