Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan
Subtitle: The Case of Aum Shinrikyo
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: May 2000
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 310
ISBN-13: 9780824823405
Subjects: Religions of Indic & Oriental origin; Violence in Society; Violence; Politics - Current Events; Oumu Shinrikyo (Religious org; Politics / Current Events; Terrorism; Religion; Japan; Cults; Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism; Political Science-Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism; Religion / Cults, Demonism, the Occult; Social Science-Violence in Society; Meditations; Oumu Shinrikyåo (Religious organization); Religious aspects
Description: "This study looks at Aum's claims about itself and asks why a religious movement ostensibly focused on yoga, meditation, asceticism, and pursuit of enlightenment became involved in violent activities. Reader places the sect in the context of contemporary Japanese religious patterns, discussing developments in Asahara Shoko's personality and teachings, Aum's millennialism and its developing hostility toward society, and compares Aum with other religious and political movements that turned to violence, both in Japan and elsewhere. He concludes that Aum is not unique, nor is it solely a political or criminal terror group. It must rather be analyzed as an extreme example of a religious movement which, largely due to its own religious characteristics, came into friction with the surrounding society and developed into violence."--BOOK JACKET.