Religion and Violence Edited by John L. Esposito Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Religions www.mdpi.com/journal/religions John L. Esposito (Ed.) Religion and Violence This book is a reprint of the special issue that appeared in the online open access journal Religions (ISSN 2077-1444) in 2015 (available at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/ReligionViolence). Guest Editor John L. Esposito Georgetown University Washington Editorial Office MDPI AG Klybeckstrasse 64 Basel, Switzerland Publisher Shu-Kun Lin Assistant Editor Jie Gu 1. Edition 2016 MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan ISBN 978-3-03842-143-6 (Hbk) ISBN 978-3-03842-144-3 (PDF) © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. All articles in this volume are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY), which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. However, the dissemination and distribution of physical copies of this book as a whole is restricted to MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. III Table of Contents List of Contributors ............................................................................................................... V Preface ............................................................................................................................... VII Jocelyne Cesari Religion and Politics: What Does God Have To Do with It? Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(4), 1330-1344 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/4/1330 ............................................................................ 1 Mark LeVine When Art Is the Weapon: Culture and Resistance Confronting Violence in the Post-Uprisings Arab World Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(4), 1277-1313 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/4/1277 .......................................................................... 16 Virginie Andre Violent Jihad and Beheadings in the Land of Al Fatoni Darussalam Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(4), 1203-1216 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/4/1203 .......................................................................... 55 John O. Voll Boko Haram: Religion and Violence in the 21st Century Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(4), 1182-1202 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/4/1182 .......................................................................... 69 C. Christine Fair Explaining Support for Sectarian Terrorism in Pakistan: Piety, Maslak and Sharia Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(4), 1137-1167 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/4/1137 .......................................................................... 90 John L. Esposito Islam and Political Violence Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(3), 1067-1081 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/3/1067 ........................................................................ 122 IV Arie Perliger Comparative Framework for Understanding Jewish and Christian Violent Fundamentalism Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(3), 1033-1047 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/3/1033 ........................................................................ 137 Mark Juergensmeyer Entering the Mindset of Violent Religious Activists Reprinted from: Religions 2015, 6(3), 852-859 http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/6/3/852 .......................................................................... 153 V List of Contributors Virginie Andre: Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, VIC 3125 Burwood, Australia. Jocelyne Cesari: Senior Research Fellow and Professor of the Practice of Religion, Peace, and Conflict Resolution; Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown University, 3307 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA. John L. Esposito: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA. C. Christine Fair: Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 3600 N. St., Washington, DC 2007, USA. Mark Juergensmeyer: Department of Sociology and Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. Mark LeVine: Department of History, University of California, Irvine, Krieger Hall 220, Irvine, CA 92697-3275, USA; Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Finngatan 16, 223 62 Lund, Sweden. Arie Perliger: Department of Social Sciences, United States Military Academy, 607 Cullum Road, Lincoln Hall, Rm. 120. West Point, NY 10996, USA. John O. Voll: Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20016, USA. VII Preface Religion and Violence Understanding the relationship of religion to violence, domestic and global, has become increasingly critical in the 21st century. Violent conflicts in which religion is a factor exist among all the major World religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism) and have occurred across the globe: Nigeria, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Myanmar/Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Iraq, Iran, China, Syria, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Central Asia… The Pew Research Center reported (2014) that religious conflict abroad was increasing. A high level of social hostilities involving religion reached a six-year peak in 2012. Thirty-three percent of the 198 countries and territories included in the study had high religious hostilities in 2012, up from 29% in 2011 and from 20% in 2007. Religious hostilities increased in every major region of the world except the Americas. The sharpest increase was in the Middle East and North Africa, which still are feeling the effects of the 2010–2011 political uprisings known as the Arab Spring. There also was a significant increase in religious hostilities in the Asia-Pacific region, where China edged into the “high” category for the first time. The PEW report concluded that there was an increase in “social hostilities involving religion”, noting that this is not necessarily saying that religion is the primary driver. All religions have a transcendent and a “dark side”. Religion is about a transcendent (divine, absolute or ultimate) Being or Reality. It enables believers or practitioners to achieve levels of self-transcendence. All have been sources of ultimate meaning, compassion, peace and social justice as well as inspired religious leaders and social movements (non-violent and violent of liberation from oppression and tyranny; a religiously legitimated ideological alternative to the established order, a form of liberation, resistance, guerrilla warfare, violence and regional or global terror. Whether these are authentic uses of religion, or the hijacking of a religious tradition and legitimate or illegitimate use of violence in defensive or offensive conflicts and wars, has been a contentious point in the past and today. Religion and Politics: Mainstream and Extremist The last decades of the 20th century witnessed an increase of religiosity in personal piety and religious observances, ethnic and national identity, and in politics and the public square. Governments and their opponents, mainstream and militant, appealed to religion, embraced by religiously legitimated movements in the name of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Religious rhetoric, symbols, and ideology/theology replaced or buttressed secular ideologies and nationalisms, an ideological alternative to the established order, a form of liberation that justified liberation and resistance, violence, national, regional and transnational terrorism. VIII Religion and Violence Religiously motivated or legitimated violence and terror adds the dimension of divine or absolute authority, buttressing the authority of governments, movements and leaders, providing moral certitude and justification, motivation and obligation, and heavenly reward that enhance recruitment and a willingness to fight and die in a sacred and cosmic struggle. For religious extremists/terrorists, their theological worldview is not simply an ideological and political alternative but an imperative. Since it is God’s command, implementation must be immediate, not gradual, and the obligation to implement it is incumbent on all true believers. Those who remain apolitical or resist—individuals or governments—are no longer regarded as true believers but rather non-believers or heretics, enemies of God, against whom all true believers must wage a holy war. Acts normally forbidden—such as stealing, murder, and terrorism—are seen as required in a cosmic war between good and evil, between the army of God and the forces of Evil/Satan. This volume looks at the worldviews and mindsets of religious activists and violent extremists with links to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism. It raises and addresses critical questions about the primary drivers and catalysts for so-called religious violence. What is the role of religion in motivating and legitimating acts of violence and terrorism? What roles do religious scriptures, texts, beliefs, and leaders play? How important are political, economic and social contexts and grievances in creating the conditions that have radicalized individuals and led to the formation of Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Jewish movements or fundamentalist groups (Christian Identity and abortion clinic bombers, Zionist, HAMAS, Al Qaeda, ISIS and others) in the United States, Israel and Palestine,