James Jones
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195335972
- eISBN:
- 9780199868957
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335972.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Religiously motivated terrorism is a religious phenomenon; thus the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism is the psychology of religion. For many decades the author of this book has been ...
More
Religiously motivated terrorism is a religious phenomenon; thus the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism is the psychology of religion. For many decades the author of this book has been working in the discipline of the psychology of religion as both a professor of religious studies and a practicing clinical psychologist. Here he applies that work to the topic of religious terrorism, addressing it from both perspectives. Both the clinician’s concern with the dynamics of individual personalities and the scholar’s knowledge of the diversity and complexity of the religious life enter into this book. This book analyzes the psychological dynamics involved in religiously motivated violence and discusses how understanding those dynamics can contribute to understanding both the psychology of religion and contemporary, religiously motivated terrorism. In the literature on this topic there is a paucity of discussion of both of these factors—the psychodynamics of religious terrorism and the religious aspect itself. This dual perspective on a topic of obvious interest and importance is unique to this book. Besides the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism, chapters include contemporary terrorism as seen from multiple perspectives, Islamic terrorism in the context of world religions, Aum Shrinkyo, American apocalyptic Christianity, what this perspective tells us about religion, and religious responses to terrorism.Less
Religiously motivated terrorism is a religious phenomenon; thus the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism is the psychology of religion. For many decades the author of this book has been working in the discipline of the psychology of religion as both a professor of religious studies and a practicing clinical psychologist. Here he applies that work to the topic of religious terrorism, addressing it from both perspectives. Both the clinician’s concern with the dynamics of individual personalities and the scholar’s knowledge of the diversity and complexity of the religious life enter into this book. This book analyzes the psychological dynamics involved in religiously motivated violence and discusses how understanding those dynamics can contribute to understanding both the psychology of religion and contemporary, religiously motivated terrorism. In the literature on this topic there is a paucity of discussion of both of these factors—the psychodynamics of religious terrorism and the religious aspect itself. This dual perspective on a topic of obvious interest and importance is unique to this book. Besides the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism, chapters include contemporary terrorism as seen from multiple perspectives, Islamic terrorism in the context of world religions, Aum Shrinkyo, American apocalyptic Christianity, what this perspective tells us about religion, and religious responses to terrorism.
Jones James W
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195335972
- eISBN:
- 9780199868957
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335972.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
“Jihadism in Comparative Perspective: Psychological Themes in Religiously Motivated Terrorism.” This chapter has two goals: first, to describe salient psychological-religious themes found in the ...
More
“Jihadism in Comparative Perspective: Psychological Themes in Religiously Motivated Terrorism.” This chapter has two goals: first, to describe salient psychological-religious themes found in the statements of contemporary jidhadists and compare them to those of other world religions and, second, to use these descriptions to elaborate some of the most significant psychological-religious motifs characterizing contemporary religiously motivated terrorism. These motifs form the basis for the analysis carried out in the remainder of the book: the next two chapters provide additional illustrations from two disparate religious traditions, the fifth chapter provides a psychological analysis and commentary on them, and the final chapter discusses what they tell us about religion.Less
“Jihadism in Comparative Perspective: Psychological Themes in Religiously Motivated Terrorism.” This chapter has two goals: first, to describe salient psychological-religious themes found in the statements of contemporary jidhadists and compare them to those of other world religions and, second, to use these descriptions to elaborate some of the most significant psychological-religious motifs characterizing contemporary religiously motivated terrorism. These motifs form the basis for the analysis carried out in the remainder of the book: the next two chapters provide additional illustrations from two disparate religious traditions, the fifth chapter provides a psychological analysis and commentary on them, and the final chapter discusses what they tell us about religion.
Jones James W
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195335972
- eISBN:
- 9780199868957
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335972.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
“The Divine Terrorist: Religion and Violence in American Apocalyptic Christianity.” Through an analysis of the psychological-religious themes found in the popular novels the Left Behind series, this ...
