Research Catalog

Title

Terror in the mind of God : the global rise of religious violence / Mark Juergensmeyer.

Author

Juergensmeyer, Mark

Publication

• Berkeley : University of California Press, [2003]
• ©2003

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Found In

ACLS Humanities E-Book. URL: http://www.humanitiesebook.org

Description

xvii, 319 pages : illustrations; 23 cm.

Summary

Since September 11, 2001, we all need tools to help us understand what motivates religious terrorism. In this wide-ranging and erudite book, Mark Juergensmeyer asks one of the most important and perplexing questions of our age: Why do religious people commit violent acts in the name of their god, taking the lives of innocent victims and terrorizing entire populations? This, the first comparative study of religious terrorism, explores incidents such as the World Trade Center explosion, Hamas suicide bombings, the Tokyo subway nerve gas attack, and the killing of abortion clinic doctors in the United States. Updated with a new preface addressing the events of September 11, the book incorporates personal interviews with World Trade Center bomber Mahmud Abouhalima, Christian Right activist Mike Bray, Hamas leaders Sheik Yassin and Abdul Azis Rantisi, and Sikh political leader Simranjit Singh Mann, among others, Juergensmeyer takes us into the mindset of those who perpetrate and support violent acts. In the process, he helps us understand why these acts are often associated with religious causes and why they occur with such frequency at this moment in history. Terror in the Mind of God places these acts of violence in the context of global political and social changes, and posits them as attempts to empower the cultures of violence that support them. Juergensmeyer analyzes the economic, ideological, and gender-related dimensions of cultures that embrace a central sacred concept--cosmic war--and that employ religion to demonize their enemies. Juergensmeyer's narrative is engaging, incisive, and sweeping in scope. He convincingly shows that while, in many cases, religion supplies not only the ideology but also the motivation and organizational structure for the perpetrators of violent acts, it also carries with it the possibilities for peace. Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of 2000.

Series Statement

Comparative studies in religion and society ; 13

Uniform Title

Comparative studies in religion and society ; 13.

Subjects

• 89.58 political violence
• 11.09 systematic religious studies: other
• Geweld
• Terrorisme
• Godsdienst
• Fundamentalismus
• Terrorismus
• Violence > Religious aspects

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-303) and index.

Contents

INTRODUCTION. 1. Terror and God. The meaning of religious terrorism. Seeing inside cultures of violence -- CULTURES OF VIOLENCE -- 2. Soldiers for Christ. Mike Bray and abortion clinic bombings. Theological justifications. Eric Robert Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh. Catholics and Protestants in Belfast -- 3. Zion betrayed. Yoel Lerner and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Baruch Goldstein's attack at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Meir Kahane and Jewish justifications for violence -- 4. Islam's "neglected duty." Mahmud Abouhalima and the World Trade Center bombing. Abdul Aziz Rantisi and Hamas suicide missions. Modern Islamic justifications for violence -- 5. The sword of Sikhism. Simranjit Singh Mann and India's assassinations. Sikh and Hindu justifications for violence -- 6. Armageddon in a Tokyo subway. Takeshi Nakamura and the Aum Shinrikyo assault. Can Buddhist violence be justified? -- THE LOGIC OF RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE -- 7. Theater of terror. Performance violence. Seeing the stage. A time to kill. Reaching the audience -- 8. Cosmic war. Grand scenarios. Symbolic war. When symbols become deadly -- 9. Martyrs and demons. Sacrificial victims. The invention of enemies. America as enemy. Satanization and the stages of empowerment -- 10. Warriors' power. Empowering marginal men. Why guys throw bombs. Fighting for the rule of God -- 11. The mind of God. Empowering religion. Postmodern terror. Curing violence. Destroying violence. Terrifying terrorists. Violence wins. Separating religion from politics. Healing politics with religion.

ISBN

• 0520240111
• 9780520240117
• 9780520930612 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

• 2003008770
• 9780520240117
• 2027/heb.33058

OCLC

• ocm52109207
• 52109207
• SCSB-1299399

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library