Blood That Cries Out from the Earth

The Psychology of Religious Terrorism
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-19-993364-8
Verlag: OUP US

Buch, Englisch, 210 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 295 g

Religious terrorism has become the scourge of the modern world. What causes a person to kill innocent strangers in the name of religion? As both a clinical psychologist and an authority on comparative religion, James W. Jones is uniquely qualified to address this increasingly urgent question. Research on the psychology of violence shows that several factors work to make ordinary people turn "evil." These include feelings of humiliation or shame, a tendency to see the world in black and white, and demonization or dehumanization of other people. Authoritarian religion or "fundamentalism," Jones shows, is a particularly rich source of such ideas and feelings, which he finds throughout the writings of Islamic jihadists, such as the 9/11 conspirators.

Jones goes on to apply this model to two very different religious groups that have engaged in violence: Aum Shinrikyo, the Buddhist splinter group behind the sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system, and members of the extreme religious right in the U.S. who have advocated and committed violence against abortion providers. Jones notes that not every adherent of an authoritarian group will turn to violence, and he shows how theories of personality development can explain why certain individuals are easily recruited to perform terrorist acts.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jones, James

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Praktische Theologie Christliches Leben & Praxis

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction - Religion, Psychology, and Terrorism

- 1: - Religion and Terrorism: The Need for a Multidimensional Model

- 2: - Jihadism in Comparative Perspective: Psychological Themes in Religiously Motivated Terrorism

- 3: - Aum Shinrikyo: Violence and Terrorism in Japanese Buddhism

- 4: - The Divine Terrorist: Religion and Violence in American Apocalyptic Christianity

- 5: - The Role of the Individual: Toward a Clinical Psychology of Religious Terrorism

- 6: - What Does This Tell Us about Religion?

- Notes

- Bibliography

- Index

Über Autor(innen)

James W. Jones is Professor of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychology, at Rutgers University.