Almond, Gabriel A.  Strong religion: the rise of fundamentalisms around the world, by Gabriel A. Almond, R. Scott Appleby, and Emmanuel Sivan.  Chicago, 2003.  281p index afp ISBN 0-226-01498-3  pbk, $19.00. Reviewed in 2003oct CHOICE.
41-1173  BL238  2002-13665 CIP 
 
Extreme religious organizations prepared to use violence against modern secularist governments provide the focus of this comparative study of world religions. The authors look to the historical and cultural environment, analyze ideological and organizational characteristics, and discover structural variables to explain their origin, growth, and decline. They define fundamentalism as “a discernible pattern of religious militance” composed of self-styled true believers. Their broad scope includes Pentecostal, Southern Baptist, Catholic charismatic, Catholic traditionalist–all those outside of the mainstream. Opposition to modernity unites their common opposition to secularist majorities. Fundamentalists are minority, fringe groups operating outside of the power structure. The authors insist that there is a difference between fundamentalist movements seeking to reassert religious influence in an increasingly secular world and cults centered on individual charismatic figures. They conclude that fundamentalists are unlikely to expand in open societies where the need to compromise decreases radicalism. They warn of increased resort to violence in response to governmental oppression or in chaotic situations. Economic reforms and the introduction of democracy will diminish extremists’ effectiveness. The authors assert the need to study religion because of its great significance in contemporary politics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers and undergraduate collections. — M. S. Power, Arkansas State University 
 
Appleby, R. Scott.  The ambivalence of the sacred: religion, violence, and reconciliation.  Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict/Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.  429p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8476-8554-3, $65.00; ISBN 0-8476-8555-1  pbk, $24.95. Reviewed in 2000jul CHOICE.
37-6211  BL65  99-32597 CIP
 
Post-Enlightenment commentators, especially academics and journalists, often ignore or dismiss religion, being unable or unwilling to admit that it can do anything but spread ignorance. Consequently, they distort reality. For those who know that religion is capable of great good, says this book, its complicity in evil is a hard truth to bear, so they, too, often fail to see the real world. Appleby (history, Univ. of Notre Dame) corrects both kinds of myopia. With Martin Marty, he codirected the Fundamentalism Project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which produced a multivolume interdisciplinary and cross-cultural series on global religious resurgence (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1991-95) and so knows thoroughly the breadth and power of recent worldwide conservative religious movements. In this current important book–not limited to conservative movements–he uses case studies, careful analysis, and a highly readable narrative style to present religion’s role in contemporary peacemaking and war making. With sound historical perspective, he shows what practical steps some religious groups have taken to become more positive and effective players in public life, and he crafts apposite, practical steps for other groups to do the same. This book is one in a series from the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict. All academic levels; general readers and practitioners. — D. A. Brown, California State University, Fullerton 

Cavanaugh, William T.  The myth of religious violence: secular ideology and the roots of modern conflict.  Oxford, 2009.  285p index afp; ISBN 9780195385045, $49.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2010may CHOICE.
47-4955  BL65  2008-53815 CIP 
 
Cavanaugh (Univ. of Saint Thomas) refutes arguments that religion is inherently violent, showing that its proponents often fail to distinguish religion from other ideologies such as nationalism. Furthermore, he claims that they ignore the historical complexities that lead to violence and the changing configurations of ideology, faith, and politics. His survey of the history of Europe’s “wars of religion” shows that the wars were not religiously motivated, that the states that arose in their wake were no more peaceful than the ecclesiastical rule they replaced, and that such states had their own ways of justifying violence. Cavanaugh also shows that the arguments made by religion have close parallels in American political rhetoric–only now citizens are asked to die not for God but for America. Cavanaugh calls for scholars to explore the ways that ideologies, “religious” or not, can and have led to violence. This extraordinary book demonstrates scholarship of the highest order and brings an important voice to discussions of the topic, correcting prior scholarship and provoking important questions about nationalism’s ideological function. A must for all collections. Summing Up: Essential.  Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. — A. W. Klink, Duke University 

The Destructive power of religion: violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: v.1: Sacred scriptures, ideology, and violence; v.2: Religion, philosophy, and violence; v.3: Models and cases of violence in religion; v.4: Contemporary views on spirituality and violence, ed. by J. Harold Ellens.  Praeger, 2004.  4v bibl index afp ISBN 0-275-97958-X, $300.00. Reviewed in 2004oct CHOICE.
42-0886  BL65  2003-51061 CIP 

Under the auspices of the Fundamentalism Project (American Academy of Religion), this set brings together some 49 essays in four broadly conceived volumes. Ellens (Univ. of Michigan) contributes an introductory essay to each volume. This series takes a markedly different approach to the study of religion: it positions itself as either a subset of that much broader field, or as a means of looking at religion from the particular standpoint of its malpractice rather than its practice. How appealing such a line of approach will be to scholars is difficult to say. Having such a large and diverse collection of essays under such a general rubric might make accessibility difficult. (It is much more common for essays of this sort to appear in scholarly journals, in published conference proceedings, or in Festschriften). The overall result is not as well integrated as would be the case with a comparable collection of articles brought together in a dictionary or encyclopedia. These methodological concerns aside, any scholar of the pathology of religion will find plenty to work with here. The bibliographies for each essay are detailed and up-to-date, and the indexes are surprisingly thorough. Summing Up: Recommended.  Lower-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. — D. R. Stewart, Luther Seminary 

