Religion and Violence
Throughout history, violence and religion have often gone hand in hand, and particularly during times when social change caused upheaval and insecurity. Religious violence most often occurs when a group of believers believe in the correctness of their own paradigm to the exclusion of all others. Hence, in their zeal to convert others, they often perpetrated a regime of fear rather than the converts they were looking for. Examples of this include the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades. A religious leader such as a Rabbi is therefore faced with a difficult problem: how to help believers understand that peace and love are God's will, particularly when there are so many passages describing divine violence in Scripture.
The first important thing is that the Rabbi needs to understand the nature of religious violence. Human beings tend to believe in a higher power than themselves, which is not only good but also just. It follows that a just God cannot idly let evil pass by, and therefore some very zealous believers begin to believe themselves to be the instruments o God's wrath on earth (Traer). The Rabbi is then to impress upon his followers the importance of distinguishing the context of scripture with that of contemporary society.
Violence in scripture occurs in a certain context, and with the direct sanction of God. While some imagine themselves to be instruments of God on earth, it has to be taken into account that we no longer live in a world where violence is at the order of the day. We no longer live and die in wars to gain territory or to fulfill prophesies. Instead, the main purpose of religion today is comfort in times of trouble as well as a guide for living well. The Rabbi should therefore emphasize these qualities. Followers should gain an understanding of the Scripture not only in the context of today's life, but also in the context of the time of writing. God is not a perpetrator of violence merely for its sake. His followers should not take it upon themselves to perpetrate violence in the context of a world that is ruled by intellect and restraint.
Source
Traer, Robert. Ending Religious Violence in Dharma World (Man/Feb 2004, vol. 31), pp. 9-13.
Tarleton was known for cruelty and slaughter. When his troops took Marion's nephew Gabriel prisoner during an unsuccessful attempt to capture Georgetown, Tarleton followed up by murdering Gabriel in cold blood. But Marion did not engage in any similar brutality or seek revenge by killing British prisoners of war. it's a testament to his moral character and to "a scrupulous piety that was part of his Huguenot background" (Smith,
Gustavo Gutierrez did just that in Latin America, employing Marxist analysis to interpret the Jesus' teachings in the Gospel. Gutierrez founded Liberation Theology, which is, essentially, the twentieth century take on Violence and the Cross. Christ is viewed less as Redeemer and more as Liberator. Evans discusses this same interpretation in black theology, which is, essentially, a continuation of Liberation Theology: "In spite of the ravages of their kidnapping and
And bee it also Enacted by the Authority and with the advise and assent aforesaid that whatsoever person or persons shall from henceforth use or utter any reproachfull words or Speeches concerning blessed Virgin Marv the Mother of Our Saviour or the holy Apostles or Evangelists or any of them shall in such case for the first offence forfeit to the said Lord Proprietary and his heirs Lords and
This was racism at its worst. The enslaved Africans and the native Indians began to get closer to each other, and started to share certain ethic traditions between themselves, and soon, they started to marry each other, especially because of the disproportionate number of African males to females. A number of red-black people began to emerge from these unions, and these people formed traditions of their own. However, slavery
relationship exists between difference of religion and the occurrence of civil wars within societies. The relationship between religious groups to society can be defined against the backdrop of war. Powerful emotions surround both conflict and military conflict (Yinger, 1946). A direct relationship has been recognized for several year regarding religion and violence. Students of organized religion "have frequently pointed out the ease with which most church leaders shift, at
There is a little known revolution being conducted along the French and Spanish borders, where, until just before World War II, in 1937, Basque people lived in what was referred to as "Basque Country," perceived by them to be their country (Nunez Astrain, Louis and Stephens, Meic, 1997, p. 1). While the Basque movement probably is one of the least known and reported on movements, it does occasionally make it
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now