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Author: Ken Levi Publisher: Penn State University Press ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 232
Book Description
Was the tragedy at Jonestown "an isolated case," or was it "an example of extremist cult behavior that emerges in times of great social upheaval?" The answer to this question, according to the contributors to this book, is important to all Americans as a basis for evaluating social and educational policy. Part I considers the general topic of sect violence, offering three positions. Chapter 1 contends that societal disruptions of the 1970's spawned distortions of alienation and devotion, resulting in "both extremely hostile and extremely selfless behavior. " Chapter 2 denies that the People's Temple resembled other new religious groups in significant ways, maintaining that the Jonestown massacre was a secular rather than a religious event. Chapter 3 takes an in-between position, holding that the People's Temple shared apocalyptic and communitarian views with other modern cults, but differed in respect to its leader's radicalism and paranoia. Part II presents three conceptual models for analyzing the People's Temple. Part III deals with reactions to Jonestown and other cult behavior, especially overreactions. Part IV, Chapter 11, is a first-hand account by a disillusioned former member who was murdered, reportedly by a People's Temple "hit squad," in February 1980, just after completing this chapter.
Author: Ken Levi Publisher: Penn State University Press ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 232
Book Description
Was the tragedy at Jonestown "an isolated case," or was it "an example of extremist cult behavior that emerges in times of great social upheaval?" The answer to this question, according to the contributors to this book, is important to all Americans as a basis for evaluating social and educational policy. Part I considers the general topic of sect violence, offering three positions. Chapter 1 contends that societal disruptions of the 1970's spawned distortions of alienation and devotion, resulting in "both extremely hostile and extremely selfless behavior. " Chapter 2 denies that the People's Temple resembled other new religious groups in significant ways, maintaining that the Jonestown massacre was a secular rather than a religious event. Chapter 3 takes an in-between position, holding that the People's Temple shared apocalyptic and communitarian views with other modern cults, but differed in respect to its leader's radicalism and paranoia. Part II presents three conceptual models for analyzing the People's Temple. Part III deals with reactions to Jonestown and other cult behavior, especially overreactions. Part IV, Chapter 11, is a first-hand account by a disillusioned former member who was murdered, reportedly by a People's Temple "hit squad," in February 1980, just after completing this chapter.
Author: Julia Snyder Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1351024205 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 146
Book Description
In the public sphere, it is often assumed that acts of violence carried out by Muslims are inspired by their religious commitment and encouraged by the Qur’an. Some people express similar concerns about the scriptures and actions of Christians and Jews. Might they be right? What role do scriptural texts play in motivating and justifying violence in these three traditions? Scripture and Violence explores the complex relationship between scriptural texts and real-world acts of violence. A variety of issues are addressed, including the prevalent modern tendency to express more concern about other people’s texts and violence than one’s own, to treat interpretation and application of scriptural passages as self-evident, and to assume that the actions of religious people are directly motivated by what they read in scriptures. Contributions come from a diverse group of scholars of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity with varying perspectives on the issues. Highlighting the complex relationship between texts and human actions, this is an essential read for students and academics studying religion and violence, Abrahamic religions, or scriptural interpretation. Scripture and Violence will also be of interest to researchers working on religion and politics, sociology and anthropology of religion, socio-political approaches to scriptural texts, and issues surrounding religion, secularity, and the public sphere. This volume could also form a basis for discussions in churches, synagogues, mosques, interfaith settings, and government agencies. The editors of Scripture and Violence have also set up a website including lesson plans/discussion guides for the different chapters in the book, available here: https://www.scriptureandviolence.org/scripture-and-violence-book-and-chapter-discussion-guides
Author: Robert Audi Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521775700 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 274
Book Description
Many religious people are alarmed about features of the current age--violence in the media, a pervasive hedonism, a marginalization of religion, and widespread abortion. These concerns influence politics, but just as there should be a separation between church and state, so should there be a balance between religious commitments and secular arguments calling for social reforms. Robert Audi offers a principle of secular rationale, which does not exclude religious grounds for action but which rules out restricting freedom except on grounds that any rational citizen would accept. This book describes the essential commitments of free democracy, explains how religious and secular moral considerations can be integrated to facilitate cooperation in a world of religious pluralism, and proposes ideals of civic virtue that express the mutual respect on which democracy depends.
