William T. What counts as religious or secular in any given context is a function of political configurations of power; 2 Such a transhistorical and transcultural concept of religion as non-rational and prone to violence is one of the foundational legitimating myths of Western society; 3 This myth can be and is used to legitimate neo-colonial violence against non-Western others, particularly the Muslim world.
Oxford university Press USA. A growing body of scholarly work explores how the category 'religion' has been constructed in the modern West and in colonial contexts according to specific configurations of political power. Cavanaugh challenges this conventional wisdom by examining how the twin categories of religion and the secular are constructed.
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Theories of Violent Conflict
Theories of violent conflict takes the centrality of the ‘group’ as an actor in contemporary conflict as a point of departure, critical political economy, social identity theory, human needs theory, leaving us with three main questions: • What makes a group? • Why and how does a group resort to violence? • Why and how do or don’t they stop? The book examines and compares the ways by which these questions are addressed from a number of perspectives: primordialism/constructivism, relative deprivation theory, collective action theory and rational choice theory.
. The final chapter aims to synthesize structure and agency-based theories by proposing a critical discourse analysis of violent conflict.
Terror in the Mind of God, Fourth Edition: The Global Rise of Religious Violence Comparative Studies in Religion and Society
Drawing from extensive personal interviews, Mark Juergensmeyer takes readers into the mindset of those who perpetrate and support violence in the name of religion. Thoroughly revised and expanded, the book analyzes in detail terrorism related to almost all the world’s major religious traditions: european christians who oppose Muslim immigrants; American Christians who support abortion clinic bombings and militia actions; Muslims in the Middle East associated with the rise of ISIS, al Qaeda, and Hamas; Israeli Jews who support the persecution of Palestinians; India's Hindus linked to assaults on Muslims in the state of Gujarat and Sikhs identified with the assassination of Indira Gandhi; and Buddhist militants in Myanmar affiliated with anti-Muslim violence and in Japan with the nerve gas attack in Tokyo’s subway.
. Identifying patterns within these cultures of violence, he explains why and how religion and violence are linked and how acts of religious terrorism are undertaken not only for strategic reasons but to accomplish a symbolic purpose. Terror in the mind of God continues to be an indispensible resource for students of religion and modern society.
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Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology
Offers a thought-provoking tool for students and thinkers from all walks of life: an exploration of violence at the broadest levels: personal, social, and political. Juxtaposes the routine violence of everyday life against the sudden outcropping of extraordinary violence such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, the state violence of Argentina’s Dirty War, and organized criminal violence.
Edited by two of the most prominent researchers in the field. Brings together a sweeping collection of readings, drawn from a remarkable range of sources, that look at various conceptions and modes of violence. Used book in Good Condition.
The Land Looks After Us: A History of Native American Religion Religion in American Life
Used book in Good Condition. Catharine brown, herself a convert, founded a school for Cherokee women and converted dozens of her people to Christianity. Joel martin draws his narrative from folk stories, through interactions with European conquerors and missionaries, rituals, and even landscapes to trace the development of Native American religion from ancient burial mounds, and on to the modern-day rebirth of ancient rites and beliefs.
Legendary chiefs like osceola and tecumseh led their tribes in resistance movements against the European invaders, inspired by prophets like the Shawnee Tenskwatawa and the Mohawk Coocoochee. University Press Group Ltd. The book depicts the major cornerstones of american indian history and religion--the vast movements for pan-Indian renewal, the passage of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act of 1990, the formation of the Native American Church in 1919, and key political actions involving sacred sites in the 1980s and '90s.
Native americans practice some of America's most spiritually profound, historically resilient, and ethically demanding religions.
Evolutionary Religion
As schellenberg reveals, pursuing evolutionary religion instead of embracing a scientific naturalism is something that can rationally be done, even if traditional religious belief is placed out of bounds by argument. But we have not really noticed how thin is the sliver of past time in which all of our religious life is contained.
