Terror in the mind of God : the global rise of religious violence

425 Pages·2017·106.507 MB·English

by  Mark Juergensmeyer

Terror in the Mind
of God
The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Fourth Edition
Revised and Updated
Mark Juergensmeyer
university of california press
Terror in the Mind of God
comparative studies in religion and society
Mark Juergensmeyer, editor
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by Ainslee T. Embree
4. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, by Karen McCarthy Brown
5. The New Cold War? Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State,
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6. Pious Passion: The Emergence of Modern Fundamentalism in the United States and
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8. Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture, by Lawrence A. Babb
9. The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder,
by Bassam Tibi
10. Levelling Crowds: Ethno-nationalist Confl icts and Collective Violence in South
Asia, by Stanley J. Tambiah
11. The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia, by Michael A. Sells
12. China’s Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society,
by Richard Madsen
13. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence,
by Mark Juergensmeyer
14. Imagining Karma: Ethical Transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek
Rebirth, by Gananath Obeyesekere
15. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America,
by Michael Barkun
16. Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State,
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Terror in the Mind
of God
The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Fourth Edition
Revised and Updated
Mark Juergensmeyer
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most
distinguished university presses in the United States,
enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship
in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and
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institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2017 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Juergensmeyer, Mark, author.
Title: Terror in the mind of god : the global rise of
religious violence / revised and updated Mark
Juergensmeyer.
Other titles: Comparative studies in religion and society ; 13.
Description: Fourth edition. | Oakland, California :
University of California Press, [2017] | Series:
Comparative studies in religion and society ; 13 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: lccn 2016040508 (print) | lccn 2016042080
(ebook) | isbn 9780520291355 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
isbn 9780520965164 ()
Subjects: lcsh: Violence—Religious aspects.
Classifi cation: lcc bl65.v55 j84 2017 (print) |
lcc bl65.v55 (ebook) | ddc 205/.697—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016040508
Manufactured in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To terror’s victims

I will send my terror before you,
and will throw into confusion all the people . . .
—Exodus 23:27

Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments xiii
1. Introduction: Terror and God 1
The Meaning of Religious Terrorism 3
Seeing Inside Cultures of Violence 9
part one. cultures of violence 17
2. Soldiers for Christ 19
Anders Breivik, Defender of Christendom 20
Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Federal
Building Bombing 23
Michael Bray and Abortion Clinic Bombings 29
Christian Justifi cations for Violence 33
Ian Paisley and the Troubles in Belfast 40
3. Zion Betrayed 48
Meir Ettinger, the Ghost of Meir Kahane 51
Yoel Lerner and the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin 56
Baruch Goldstein’s Attack at the Tomb of the Patriarchs 61