The Causes of Religious Wars: Holy Nations, Sacred Spaces, and Religious Revolutions
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The Causes of Religious Wars: Holy Nations, Sacred Spaces, and Religious Revolutions By Heather Selma Gregg Master’s of Theological Studies (1998) Harvard Divinity School B.A., Cultural Anthropology (1993) University of California at Santa Cruz Submitted to the Department of Political Science In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology February 2004 Copyright 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All Rights Reserved 1 2 The Causes of Religious Wars: Holy Nations, Sacred Spaces, and Religious Revolutions by Heather Selma Gregg Submitted to the Department of Political Science on October 27, 2003 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science Abstract In the wake of September 11th, policy analysts, journalists, and academics have tried to make sense of the rise of militant Islam, particularly its role as a motivating and legitimating force for violence against the US. The unwritten assumption is that there is something about Islam that makes it bloodier and more violence-prone than other religions. This dissertation seeks to investigate this assertion by considering incidents of Islamically motivated terrorism, violence, and war, and comparing them to examples of Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu bellicosity. In doing so, it aims to evaluate if religious violence is primarily the product of beliefs, doctrine and scripture, or if religious violence is the result of other factors such as cultural, political, social and economic circumstances. This dissertation focuses on religious wars—wars, terrorism, and violent conflicts that have saliently religious goals, specifically battles to defend holy nations, sacred spaces and revolutions aimed at creating religious governments—and tests three variables for their ability to explain the conditions under which religious wars arise: threat perception, the intertwining of political and religious authority, and the amount of resources available to a given religious group. It argues that religious violence is the result of specific interpretations of a religion’s beliefs and scriptures, not the religions per se, and that violent interpretations of a religion are the product of individuals—usually religious leaders—who are grounded in specific circumstances. Therefore, in order to understand the conditions under which these violent interpretations of a religion occur, one needs to identify, first, who is interpreting the religion and by what authority; second, the social, political and economic circumstances surrounding these violent interpretations; and third, the believability of these interpretations by members of religious communities. Thesis Supervisor: Stephen Van Evera Title: Professor of Political Science 3 4 Acknowledgements Perhaps the most humbling part of getting a PhD and, particularly, writing a dissertation is the amount of personal and professional support the process requires. This dissertation would not have been possible without the many people around me that not only offered advice and feedback, but also dragged me out of the library to remind me of all the wonderful things in life: movies, music, food, sunshine, conversation, laughter, and basic human contact. It is no exaggeration to say that you have been the keepers of my sanity. It is particularly humbling given that I was often in absentia during my studies and research—if not physically then mentally—and when present, I consumed much time complaining about “perturbing variables,” “tautology” and other problems that were barely interesting to me, and most definitely not to anyone else. I surely did not offer the same degree of support and encouragement back to those around me and, at times, I have wondered how I managed to keep any friends at all through this process. This dissertation, therefore, would not be complete without naming and thanking the people in my life that have made it possible. My interest in religious wars spans back to college, but really took root in my field experiences prior to my studies at MIT. I am particularly grateful for those who made my year-and-a-half stay in Croatia possible, especially for the wonderful friendship of Steve and Michelle Kurtz. In addition, my housemates in Croatia—Renata, Gabriella, Mirella, Anita, and Branko—were wonderful companions that made my time there rich and adventurous. I also would like to thank those in the Gasince Refugee Camp for sharing their stories with me and for the students and faculty of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, the Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the Lutheran World Federation, for employment and invaluable learning experiences. My year living and working in Palestine was also tremendously useful for this project. I would like to thank the ELCA for funding and Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb and the staff of the International