Terrorism carried out in the name of the faith has long been a feature of human affairs. The histories of people, civilizations, nations, and empires are replete with examples of extremist “true believers” who engage in violence to promote their particular belief system. Some religious terrorists are inspired by defensive motives, others seek to ensure the predominance of their faith, and others are motivated by an aggressive amalgam of these tendencies (Martin, 2018). I have never really true understood how people of any religious belief or faith can administer so much violence to another. All religions believe in a higher power and that many feel that they should carry themselves or walk the path of God or whatever supreme being they’ve chosen. The Western Christian Church engage in violence towards disunited Muslims. The Christian Knights conduct these crusades in the name of the cross in order to recapture holy lands once lost. It was said by Pope Urban II, “that fighting and dying in the name of the Cross would ensure martyrdom and thereby guarantee a place in heaven. Liberation of the holy lands would bring eternal salvation” (Urban II, 2018). Who would argue with the will of their God if they were true.
Reference:
Martin, G. (2018). Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues. Sage Publications, Inc. 6th Edition.
Urban II, Pope, (2018). Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues. Sage Publications, Inc. 6th Edition.
Paul Beitling
Religious terrorism is terrorism perpetrated in the name of an individual’s or group’s faith (Martin, 2018). Religious terrorism has always interested me due to their absolute belief in carrying out terrorism that appears to be counter to widely-held moderate beliefs of their religion. The hypocrisy is confusing until you start examining the differences in extremist interpretation of the same religion. For most extremist religious groups that resort to terrorism, the use of violence in the name of faith is an accepted means to carry out their religious direction (Martin, 2018).
One example of religious terrorism is the Christian Crusades that occurred from the 11th century to the 13th century (Martin, 2018). The Christian Crusades were conducted in the Islamic East in the name of the Cross (Martin, 2018). There were several crusades during this time period that resulted in the the massacre of Muslims and Jews all in the name of their faith and belief that the holy lands needed to be liberated from non-Christians by the order of God (Martin, 2018). The Crusader’s blind faith in this interpretation of Christianity was further cemented by the proclamation of Pope Urban II that all Crusaders fighting and dying for the Cross would be guaranteed martyrdom and forgiven of all of their sins (Martin, 2018). For the Crusaders, there was no internal conflict between their faith and the violence they needed to conduct. The violence was acceptable and justified to carry out the will of God which was illustrated by their war cry of Deus vult that translates to God wills it (Martin, 2018).
Reference
Martin, G. (2018). Understanding terrorism: Challenges, perspectives, and issues. SAGE Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA
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