Eller, Jack David. Cruel creeds, virtuous violence: religious violence across culture and history. Prometheus Books, 2010. 451p bibl index afp ISBN 9781616142186, $28.00.  Reviewed in 2011sep CHOICE.
49-0367   GN495  CIP

Anthropologist Eller (Community College of Denver) offers a broad overview and synthesis of perspectives treating the relationship between religion and violence.  Written in a textbook style, the volume is most useful as a guide to key concepts and case studies.  In addition to six thematic chapters covering sacrifice, self-injury, persecution, ethno-religious conflict, war, and homicide and abuse, two chapters considering the nature of violence and religion, respectively, frame the book, which concludes with a chapter on the relationship between religion and nonviolence.  Well argued is a key, somewhat modest thesis–that though there is nothing uniquely religious about violence, or anything essentially violent about religion, the two can combine in pernicious ways.  The overall assessment of violence as an inherent tension for humans, often exacerbated by group life, recasts a very long, somewhat Hobbesian line of reasoning in the West, effectively critiqued by Marshall Sahlins in The Western Illusion of Human Nature (2008).  Though Eller is commendably expansive in his choice of case studies from non-Western contexts, these are occasionally and problematically subsumed (in the understandable interest of comparison) to this Western model of human nature (or violence).  Summing Up: Recommended.  General and undergraduate libraries. — C. J. MacKenzie,  University of Lethbridge

Fox, Jonathan.  Bringing religion into international relations, by Jonathan Fox and Shmuel Sandler.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.  212p bibl index ISBN 1-4039-6551-X, $59.95; ISBN 1403976031  pbk, $24.95; ISBN 9781403976031  pbk, $24.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2007mar CHOICE.
44-4106  BL65  2003-64012 CIP  
 
This is an excellent, reflective, cogent, lively, interdisciplinary, theory-oriented (with dashes of empirical research), and objective analysis of the understudied and undervalued relationship between religion, power, conflict, cooperation, and international relations (IR) in the contemporary world. The political scientists who write this book seek to explain why, when, and to what extent religion (like nationalism, culture, and ethnicity) influences international and domestic relations, and why Western IR theorists tenaciously resist acknowledging such pre-Enlightenment or primordial influences like religion. Exploring historical, sociological, and political explanations of individual, domestic, and global behavior, the authors challenge and enrich IR theory and the study of collective human behavior. They never argue that religion is the key variable driving IR, but they insist that IR “cannot be understood without taking religion into account.” This book will be a seminal and nonpolemical contribution to improving IR theory and research, exploring troubles from global terrorism to local ethnic or religious violence, and to unpacking the revolving relationships between religion, modernity, legitimacy, the so-called “clash of civilizations,” and decision making. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — L. S. Hulett, Knox College

The Fundamentalist mindset: psychological perspectives on religion, violence, and history, ed. by Charles B. Strozier et al.  Oxford, 2010.  274p index afp; ISBN 9780195379655, $99.00; ISBN 9780195379662  pbk, $19.95. Reviewed in 2010nov CHOICE.
48-1404  BL238  2009-34142 CIP
 
No one volume can ever account for all the elements that contribute to fundamentalism, but the authors represented in this book maintain that understanding the psychological processes that shape the “fundamentalist mindset” is an important step toward explaining the complicated relationship between fundamentalism and violence. Strozier (John Jay College), David M. Terman (Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis), and James W. Jones (Rutgers Univ.), with Katherine A. Boyd (PhD student at John Jay College), use the tools of psychoanalysis to better understand the attending causal factors. They examine motivations for fundamentalist-inspired violence, including paranoia reified through radical dualistic notions of the world, the distillation and institutionalization of this paranoia into apocalyptic notions of existential threats from evil “others,” and subjective experiences of humiliation and shame. The second half of the book involves the useful application of these theoretical interpretations in examinations of contexts such as American Christian fundamentalism, global jihadist movements, and India’s Hindutva movement. Readers unfamiliar with psychoanalytic theory initially may find the project dense, but this book is a refreshing addition to the plenitude of lesser works on fundamentalism, violence, and terrorism published since September 11, 2001. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic libraries; upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — M. A. Toole, High Point University 

Kippenberg, Hans G. Violence as worship: religious wars in the age of globalization, tr. by Brian McNeil. Stanford, 2011. 286p bibl index afp ISBN 9780804768726, $70.00; ISBN 9780804768733 pbk, $21.95. Reviewed in 2011sep CHOICE.
49-0218   BL65   CIP

