This work seeks to understand the linkage between violence and religion and does so through a series of case studies, from the Christian bombers of abortion clinics in the United States to Aum Shinrikyo in Japan. Looking at the role that cosmic ideologies and siege mentalities play in the violent episodes of some religious movements, Juergensmeyer also argues that such violence is an inherent part of religion. This work is considered to be of key importance by many working in the study of religion in aiding readers seeking to understand the reason why, in recent times, there would seem to have been a resurgence in religious movements utilising violence. Whilst Juergensmeyer's definitions of religion and use of these to argue for a motivation towards violence are not unproblematic the case studies (looking at cultures of violence within Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism) draw together some excellent research.
Terror in the mind of God: the global rise of religious violence
29 September 2010
Poverty and “Economic Deprivation Theory”: Street Children, Qur’anic Schools/almajirai and the Dispossessed as a Source of Recruitment for Boko Haram and other Religious, Political and Criminal Groups in Northern Nigeria
Hit the core or weaken the periphery? Comparing strategies to break the circle of violence with an embryonic terrorist group: The case of Galician Resistance
Are Mass Shootings Acts of Terror? Applying Key Criteria in Definitions of Terrorism to Mass Shootings in the United States from 1982 to 2018
Promoting Extreme Violence: Visual and Narrative Analysis of Select Ultraviolent Terror Propaganda Videos Produced by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2015 and 2016