More
“The Divine Terrorist: Religion and Violence in American Apocalyptic Christianity.” Through an analysis of the psychological-religious themes found in the popular novels the Left Behind series, this chapter examines the connections between Christian theology and violence in American apocalyptic Christianity. The analysis reveals many important commonalities between the outlook found in the Left Behind series and that of religiously motivated terrorists from around the world. The expression of some of these themes in the rise of the religious right is also pointed out, and the violent potential of American apocalyptic Christianity is explored.Less
“The Divine Terrorist: Religion and Violence in American Apocalyptic Christianity.” Through an analysis of the psychological-religious themes found in the popular novels the Left Behind series, this chapter examines the connections between Christian theology and violence in American apocalyptic Christianity. The analysis reveals many important commonalities between the outlook found in the Left Behind series and that of religiously motivated terrorists from around the world. The expression of some of these themes in the rise of the religious right is also pointed out, and the violent potential of American apocalyptic Christianity is explored.
Michael K. Jerryson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199793235
- eISBN:
- 9780199897438
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793235.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
For many people, the concept of Buddhist violence is an oxymoron. The image of a Buddhist monk holding a handgun or the view of a militarized Buddhist monastery challenges our popular images of ...
More
For many people, the concept of Buddhist violence is an oxymoron. The image of a Buddhist monk holding a handgun or the view of a militarized Buddhist monastery challenges our popular images of Buddhism. However, these sights actually exist in southern Thailand. One of the lesser known but longest running conflicts of Southeast Asia is in Thailand’s southernmost provinces. Among the various causes of the conflict is religious division. Although Thailand’s population is 92% Buddhist, over 85% of the people in the southernmost provinces are Muslim. Since 2004, the Thai government has imposed martial law over the three provinces in this territory and fought with a grassroots militant Malay Muslim insurgency. Buddhist Fury examines five different Buddhist dimensions of the conflict and places them within a global context. Through fieldwork conducted in the conflict area, the book follows the southern Thai Buddhist monks and their practices in Thailand’s deep south. Many Buddhist practices remain unchanged. Buddhist monks continue to chant, counsel the laity, and accrue merit. Yet at the same time, some monks zealously advocate Buddhist nationalism, act as covert military officers, and equip themselves with guns. The book examines the methods by which religion alters the nature of the conflict and the dangers inherent in this transformation.Less
For many people, the concept of Buddhist violence is an oxymoron. The image of a Buddhist monk holding a handgun or the view of a militarized Buddhist monastery challenges our popular images of Buddhism. However, these sights actually exist in southern Thailand. One of the lesser known but longest running conflicts of Southeast Asia is in Thailand’s southernmost provinces. Among the various causes of the conflict is religious division. Although Thailand’s population is 92% Buddhist, over 85% of the people in the southernmost provinces are Muslim. Since 2004, the Thai government has imposed martial law over the three provinces in this territory and fought with a grassroots militant Malay Muslim insurgency. Buddhist Fury examines five different Buddhist dimensions of the conflict and places them within a global context. Through fieldwork conducted in the conflict area, the book follows the southern Thai Buddhist monks and their practices in Thailand’s deep south. Many Buddhist practices remain unchanged. Buddhist monks continue to chant, counsel the laity, and accrue merit. Yet at the same time, some monks zealously advocate Buddhist nationalism, act as covert military officers, and equip themselves with guns. The book examines the methods by which religion alters the nature of the conflict and the dangers inherent in this transformation.
Brian K. Pennington
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195372427
- eISBN:
- 9780199949618
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372427.003.0000
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Few topics in religious studies capture, on the one hand, the ambiguities and challenges of the discipline and, on the other, its contemporary indispensability as successfully as the intersection of ...
More
Few topics in religious studies capture, on the one hand, the ambiguities and challenges of the discipline and, on the other, its contemporary indispensability as successfully as the intersection of religion and violence does. For its ability to highlight the problem of defining religion, for underscoring religion’s inseparability from power and politics, for pointing out the contested and internally plural nature of all religious traditions and identities, for suggesting the religious functions of popular culture, and for revealing the historical mutability of religious expression and identity, religious violence flags many of the distinctive and defining questions addressed by the discipline. For those very reasons it is also an excellent topic for initiating students into the practices of religious studies and cultivating a heightened appreciation for the nuances and complexities that characterize religion in all of its historical manifestations.Less
Few topics in religious studies capture, on the one hand, the ambiguities and challenges of the discipline and, on the other, its contemporary indispensability as successfully as the intersection of religion and violence does. For its ability to highlight the problem of defining religion, for underscoring religion’s inseparability from power and politics, for pointing out the contested and internally plural nature of all religious traditions and identities, for suggesting the religious functions of popular culture, and for revealing the historical mutability of religious expression and identity, religious violence flags many of the distinctive and defining questions addressed by the discipline. For those very reasons it is also an excellent topic for initiating students into the practices of religious studies and cultivating a heightened appreciation for the nuances and complexities that characterize religion in all of its historical manifestations.
