Terror in the mind of God
Subtitle: the global rise of religious violence
By: Mark Juergensmeyer.
Edition: 1st pbk. ed.
Series: Comparative studies in religion and society -- 13.
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Berkeley
Language: eng
Number of pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9780520232068; 9780520223011
Subjects: Violence -- Religious aspects
Description: Beneath the histories of religious traditions, from biblical wars to crusading ventures and great acts of martyrdom, violence has lurked as a shadowy presence. Images of death have never been far from the heart of religion's power to stir the imagination. The author 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. Incorporating 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, the author takes the reader 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. This book 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. He 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. The 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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-297) and index.

"Gift, April 2007"
Table of contents: title: Preface to the paperback edition; title: Preface and acknowledgments; title: Introduction. 1. Terror and God; title: Cultures of violence. 2. Soldiers for Christ; title: 3. Zion betrayed; title: 4. Islam's neglected duty; title: 5. The sword of Sikhism; title: 6. Armageddon in a Tokyo subway; title: The log of religious violence. 7. Theater of terror; title: 8. Cosmic war; title: 9. Martyrs and demons; title: 10. Warriors' power; title: 11. The mind of God; title: Notes; title: Interviews and correspondence; title: Bibliography; title: Index.