"laestadian, apostolic, gay, lgbtq, ex-oalc, ex-llc, llc, oalc, bunner" LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: Understanding Religious Violence

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Understanding Religious Violence

In light of the recent suicide bombings in Iraq last week, I found this essay on the roots of religious motivated violence extremely relevant and timely. As part of the Trinity Round table on faith and violence convened at Trinity Church Wall Street (the church right across the street from where the World Trade Center used to stand), the author's provocative thesis is that religious terrorists are motivated by the same things that motivate ordinary religious folks, with a twist.

Here are some excepts, with a link to the full article below:

Understanding Religious Violence, by James W. Jones


What makes [religious violence] happen is the conjunction of nearly universal spiritual motivations – the desire for union with God, the desire for purification and transformation, the need for religious community, the need for meaning and purpose--with a certain psychological structure, the need to dichotomize the world into the all-good and the all-evil. Also, there is a specific theology that you find in the writings of religiously motivated terrorists across the spectrum, and it is the view of God as wrathful and punitive and demanding of blood sacrifice. It's the conjunction of those powerful spiritual motivations with that psychological constellation that is a precursor to religiously motivated terrorism.

What's unique to fanatical religions is not the desire for union with God, or the desire for spiritual transformation; it's the linkage of that desire for spiritual union and purification with violence, especially the violence of sacrificial killing, blood sacrifice, or apocalyptic purification. It’s the linkage of these virtually universal and powerful desires with the themes of blood sacrifice and purification through violence, that turns spiritual longing into terrorist action.


Laestadianism shares a number of the features Jones writes about. Laestadians certainly divide the world into good and evil. Why aren't there Laestadian terrorists? Maybe because Laestadianism doesn't play up God's desire for blood as much as other fundamentalist forms of Christianity do. Or maybe it's because Laestadianism seems to lack an apocalyptic emphasis. Certainly I have heard individual Laestadians vent righteous indignation / violent talk against groups they perceived to be especially evil, such as abortionists and homosexuals. Yet I've never heard violence advocated from the pulpit or officially wished for in any way.

-ttg

9 comments:

  1. Perhaps, in fact, it was some followers' thirst for violence (in Kautokeino) that motivated Lars Levi Laestadius to tone down his blood rhetoric. It would be interesting to see if post-Kautokeino, LLL's sermons de-emphasize engagement with the outside and promote "not of this world" isolation.

    In any case, I'm eager to see the new movie (by the director of The Pathfinder) called The Kautokeino Rebellion.

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  2. Laestadians, along with many if not most Christian religions I'm quite sure, believe that the blood sacrifice required in the OT has been satisfied through Christ.

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  3. This comparison is a bit of a stretch. It's deep thinking that took that extra step into the "deep end".

    Islamic terrorists are better compared to Nazis, serial killers, abortion clinic bombers or any other gruesomely violent group or person. The common theme is insanity, not strong religious beliefs.

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  4. I knew the essay was provocative, but I didn't know we were only three comments away from Godwin's Law ;-) "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

    It's fine and dandy to say that terrorists are insane, but what does that really accomplish? As the author of the essay states, what we "want our understanding of terrorism to do is to help us devise effective counter-terrorist strategies." On that score, I think it's helpful to understand what makes ordinary religious fervor cross over into violence.

    As mainly religious people reading this blog, I think it's eye-opening and useful to be aware that there are elements within our own faith that, misused, can fan the flames of radicalism.

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  5. Good topic, Tomte.

    I feel that religion in most circumstances is secondary to money and power. If the men and boys in the Middle East didn't feel threatened by Westerners and people in their own culture who associate with it (in whatever context that may be -- we don't really know their minds), do you think they would be killing? Frankly, I don't. I think the issue is much more complex than saying their religion encourages them to Kill all the Infidels.

    SISU

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  6. Good topic, Tomte.

    I feel that religion in most circumstances is secondary to money and power. If the men and boys in the Middle East didn't feel threatened by Westerners and people in their own culture who associate with it (in whatever context that may be -- we don't really know their minds), do you think they would be killing? Frankly, I don't. I think the issue is much more complex than saying their religion encourages them to Kill all the Infidels.

    SISU

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  7. stranger in a strange land2/04/2008 01:50:00 PM

    To see a brief preview of this movie (sorry, subtitles are in Norwegian) go to:
    http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1378323197&channel=1214718128

    Lars Levi Laestadius is played by Michael Nyquist, the Max Von Sydow of contemporary Swedish cinema. I believe Laestadius is played in a more-or-less positive lights in this movie.

    Anni-Kriistina Juuso plays Elen, a Saami woman who joins with the Laestadians. Later, her alcoholic husband also joins and gives up alcohol as well.

    Any of you in the Minnesota area? So far, the International Film Fest in Minneapolis held annually every April has no plans to obtain this movie. You can help by e-mailing them and requesting they show this film. Contact Jim at
    jim (at symbol) mnfilmarts.com.

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  8. Tomte, the comment you made about radicalism within our own faith reminded me of a site I came across recently when I was googling Barack Obama. I think I googled Christians for Obama or something like that, and one of the sites that came up was this one for Fire Society. Most of the members commenting in the forums there are so extreme that it's frightening. And most of them end their comments with a scripture quote.

    It's already happening.

    It was a little scary reading the comments. A little education would go a long way for some of these folks. I'm not calling them stupid. I'm just saying that many of them are so full of misinformation, and they're passing it off as gospel truth. They just feed off each other's fear.

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  9. daisyaday, I took a peek at the site you referenced, and noticed that some of the folks over there seem to be spreading the misconception that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim. This is simply not true, and has been thoroughly debunked by CNN and other news agencies that would be dying to break such a story if it were actually true.

    Since today is Super Duper Tuesday, and many of our readers will be voting in primaries or caucuses today, I think I'll start another thread on that topic.

    Regarding Obama and the Muslim misconception, there is a pretty good interview that Barack Obama gave to Christianity Today (the leading evangelical magazine) in which he discusses his faith, and how it relates to his politics.

    Questions and Answers with Barack Obama, from Christianity today

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