When these things are internalized, our whole picture of religion may change. When the light of deep time has fully been switched on, a new form of skepticism but, at the same time, new possibilities of religious life will come into view. Schellenberg articulates and defends a simple but revolutionary idea: we are still at a very early stage in the possible history of intelligent life on our planet, and should frame our religious attitudes accordingly.
And the eons that may yet see intelligent life have hardly started to come into focus. We will find ourselves drawn to religious attitudes that, while not foregoing the idea of a transcendent ultimate, manage to do without believing and without details. Routledge.
Pascal's Fire: Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding
Groundbreaking, ingenious and devastatingly clear, Keith Ward’s Pascal’s Fire is guaranteed to reignite the timeless dispute of whether scientific advancement threatens religious belief. Used book in Good Condition. University Press Group Ltd. Routledge. Turning the conventional debate on its head, Ward suggests that the existence of God is actually the best starting-point for a number of the most famous scientific positions.
From quantum physics to evolution, the suggestion of an ‘ultimate mind’ adds a new dimension to scientific thought, enhancing rather than detracting from its greatest achievements.
To Uphold the World: A Call for a New Global Ethic from Ancient India
Ashoka was a powerful conqueror who converted to Buddhism on the heels of a bloody war, yet his empire rested on a political system that prioritized material wealth and amoral realpolitik. In this powerful critique of the current wave of globalization, Rich urgently calls for a new global ethic, distilling the messages of Ashoka and Kautilya while reflecting on thinkers from across the ages—from Aristotle and Adam Smith to George Soros.
Bruce rich discusses Universal Health Care in Ancient India: Routledge. University Press Group Ltd. This system had been perfected by Kautilya, a statesman who wrote the world's first treatise on economics. Used book in Good Condition.
War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societiescorrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting basic human desires. Used book in Good Condition. Used book in Good Condition.
Used book in Good Condition. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight, War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.
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Migrations of the Holy: God, State, and the Political Meaning of the Church
In these chapters cavanaugh cautions readers to be wary of a rigid separation of religion and politics that boxes in the church and sends citizens instead to the state for hope, comfort, and salvation as they navigate the risks and pains of mortal life. Cavanaugh urges christians to resist this form of idolatry, to unthink the inevitability of the nation-state and its dreary party politics, to embrace radical forms of political pluralism that privilege local communities -- and to cling to an incarnational theology that weaves itself seamlessly and tangibly into all aspects of daily life and culture.
Used book in Good Condition. Read more about the book in a blog post by Cavanaugh on EerdWord. Used book in Good Condition. When nationality becomes the primary source of identity and belonging, he warns, the language of nationalism becomes a liturgy, the state becomes the god and idol of its own religion, and devotees willingly sacrifice their lives to serve and defend their country.
Used book in Good Condition. But william cavanaugh argues that religious fervor never left -- it has only migrated toward a new object of worship. University Press Group Ltd.
Beholden: Religion, Global Health, and Human Rights
Used book in Good Condition. Used book in Good Condition. The book's six chapters range broadly, describing pilgrimage texts in the christian, buddhist, social, and cultural rights; a "religious health assets" approach based in Southern Africa; and the complex dynamics of gift exchange in the modern faith-based focus on charity, community, and Islamic traditions; the effect of ministry and public policy on nineteenth-century health care for the poor; the story of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it shaped economic, Hindu, and the common good.
. Used book in Good Condition. PublicAffairs. Winner of the 2016 grawemeyer award in religionglobal health efforts today are usually shaped by two very different ideological approaches: a human rights-based approach to health and equity-often associated with public health, missional dynamics, or economic development activities; or a religious or humanitarian "aid" approach motivated by personal beliefs about charity, medicine, philanthropy, and humanitarian "mercy.
The underlying differences between these two approaches can create tensions and even outright hostility that undermines the best intentions of those involved. Holman's study serves as an insightful guide for students and practitioners interested in improving and broadening the scope of global health initiatives, with an eye towards having the greatest impact possible.
Routledge.