Jennifer Scheper Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195367065
- eISBN:
- 9780199867370
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367065.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
In 1998 the local devotees of the Cristo Aparecido held their Franciscan priests hostage over a dispute about the Cristo. Seeking to modernize local Roman Catholic faith, these parish priests ...
More
In 1998 the local devotees of the Cristo Aparecido held their Franciscan priests hostage over a dispute about the Cristo. Seeking to modernize local Roman Catholic faith, these parish priests criticized devotion to the Cristo and withheld their support from ritual celebrations of the image. The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, the national government body empowered to protect the art historical legacy of the nation, intervened on behalf of local devotees and lay leaders to defend traditional celebration of the image. For local believers, the Cristo symbolizes their collective identity and the vulnerability of their own, embattled faith.Less
In 1998 the local devotees of the Cristo Aparecido held their Franciscan priests hostage over a dispute about the Cristo. Seeking to modernize local Roman Catholic faith, these parish priests criticized devotion to the Cristo and withheld their support from ritual celebrations of the image. The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, the national government body empowered to protect the art historical legacy of the nation, intervened on behalf of local devotees and lay leaders to defend traditional celebration of the image. For local believers, the Cristo symbolizes their collective identity and the vulnerability of their own, embattled faith.
Jonathan Benthall and Jonathan Benthall
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781784993085
- eISBN:
- 9781526124005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784993085.003.0018
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
This Chapter reflects on the alleged special association between religion in general and violence – an association rebutted by both authors under review, David Martin (in Religion and Power: No logos ...
More
This Chapter reflects on the alleged special association between religion in general and violence – an association rebutted by both authors under review, David Martin (in Religion and Power: No logos without mythos) and Karen Armstrong (in Fields of Blood: Religion and the history of violence). It was first published in the Times Literary Supplement on 10 December 2014, under the heading “Poplars in the marsh”. These two very different authors also agree that violent resistance is an inevitable response to policies that oppress large populations. The Chapter goes on to consider briefly the exorbitant reworking of Wahhabism that underpins the so-called Islamic State (Isis), and finally the obstacles that beset all attempts to found non-violent movements.Less
This Chapter reflects on the alleged special association between religion in general and violence – an association rebutted by both authors under review, David Martin (in Religion and Power: No logos without mythos) and Karen Armstrong (in Fields of Blood: Religion and the history of violence). It was first published in the Times Literary Supplement on 10 December 2014, under the heading “Poplars in the marsh”. These two very different authors also agree that violent resistance is an inevitable response to policies that oppress large populations. The Chapter goes on to consider briefly the exorbitant reworking of Wahhabism that underpins the so-called Islamic State (Isis), and finally the obstacles that beset all attempts to found non-violent movements.
Christian Hofreiter
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198810902
- eISBN:
- 9780191848032
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198810902.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This book investigates the effective history of some of the most problematic passages in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament): passages involving the concept or practice of herem. These texts contain ...
