Religious violence
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Religious violence is a term that covers all phenomena where religion, in any of its forms, is either the subject or object of individual or collective violent behaviour.[1] Concretely, it covers both violence by religiously motivated individuals or religious institutions of any kind, of the same religion, a different sect, or secular targets. The other case is of violence of any kind against objects that are explicitly religious (such as religious institutions, the persecution of people on the basis of their religion, religious buildings or sites).
Religious violence, like all violence, is an inherently cultural process whose meanings are context-dependent. It may be worth noting that religious violence often tends to place great emphasis on the symbolic aspect of the act. Religious violence is primarily the domain of the violent "actor", which may be distinguished between individual and collective forms of violence.
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[edit] Ritual violence
- Further information: ritual killing, ritual slaughter, human sacrifice, and animal sacrifice
Ritual violence may be directed against victims (human sacrifice/ritual murder) or self-inflicted (religious self-flagellation).
According to hunting hypothesis, created by Walter Burkert in Homo Necans, carnivorous behavior is considered a form of violence. Burkett suggests that the anthropological phenomenon of religion itself grew out of rituals connected with hunting and the feelings of guilt associated with the violence involved.[2]
[edit] Collective religious violence
- Further information: Religious war, Religious persecution, Religious terrorism, and Religion and fascism
Collective religious violence is what we more commonly picture when we think of religious violence. The term "collective" refers, in effect, to any violent activity that is perpetrated within the context of society, is legitimated by at least a subset of society or religion and always has a political dimension. Note that the term "collective" does not mean that a single individual cannot undertake collective religious violence.
In most instances, serious religious violence is perpetrated by individuals belonging to social groups whose religious zeal and conviction exceed that of an average member of the wider society, although milder forms, such as verbal abuse or ostracism, can be habitually practiced by larger communities. The range of religious violence is varied, and in its more serious forms it often involves illegal means (although in some instances, the use of religious violence can be sanctioned and even undertaken by the government), such as physical abuse and vandalism, and in more extreme cases, torture or murder. Religious terrorism is one form of religious violence; the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center are thus an extreme example of religious violence. Human sacrifice and animal sacrifice are also forms of collective religious violence.
Even though religion is used to justify violent behavior, the immediate motivations of the individuals involved may not be religious as such, and the goals of such behavior may be cultural, personal or even economical.
Some contrast religious violence with sectarian violence, conflict between different sects of a single religion. However, the difference between a sect and an independent religion is not well defined.
[edit] Further reading
[edit] Academic
Appleby, R. Scott. 2000. The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Avalos, Hector. 2005. Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence. New York: Prometheus.
Burkert, Walter. 1983. Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. Berkley: University of California press
Crocket, Clayton (ed.) 2006. Religion and Violence in a Secular World: Toward a New Political Theology. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
Girard, René. 1977. Violence et le Sacré (eng. Violence and the Sacred). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hamerton-Kelly, Robert G. (ed.) 1987. Violent Origins: Walter Burkert, René Girard and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Juergensmeyer, Mark. 2000. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. Berkley: University of California Press.
Pedahzur, Ami and Weinberg, Leonard (eds.) 2004. Religious Fundamentalism and Political Extremism. New York: Routledge.
Selengut, C. 2003. Sacred Fury: Understanding Religious Violence. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira
Steffen, Lloyd. 2007. Holy War, Just War: Exploring the Moral Meaning of Religious Violence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
[edit] Other
Stern, Jessica. 2004. Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill. New York: Harper Perennial.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Ritual killing
- Witch-hunt
- Mormonism and violence
- Hundred Years' War
- Religious fanaticism
- Pacifism and religion
- Religious violence in India
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