Bücher der Reihe Elements in Religion and Violence

Sacrifice is not simply an expression of religious beliefs. Its highly symbolic nature lends itself to various kinds of manipulation by those carrying it out, who may use the ritual in maintaining and negotiating power and identity in carefully staged 'performances'. This Element will examine some of the many different types of sacrifice and ritual killing of human beings through history, from Bronze Age China and the Near East to Mesoamerica to Northern Europe. The focus is on the archaeology of human sacrifice, but where available, textual and iconographic sources provide valuable complements to the interpretation of the material.

How Christian people have framed the meaning of violence within their faith tradition has been a complex process subject to all manner of historical, cultural, political, ethnic and theological contingencies. As a tradition encompassing widely divergent beliefs and perspectives, Christianity has, over two millennia, adapted to changing cultural and historical circumstances. To grasp the complexity of this tradition and its involvement with violence requires attention to specific elements explored in this Element: the scriptural and institutional sources for violence; the faith commitments and practices that join communities and sanction both resistance to and authorization for violence; and select historical developments that altered the power wielded by Christianity in society, culture and politics. Relevant issues in social psychology and the moral action guides addressing violence affirmed in Christian communities provide a deeper explanation for the motivations that have led to the diverse interpretations of violence avowed in the Christian tradition.

An Element on the role of violence in the traditional religions of the Pacific Ilands (Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia) and on violent activity in islander religious life after the opening of Oceania to the modern world. This work covers such issues as tribal warfare, sorcery and witchcraft, traditional punishment and gender imbalance. and moves on to consider reprisals against foreign intruders in the Pacific and the continuation of old types of violence in spite of massive socio-religious change.

Given its eschatological orientation and its marginal position in the Roman Empire, emergent Christianity found embodiment, as an aspect of being in the world, problematic. Those identified and identifying as Christians developed two broad responses to that world as they embraced the idea of being in, yet not of it. The first response, martyrdom, was witness to the strength their faith gave to fragile bodies, particularly those of women, and the ability by suffering to overcome bodily limitation and attain the resurrection life. The second, asceticism, complemented and later continued martyrdom as a means of bodily transcendence and participation in the spiritual world.

Violence and the Sikhs interrogates conventional typologies of violence and non-violence in Sikhism by rethinking the dominant narrative of Sikhism as a deviation from the ostensibly original pacifist-religious intentions and practices of its founders.

This Element explores the potential in Judaism to incite Jews to engage in violence against non-Jews. The analysis proceeds in historical fashion, with sections devoted to the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval and early modern Judaism, and modern Zionism.

In Open Source Jihad, Per-Erik Nilsson provides a unique overview of the academic research and political legislation concerning 'Islamic terrorism' in Europe. He scrutinises in detail how the concepts 'terrorism', 'radicalisation', and 'counter-terrorism' have developed as academic objects of study and political objects of governance. In the Element, Nilsson brings to the fore systemic problems of the field of terrorism studies as well as the various anti-terrorist apparatuses developed by EU member states. Open Source Jihad should be required reading for anyone interested in current European political and social events.

In popular culture and scholarship, a consistent trope about Mormonism is that it features a propensity for violence, born of the religion's theocratic impulses and the antinomian tendencies of special revelation. Mormonism and Violence critically assesses the relationship of Mormonism and violence through a close examination of Mormon history and scripture, focusing on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Element pays special attention to violence in the Book of Mormon and the history of the movement, from the 1830s to the present.

Ritualized violence is by definition not haphazard or random, but seemingly intentional and often ceremonial. It has a long history in religious practice, as attested in texts and artifacts from the earliest civilizations. It is equally evident in the behaviors of some contemporary religious activists and within initiatory practices ongoing in many regions of the world. Given its longevity and cultural expanse, ritualized violence presumably exerts a pull deeply into the sociology, psychology, anthropology, theology, perhaps even ontology of its practitioners, but this is not transparent. This short volume will sketch the subject of ritualized violence, that is, it will summarize some established theories about ritual and about violence, and will ponder a handful of striking instantiations of their link.

This Element reviews the state of the question regarding theories of cultic violence. It introduces definitions and vocabulary and presents relevant historical examples of religious violence. It then discusses the 1960s and 1970s, the period immediately before the Jonestown tragedy. Considerations of the post-Jonestown (1978), and then post-Waco (1993) literature follow. After 9/11 (2001), some of the themes identified in previous decades reappear. The Element concludes by examining the current problem of repression and harassment directed at religious believers. Legal discrimination by governments, as well as persecution of religious minorities by non-state actors, has challenged earlier fears about cultic violence.

The Book of Job considers physical pain, social bereavement, the origin of evil, theodicy, justice, divine violence, and reward. Such problems are explored here by consulting ancient and modern accounts from the fields of theology and philosophy.

Summarizes the most important aspects of the role of violence in Chinese religious culture. These include counteracting the threat and fear of demonic attacks, maintaining norms and values, and expressing respect through sacrificial gifts of meat. Explores how violence was justified as positive use of physical force.

Explores revenge as a motivation relating to conflict and violence. Looks at Oceania, where revenge is traditionally a sacred duty to the dead whose spirits demand it. Beyond Oceania, revenge is an important hidden factor in processes of violence.

This Element explores the relationship between Islam and violence beyond the elemental or anomalous in addition to tracing the meaning of jihad from a struggle for a worthy cause to its present-day interpretation of martyrdom and terrorism.

This volume focuses on the formation of Falun Gong, and Li Hongzhi's teachings about 'spiritual warfare', and how these have motivated practitioners to deliberately seek brutalization and martyrdom.