More
This book investigates the effective history of some of the most problematic passages in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament): passages involving the concept or practice of herem. These texts contain prima facie divine commands to commit genocide as well as descriptions of genocidal military campaigns commended by God. The book presents and analyses the solutions that Christian interpreters from antiquity until today have proposed to the concomitant moral and hermeneutical challenges. A number of ways in which the texts have been used to justify violence and war or to criticize Christianity are also addressed. Apart from offering the most comprehensive presentation of the effective history (Wirkungsgeschichte) of herem texts to date, the book presents an analysis and critical evaluation of the theological and hermeneutical assumptions underlying each of the several approaches and their exegetical and practical consequences. The resulting taxonomy and hermeneutical map is an original contribution to the history of exegesis and to the study of religion and violence. It may also help Christian and other religious readers today make sense of these troubling biblical texts. Apart from an introduction and conclusion, this book contains four diachronic chapters in which the various exegetical approaches are set out: pre-critical (from the OT to the Apostolic Fathers), dissenting (Marcion and other ancient critics), figurative (from Origen to high medieval times), divine command ethics (from Augustine to Calvin) and violent (from Ambrose via the Crusades to Puritan North America). A fifth chapter presents near-contemporary reiterations and variations of the historic approaches.Less
This book investigates the effective history of some of the most problematic passages in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament): passages involving the concept or practice of herem. These texts contain prima facie divine commands to commit genocide as well as descriptions of genocidal military campaigns commended by God. The book presents and analyses the solutions that Christian interpreters from antiquity until today have proposed to the concomitant moral and hermeneutical challenges. A number of ways in which the texts have been used to justify violence and war or to criticize Christianity are also addressed. Apart from offering the most comprehensive presentation of the effective history (Wirkungsgeschichte) of herem texts to date, the book presents an analysis and critical evaluation of the theological and hermeneutical assumptions underlying each of the several approaches and their exegetical and practical consequences. The resulting taxonomy and hermeneutical map is an original contribution to the history of exegesis and to the study of religion and violence. It may also help Christian and other religious readers today make sense of these troubling biblical texts. Apart from an introduction and conclusion, this book contains four diachronic chapters in which the various exegetical approaches are set out: pre-critical (from the OT to the Apostolic Fathers), dissenting (Marcion and other ancient critics), figurative (from Origen to high medieval times), divine command ethics (from Augustine to Calvin) and violent (from Ambrose via the Crusades to Puritan North America). A fifth chapter presents near-contemporary reiterations and variations of the historic approaches.
Christian Hofreiter
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198810902
- eISBN:
- 9780191848032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198810902.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The chapter addresses the question in how far herem texts have inspired and shaped war and violent behaviour in the real world. It briefly reviews passages in Ambrose and Augustine that arguably ...
More
The chapter addresses the question in how far herem texts have inspired and shaped war and violent behaviour in the real world. It briefly reviews passages in Ambrose and Augustine that arguably constitute patristic antecedents to later violent readings. This review is followed by a detailed treatment of the reception of herem texts during the medieval crusades, which draws on crusading chronicles, songs, poems, epics, and sermons; then by briefer sections on the medieval inquisition, the Spanish conquest of the New World, the ‘Christian holy war’ in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century authors, and colonial wars in North America. The chapter demonstrates that the OT generally and herem texts specifically provided narratives, categories, and labels by which Christians understood themselves and their ‘enemies’. Herem texts were sometimes used to justify massacres ex post facto; at the same time, it cannot be demonstrated that they shaped the planning or execution of mass slaughters.Less
The chapter addresses the question in how far herem texts have inspired and shaped war and violent behaviour in the real world. It briefly reviews passages in Ambrose and Augustine that arguably constitute patristic antecedents to later violent readings. This review is followed by a detailed treatment of the reception of herem texts during the medieval crusades, which draws on crusading chronicles, songs, poems, epics, and sermons; then by briefer sections on the medieval inquisition, the Spanish conquest of the New World, the ‘Christian holy war’ in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century authors, and colonial wars in North America. The chapter demonstrates that the OT generally and herem texts specifically provided narratives, categories, and labels by which Christians understood themselves and their ‘enemies’. Herem texts were sometimes used to justify massacres ex post facto; at the same time, it cannot be demonstrated that they shaped the planning or execution of mass slaughters.
Gil Ben-Herut
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190878849
- eISBN:
- 9780190878870
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190878849.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Chapter 6 deals with interactions with the religious other, namely Jains, outside the courts and most significantly at temples. The chapter highlights the ambiguity in Harihara’s depictions of Jains, ...