Center of Bethlehem for allowing me to participate in their amazing projects. I would also like to thank the friends I made while living in Palestine: Helen, Amy, Matt, James, Carole, Terry, Rami, and Rima. You offered much relief from trying and difficult circumstances. Prior to MIT, I had the privilege of attending Harvard Divinity School, where I studied Islam and Christian ethics. I therefore would like to thank my advisor at HDS, Harvey Cox, for his support in my studies and particularly for his encouragement to study and visit Jerusalem. I also would like to thank Ali Asani for patiently teaching me about Islam and especially for showing me all the beautiful sides of the faith, particularly the poetry, music, and architecture in South Asian Islam. Finally, I would like to thank Father J. Bryan Hehir for the many thoughtful classes on ethics in international relations and for encouraging me to pursue doctoral studies in political science. I feel particularly fortunate to have pursued my PhD studies at MIT. I believe that the Institute in general is a great place to study and its aims of applying knowledge to life outside the academy constantly forced me to consider the applicability of my own research to US foreign policy. Within the Institute, I would like to thank the faculty and staff of the Political Science Department and particularly the Security Studies Program 5 (SSP) and the Center for International Studies at MIT (CIS), especially Harvey Sapolsky, William Keller, Carolyn Makinson, Robert Murray, Marie Senat-André, Dee Siddalls, Brandi Sladek and Amy Tarr. I also would like to thank the Inter-University Committee on International Migration for the wonderful conversations we had while I was their research assistant, particularly Dr. Sharon Stanton Russell for her mentoring. A very special thank you goes to SSP and CIS for their generous funding for my tuition and stipend while at MIT, without which neither my studies nor this dissertation would have been possible. I also would like to thank the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Mellon Foundation for generous grants that supported my research and writing, and to CIS for a grant to finish my dissertation over the summer of 2003. My professors at MIT deserve a big thank you as well. First and foremost, I must thank my dissertation committee: Kanchan Chandra, David Little (of Harvard Divinity School), and particularly my chair, Stephen Van Evera, who encouraged me to tackle this subject and helped convince the department’s admissions committee to take a chance on me, despite the fact that my academic background is in Anthropology and Religious Studies and that I had never taken a political science course prior to arriving at MIT. I would also like to thank the professors that made the world of international relations and security studies so fascinating to me: Barry Posen, Ken Oye, Thomas Christensen, Cindy Williams, Harvey Sapolsky, and Roger Petersen. Of equal importance, my colleagues at MIT have been tremendously supportive and helpful in this project, particularly those who attended my first and second colloquiums and helped me hammer out the many kinks in my argument. I also am indebted to my generals study group—Kathleen Hicks, Mike Eastman, and Mike Glosny—from whom I learned so much and enjoyed getting to know. I had great office mates that cheered me up on my gloomy days: Todd, Adam, Ollie, Mike, Rob, and Vanda. I also must thank Dana Brown for her friendship and particularly for her generous offer to let me crash with her while she was doing research in Budapest, a much-needed vacation that revitalized my soul. In addition to these people, I would like to especially thank Rachel Gisselquist, who has been not only an amazing colleague but also a great friend, and Adam Ziegfeld and Neil Ruiz. The times the four of us spent talking into the wee hours of the morning will always be my favorite memories from my days at MIT. A big thank you also goes to Michal Ben-Josef Hirsch, Zak Taylor, Adam Ziegfeld, Michael Linderman, Mary Whisenhunt, Jessica Stern and Karen McDonald for reading portions of the dissertation and offering feedback. The Washington office of the RAND Corporation generously agreed to hire me as a summer associate in 2003 to work on issues surrounding counter-terrorism in the wake of September 11th. That summer proved to be invaluable in the direction it has given me for career plans in addition to the volumes I learned from RAND’s scholars. A big thank you goes to my mentor, Nora Bensahel, who guided me through my research, read my many drafts, and has continued to provide unflagging support and encouragement throughout my studies. I would also like to thank Ted Harshberger, Alan Vick, Jerry Green, Tom McNaugher, Sarah Daly, Kim Cragin, David Shlapak, and Karl Mueller for their help and encouragement. 6 In addition to the support provided by my academic and policy colleagues, I have been truly lucky to receive encouragement for this work from several religious communities.