Author: Miroslav Volf Publisher: Abingdon Press ISBN: 1426712332 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 453
Book Description
Life at the end of the twentieth century presents us with a disturbing reality. Otherness, the simple fact of being different in some way, has come to be defined as in and of itself evil. Miroslav Volf contends that if the healing word of the gospel is to be heard today, Christian theology must find ways of speaking that address the hatred of the other. Reaching back to the New Testament metaphor of salvation as reconciliation, Volf proposes the idea of embrace as a theological response to the problem of exclusion. Increasingly we see that exclusion has become the primary sin, skewing our perceptions of reality and causing us to react out of fear and anger to all those who are not within our (ever-narrowing) circle. In light of this, Christians must learn that salvation comes, not only as we are reconciled to God, and not only as we "learn to live with one another", but as we take the dangerous and costly step of opening ourselves to the other, of enfolding him or her in the same embrace with which we have been enfolded by God.
Author: Hector Avalos Publisher: Prometheus Books ISBN: 1615921958 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 444
Book Description
Is religion inherently violent? If not, what provokes violence in the name of religion? Do we mischaracterize religion by focusing too much on its violent side?In this intriguing, original study of religious violence, Prof. Hector Avalos offers a new theory for the role of religion in violent conflicts. Starting with the premise that most violence is the result of real or perceived scare resources, Avalos persuasively argues that religion creates new scarcities on the basis of unverifiable or illusory criteria. Through a careful analysis of the fundamental texts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, Dr. Avalos explains how four scarce resources have figured repeatedly in creating religious violence: sacred space (e.g., the perception by three world religions that Jerusalem is sacred); the creation of holy scriptures (believed to be privileged revelations of God's will); group privilege (stemming from such beliefs as a chosen people or predestination, which also creates a group of outsiders); and salvation (by which concept some are accepted and others rejected). Thus, Avalos shows, religious violence is often the most unnecessary violence of all since the scarce resources over which religious conflicts ensue are not actually scare or need not be scarce.Comparing violence in religious and nonreligious contexts, Avalos makes the compelling argument that if we condemn violence caused by scarce resources as morally objectionable, then we must consider even more objectionable violence provoked by alleged scarcities that cannot be proven to exist. He also examines the Nazi Holocaust and the Stalinist Terror, which have been attributed to the pernicious effects of atheism or secular humanism. By contrast, Avalos pinpoints underlying religious factors as the cause of these horrific instances of genocidal violence.This serious philosophical examination of the roots of religious violence adds much to our understanding of a perennial source of widespread human suffering.Hector Avalos (Ames, IA) is associate professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University, the author of five books on biblical studies and religion, the former editor of the Journal for the Critical Study of Religion, and executive director of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion.
Author: R. Scott Appleby Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield ISBN: 9780847685554 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 450
Book Description
This text explains what religious terrorists and religious peacemakers share in common and what causes them to take different paths in fighting injustice.
Author: United States Catholic Conference Publisher: USCCB Publishing ISBN: 9781555860288 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 34
Book Description
Addresses the need for a moral revolution and a renewed ethic of justice, responsibility, and community. Recognizes impressive examples in dioceses, parishes, and schools across the country.