More
Chapter 6 deals with interactions with the religious other, namely Jains, outside the courts and most significantly at temples. The chapter highlights the ambiguity in Harihara’s depictions of Jains, who are presented as utterly alien to Śaiva dispositions but also intimately close in terms of daily living. Harihara’s rendering of the wholly other is complicated by the text’s implicit admittance of the intimate presence of the wholly other in the mundane life of most Śaivas—at temples, in marketplaces, and even in the domestic sphere through interreligious marriages. Thus, Chapter 6 reads the aggressive alienation of Jains in the Ragaḷegaḷu stories against the text’s silent admittance in a social reality made of some amount of religious coexistence.Less
Chapter 6 deals with interactions with the religious other, namely Jains, outside the courts and most significantly at temples. The chapter highlights the ambiguity in Harihara’s depictions of Jains, who are presented as utterly alien to Śaiva dispositions but also intimately close in terms of daily living. Harihara’s rendering of the wholly other is complicated by the text’s implicit admittance of the intimate presence of the wholly other in the mundane life of most Śaivas—at temples, in marketplaces, and even in the domestic sphere through interreligious marriages. Thus, Chapter 6 reads the aggressive alienation of Jains in the Ragaḷegaḷu stories against the text’s silent admittance in a social reality made of some amount of religious coexistence.
Christian Hofreiter
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198810902
- eISBN:
- 9780191848032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198810902.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter reviews more recent examples of the reception of herem texts and demonstrates that many if not all of the ancient and medieval approaches to reading herem as Christian scripture continue ...
More
This chapter reviews more recent examples of the reception of herem texts and demonstrates that many if not all of the ancient and medieval approaches to reading herem as Christian scripture continue to have their adepts in modern times: largely uncritical readings (K. Barth), devotional–allegorical interpretations, and violent uses. Many of the moral criticisms also continue to be restated (M. Tindal). Responses to these criticisms sometimes follow a traditional, divine command ethics structure (R. Swinburne) or attempts are made to combine a divine command ethics with the concepts of accommodation and progressive revelation (E. Stump). Yet other approaches bring to bear the categories of myth, metaphor and hyperbole (D. Earl, W. Moberly, N. MacDonald, K. Lawson Younger, N. Wolterstorff). Perhaps the most significant innovation of the modern period is the combination of historical–critical research with an attempt to read herem as Christian scripture (E. Seibert, P. Jenkins).Less
This chapter reviews more recent examples of the reception of herem texts and demonstrates that many if not all of the ancient and medieval approaches to reading herem as Christian scripture continue to have their adepts in modern times: largely uncritical readings (K. Barth), devotional–allegorical interpretations, and violent uses. Many of the moral criticisms also continue to be restated (M. Tindal). Responses to these criticisms sometimes follow a traditional, divine command ethics structure (R. Swinburne) or attempts are made to combine a divine command ethics with the concepts of accommodation and progressive revelation (E. Stump). Yet other approaches bring to bear the categories of myth, metaphor and hyperbole (D. Earl, W. Moberly, N. MacDonald, K. Lawson Younger, N. Wolterstorff). Perhaps the most significant innovation of the modern period is the combination of historical–critical research with an attempt to read herem as Christian scripture (E. Seibert, P. Jenkins).
Christian Hofreiter
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198810902
- eISBN:
- 9780191848032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198810902.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter provides a brief analytical summary of the various interpretative options proposed in the book. The reception of herem texts within the OT and the NT, as well as in the earliest ...
More
This chapter provides a brief analytical summary of the various interpretative options proposed in the book. The reception of herem texts within the OT and the NT, as well as in the earliest Christian period, was largely uncritical. Pagan writers, too, rarely criticized these texts. Beginning with Marcion, readers whose moral compass was shaped by the accounts of Jesus and the writings of Paul began to raise moral concerns about OT warfare texts. The response of ecclesial authors was largely twofold: either to focus on a figurative reading of these texts in light of the NT or to resort to divine command theory to reframe the ethical assessment of the texts. A third, relatively rare reception of herem texts was one that justified massacres and other real-world violence. This chapter analyses the respective strengths and weaknesses of each approach and briefly presents the hermeneutical options available to readers today.Less
This chapter provides a brief analytical summary of the various interpretative options proposed in the book. The reception of herem texts within the OT and the NT, as well as in the earliest Christian period, was largely uncritical. Pagan writers, too, rarely criticized these texts. Beginning with Marcion, readers whose moral compass was shaped by the accounts of Jesus and the writings of Paul began to raise moral concerns about OT warfare texts. The response of ecclesial authors was largely twofold: either to focus on a figurative reading of these texts in light of the NT or to resort to divine command theory to reframe the ethical assessment of the texts. A third, relatively rare reception of herem texts was one that justified massacres and other real-world violence. This chapter analyses the respective strengths and weaknesses of each approach and briefly presents the hermeneutical options available to readers today.
