War and Religion


Book Description

The resurgence of violent terrorist organizations claiming to act in the name of God has rekindled dramatic public debate about the connection between violence and religion and its history. Offering a panoramic view of the tangled history of war and religion throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, War and Religion takes a hard look at the tumultuous history of war in its relationship to religion. Arnaud Blin examines how this relationship began through the concurrent emergence of the Mediterranean empires and the great monotheistic faiths. Moving through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and into the modern era, Blin concludes with why the link between violence and religion endures. For each time period, Blin shows how religion not only fueled a great number of conflicts but also defined the manner in which wars were conducted and fought.




Religion and International Relations Theory


Book Description

Religious concerns stand at the center of international politics, yet key paradigms in international relations, namely realism, liberalism, and constructivism, barely consider religion in their analysis of political subjects. The essays in this collection rectify this. Authored by leading scholars, they introduce models that integrate religion into the study of international politics and connect religion to a rising form of populist politics in the developing world. Contributors identify religion as pervasive and distinctive, forcing a reframing of international relations theory that reinterprets traditional paradigms. One essay draws on both realism and constructivism in the examination of religious discourse and transnational networks. Another positions secularism not as the opposite of religion but as a comparable type of worldview drawing on and competing with religious ideas. With the secular state's perceived failure to address popular needs, religion has become a banner for movements that demand a more responsive government. The contributors to this volume recognize this trend and propose structural and theoretical innovations for future advances in the discipline.




For God's Sake


Book Description

Four Australian thinkers come together to ask and answer the big questions, such as: What is the nature of the universe? Doesn't religion cause most of the conflict in the world? and Where do we find hope? We are introduced to the detail of different belief systems - Judaism, Christianity, Islam - and to the argument that atheism, like organised religion, has its own compelling logic. And we gain insight into the life events that led each author to their current position. Jane Caro flirted briefly with spiritual belief, inspired by 19th century literary heroines such as Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brontë sisters. Antony Lowenstein is proudly culturally, yet unconventionally, Jewish. Simon Smart is firmly and resolutely a Christian, but one who has had some of his most profound spiritual moments while surfing. Rachel Woodlock grew up in the alternative embrace of Baha'i belief but became entranced by its older parent religion, Islam. Provocative, informative and passionately argued, For God's Sake encourages us to accept religious differences but to also challenge more vigorously the beliefs that create discord.







Encyclopedia of Religion and War


Book Description

The Encyclopedia of Religion and War provides authoritative information about the history of religious wars and violence around the world and across cultures. It does not examine religious teachings on love, -compassion, or benevolent service. Instead, it provides authoritative -historical and cross-cultural information that will help readers understand war and other forms of political violence in the major religions of the world. Editor Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez is the director of the Dr. James Dale Ethics Center at Youngstown State University in Ohio. "Exploring the complex relationship between war and religion, this substantial volume offers more than 130 alphabetically -arranged entries that discuss major religions, cultures, groups, and events, and attitudes toward killing human beings. These -articles, contributed by international scholars, present the historical perspective of changing proscriptions against and sanctioned reasons for war throughout a religion's or culture's development and current teachings. Some entries describe major social revolts, wars, or persecutions. The religious elements tied to these movements are revealed in the discussions. Pacifistic groups such as Anabaptists, Quakers, Babí or Baha'i adherents, and Mennonites also take their places among the articles. . . . This volume is a comprehensive resource for historical and current views of many significant religions in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Africa." -School Library Journal




War, Religion and Empire


Book Description

What are international orders, how are they destroyed, and how can they be defended in the face of violent challenges? Advancing an innovative realist-constructivist account of international order, Andrew Phillips addresses each of these questions in War, Religion and Empire. Phillips argues that international orders rely equally on shared visions of the good and accepted practices of organized violence to cultivate cooperation and manage conflict between political communities. Considering medieval Christendom's collapse and the East Asian Sinosphere's destruction as primary cases, he further argues that international orders are destroyed as a result of legitimation crises punctuated by the disintegration of prevailing social imaginaries, the break-up of empires, and the rise of disruptive military innovations. He concludes by considering contemporary threats to world order, and the responses that must be taken in the coming decades if a broadly liberal international order is to survive.




The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam


Book Description

Claiming that many in the West lack a thorough understanding of crusading, Jonathan Riley-Smith explains why and where the Crusades were fought, identifies their architects, and shows how deeply their language and imagery were embedded in popular Catholic thought and devotional life.




War and Religion: A-G (Alphabetical List of Entries; List of Primary Documents; Chronology; Guide to Related Topics)


Book Description

"Containing some 500 entries covering the interaction between war and religion from ancient times, the three-volume War and Religion : An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict provides students with an invaluable reference source for examining two of the most important phenomena impacting society today. This all-inclusive reference work will serve readers researching specific religious traditions, historical eras, wars, battles, or influential individuals across all time periods. The A-Z entries document ancient events and movements such as the First Crusade that began at the end of the 10th century as well as modern-day developments like ISIS and Al Qaeda. Subtopics throughout the encyclopedia include religious and military leaders or other key people, ideas, and weapons, and comprehensive examinations of each of the major religious traditions' views on war and violence are presented. The work also includes dozens of primary source documents--each introduced by a headnote--that enable readers to go directly to the source of information and better grasp its historical significance. The in-depth content of this set benefits high school and college students as well as scholars and general readers. Features: Enables readers to explore the ongoing and important relationship between war and religion across history through coverage of the wars themselves; the important leaders, battles, and campaigns; and the treaties that resulted from these wars; directs readers to further reading material and supplies a comprehensive bibliography that guides further inquiry into the topic of war and religion; supplies primary source documents that include letters written by participants of the Crusades, proclamations and declarations from the Protestant Reformation, and UN documents related to war and religion"--Publisher description.




The Soldier and His Religion ...


Book Description




Religion, War, and Ethics


Book Description

Religion, War, and Ethics is a collection of primary sources from the world's major religions on the ethics of war. Each chapter brings together annotated texts - scriptural, theological, ethical, and legal - from a variety of historical periods that reflect each tradition's response to perennial questions about the nature of war: when, if ever, is recourse to arms morally justifiable? What moral constraints should apply to military conduct? Can a lasting earthly peace be achieved? Are there sacred reasons for waging war, and special rewards for those who do the fighting? The religions covered include Sunni and Shiite Islam; Judaism; Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity; Theravada Buddhism; East Asian religious traditions (Confucianism, Shinto, Japanese and Korean Buddhism); Hinduism; and Sikhism. Each section is compiled by a specialist, recognized within his or her respective religious tradition, who has also written a commentary on the historical and textual context of the passages selected.