Princeton Readings in Religion and Violence

by Juergensmeyer, Mark; Kitts, Margo

• ISBN13: 9780691129143
• ISBN10: 0691129142
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-10
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

This groundbreaking anthology provides the most comprehensive overview for understanding the fascinating relationship between religion and violence--historically, culturally, and in the contemporary world. Bringing together writings from scholarly and religious traditions, it is the first volume to unite primary sources--justifications for violence from religious texts, theologians, and activists--with invaluable essays by authoritative scholars. The first half of the collection includes original source materials justifying violence from various religious perspectives: Hindu, Chinese, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist. Showing that religious violence is found in every tradition, these sources include ancient texts and scriptures along with thoughtful essays from theologians wrestling with such issues as military protection and pacifism. The collection also includes the writings of modern-day activists involved in suicide bombings, attacks on abortion clinics, and nerve gas assaults. The book's second half features well-known thinkers reflecting on why religion and violence are so intimately related and includes excerpts from early social theorists such as Durkheim, Marx, and Freud, as well as contemporary thinkers who view the issue of religious violence from literary, anthropological, postcolonial, and feminist perspectives. The editors' brief introductions to each essay provide important historical and conceptual contexts and relate the readings to one another. The diversity of selections and their accessible length make this volume ideal for both students and general readers.

Author Biography

Mark Juergensmeyer is professor of sociology and global studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His many books include Terror in the Mind of God. Margo Kitts is associate professor of humanities at Hawai'i Pacific University. She is the author of Sanctified Violence in Homeric Society.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: Why Is Religion Violent and Violence Religious?	p. 1
Religious Justifications for Violence
Introduction to Part I	p. 7
Kautilya	p. 13
"Forms of Treacherous Fights," the Arthashastra	p. 13
Sun Tzu	p. 17
"Laying Plans," The Art of War	p. 17
The Bhagavad Gita	p. 20
The Bhagavad Gita in the Mahabharata	p. 20
Soho Takuan	p. 25
"Annals of the Sword Taia," The Unfettered Mind	p. 25
The Hebrew Bible	p. 29
Deuteronomy 20	p. 31
Exodus 23	p. 32
The Qur'an	p. 35
Surah 2 ("The Cow")	p. 36
Thomas Aquinas	p. 41
"Whether It Is Always Sinful to Wage War?"
Summa Theologica	p. 41
Reinhold Niebuhr	p. 45
"Why the Christian Church Is Not Pacifist"	p. 45
Michael Bray	p. 55
"A Time for Revolution?" A Time to Kill	p. 56
Abd al-Salam Faraj	p. 62
The Neglected Duty	p. 63
Meir Kahane	p. 69
"War and Peace," The Jewish Idea	p. 69
Shoko Asahara	p. 75
Declaring Myself the Christ	p. 76
Disaster Comes to the Land of the Rising Sun	p. 77
9/11 Conspirator	p. 82
"Last Instructions of 9/11"	p. 83
Understanding the Religious Role in Violence
Introduction to Part II	p. 93
Emile Durkheim	p. 100
Elementary Forms of the Religious Life	p. 101
Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss	p. 108
"Conclusion," Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function	p. 109
Sigmund Freud	p. 115
Totem and Taboo	p. 116
Rene Girard	p. 127
"Sacrifice," Violence and the Sacred	p. 128
Walter Burkert	p. 141
Homo Necans	p. 141
Maurice Bloch	p. 152
Prey into Hunter	p. 152
Georges Bataille	p. 167
Theory of Religion	p. 167
Karl Marx	p. 174
Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right	p. 174
Nancy Jay	p. 178
"Sacrifice and Descent," Throughout Your Generations Forever	p. 178
Elaine Scarry	p. 190
The Body in Pain	p. 191
Jean Baudrillard	p. 201
The Spirit of Terrorism	p. 201
Ashis Nandy	p. 210
"The Discreet Charm of Indian Terrorism," The Savage Freud and Other Essays	p. 210
Closing Comments: The Connection between War and Sacrifice	p. 217
Selected Bibliography	p. 223
Permissions	p. 229
About the Editors	p. 231
Index	p. 233
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