Author: Elicka Peterson Sparks Publisher: Prometheus Books ISBN: 1633881512 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 322
Book Description
In this trenchant examination of Christianity’s dark side, a criminologist argues persuasively that high rates of violent crime in the United States can be correlated with Christian conservative attitudes, especially in regard to social mores and politics. Of particular concern is “Christian nationalism.” Supporters of this movement argue that America was founded as a Christian nation and they work to install their fundamentalist brand of Christianity as the dominant factor in American political and social life. Far from being a fanatic outlier sect, this group is shown to have significant cultural influence, especially in the American South. Not coincidentally, the author suggests, the South also has the highest homicide rates. Noting the violent biblical passages often cited by religious conservatives, their sense of righteousness, their dogmatic mindset that tolerates no dissent, and their support for harshly punitive measures toward “sinners,” Peterson Sparks shows that their worldview is the ideal seedbed for violence. Not only does this mindset make violent reactions in interpersonal conflicts more likely, the author says, but it exacerbates the problems of the criminal justice system by advocating policies that create high incarceration rates. The author also devotes particular attention to the victimization of women, children, and LGBT people, which follows from this rigid belief system. While not resorting to a blanket condemnation of Christianity or religion as a whole, Peterson Sparks issues a wake-up call regarding conservative Christianity’s toxic mixture of fundamentalism, authoritarian politics, patriotism, and retributory justice.
Author: Nancy Nason-Clark Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190607211 Category : Family & Relationships Languages : en Pages : 241
Book Description
Intimate partner violence is a complex, ugly, fear-inducing reality for large numbers of women around the world. When violence exists in a relationship, safety is compromised, shame abounds, and peace evaporates. Violence is learned behavior and it flourishes most when it is ignored, minimized, or misunderstood. When it strikes the homes of deeply religious women, they are: more vulnerable; more likely to believe that their abusive partners can, and will, change; less likely to leave a violent home, temporarily or forever; often reluctant to seek outside sources of assistance; and frequently disappointed by the response of the religious leader to their call for help. These women often believe they are called by God to endure the suffering, to forgive (and to keep on forgiving) their abuser, and to fulfill their marital vows until death do us part. Concurrently, many batterers employ explicitly religious language to justify the violence towards their partners, and sometime they manipulate spiritual leaders who try to offer them help. Religion and Intimate Partner Violence seeks to navigate the relatively unchartered waters of intimate partner violence in families of deep faith. The program of research on which it is based spans over twenty-five years, and includes a wide variety of specific studies involving religious leaders, congregations, battered women, men in batterer intervention programs, and the army of workers who assist families impacted by abuse, including criminal justice workers, therapeutic staff, advocacy workers, and religious leaders. The authors provide a rich and colorful portrayal of the intersection of intimate partner violence and religious beliefs and practices that inform and interweave throughout daily life. Such a focus on lived religion enables readers to isolate, examine, and evaluate ways in which religion both augments and thwarts the journey towards justice, accountability, healing and wholeness for women and men caught in the web of intimate partner violence.
Author: Richard Moon Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1108554202 Category : Law Languages : en Pages : 174
Book Description
To allow or restrict hate speech is a hotly debated issue in many societies. While the right to freedom of speech is fundamental to liberal democracies, most countries have accepted that hate speech causes significant harm and ought to be regulated. Richard Moon examines the application of hate speech laws when religion is either the source or target of such speech. Moon describes the various legal restrictions on hate speech, religious insult, and blasphemy in Canada, Europe and elsewhere, and uses cases from different jurisdictions to illustrate the particular challenges raised by religious hate speech. The issues addressed are highly topical: speech that attacks religious communities, specifically anti-Muslim rhetoric, and hateful speech that is based on religious doctrine or scripture, such as anti-gay speech. The book draws on a rich understanding of freedom of expression, the harms of hate speech, and the role of religion in public life.
Author: Ken Levi
Author: Ken Levi
Author: Julia Snyder
Author: Robert Audi
Author: Miroslav Volf
Author: Hector Avalos
Author: R. Scott Appleby
Author: United States Catholic Conference
Author: Elicka Peterson Sparks
Author: Nancy Nason-Clark
Author: Richard Moon