Kippenberg (Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany) presents various case studies of religiously sanctioned violence.  Among them are Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, the Branch Davidian movement of David Koresh, the Iranian revolution, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, US evangelical premillennialism, the attacks of 9/11, and the US-led “war on terror.”  Kippenberg’s fundamental conclusions are that monotheistic religions do not necessarily lead to violence nor are they necessarily peaceful.  Most religiously sanctioned violence, he suggests, has its origins in secular conflicts that are given religious interpretations.  When certain conditions are met, violence becomes a possible option.  Kippenberg suggests several ways that the process leading to religiously sanctioned violence can be short-circuited.  The case studies provide helpful information, though the overall interpretive framework is somewhat underdeveloped.  This volume probably is not appropriate for general readers but will be useful for more advanced audiences.  Other texts, such as R. A. Pape and J. K. Feldman’s Cutting the Fuse (CH, Jun’11, 48-5948) or Joyce Davis’s Martyrs (CH, Nov’03, 41-1824), may be more helpful for an analysis of contemporary terrorism and possible responses.  Summing Up: Recommended.  Upper-division undergraduates and above. — J. H. Sniegocki,  Xavier University

McTernan, Oliver.  Violence in God’s name: religion in an age of conflict.  Orbis Books, 2003.  192p bibl index ISBN 1-57075-500-0  pbk, $20.00. Reviewed in 2004apr CHOICE.
41-4603  BL65  2003-11804 CIP 
 
Academicians and pundits have long dismissed religion as a serious player in political issues, instead looking to economic, educational, or tribal causes for the world’s conflicts. Religious leaders, too, have dismissed religion as a cause of public conflicts. They insist that only misguided fanatics at the fringes of society deliberately distort the true purpose of religion to justify their violence. So religion skates. McTernan (BBC) cites Martin Marty and R. Scott Appleby’s The Fundamentalism Project (5 vol., 1991-1995), Mark Juergensmeyer’s Terror in the Mind of God (CH, Jul’00), and Alice Miller’s The Truth Will Set You Free (2001) to illustrate the very real capacity of religion to cause violence. The author examines the role of religion in conflicts in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, and Sri Lanka (where he has firsthand experience). The narrow loyalties of faith may lead to tolerance–a good first step but nothing more. Until the religious community upholds and defends actively the right of others to make truth claims different from its own, it is seeking only a technical solution to a problem of deep and broad scope. Religious leaders fail when they rely only on authority rather than becoming truly adaptive. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; upper-level undergraduates and above. — D. A. Brown, California State University, Fullerton 

Miller, Richard B.  Terror, religion, and liberal thought.  Columbia, 2010.  227p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780231150989, $24.50. Reviewed in 2011apr CHOICE.
48-4422  BL65  2010-22780 CIP
 
Miller (Indiana Univ.; Interpretations of Conflict, CH, May’92, 29-5052) offers readers a brilliant exercise in liberal social criticism, which stands firmly at the crossroads of moral theory, political philosophy, and pragmatic cultural criticism. The author seeks to establish an explanatory framework whereby the values that seemingly undergird modern, liberal, democratic societies–respect for persons, commitment to equality, recognition and honoring of human dignity, and toleration of “otherness”–are examined in the wake of 9/11 and in light of religious extremism in general. Miller skillfully explores the moral bases of responsible evaluation of Islamic terrorism by charting a course between the reflexive positions of apologetics and ethnocentrism. Readers who are unaccustomed to rigorous critical interpretation will be challenged by this work, as it is written in the best spirit of probing and nuanced scholarly inquiry. It stands heads above many recent works on religion, violence, and terrorism in its thoughtful application of the tools of social criticism. A must read for those interested in religious ethics, politics, and the construction of civil society. Summing Up: Essential.  Academic libraries supporting upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — M. A. Toole, High Point University 

Milton-Edwards, Beverley.  Islam and violence in the modern era.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.  236p bibl index afp ISBN 1-4039-8618-5, $85.00; ISBN 9781403986184, $85.00.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2007feb CHOICE.
44-3512  BP190  2005-51502 CIP 
 
Given the outrage and violence that seems to follow perceptions of disrespect toward Islam by Western media and even the Pope, this author’s lucid analysis of Islam and violence in the modern era is very much to the point. Milton-Edwards (Queens Univ., Belfast) argues that what appears to the West as overreaction to alleged insults to Islam, and the choice of confrontational politics to counter the West’s interventions in the Muslim world, is at root a reaction to Western ideas of secular modernity. The West appears to demand “submission” to the values of secularism; but submission is reserved in Islam for the will of God. Her argument is laid out with admirable clarity and economy. Muslim communities see these insults as “a declaration of war against them and the values that define their faith system.” Milton-Edwards begins with “a history of entanglement” between religion and violence, then turns to what she calls “the West’s terror of Islam.” In subsequent sections, she considers the conundrum of Islam and violence, and the question–and phenomenon–of “sacred violence” and its various contemporary representations. This is, in sum, an excellent, useful addition to the literature on this subject. Summing Up: Highly recommended.  General readers, lower-division undergraduates through faculty. — V. T. Le Vine, emeritus, Washington University 

Pahl, Jon.  Empire of sacrifice: the religious origins of American violence.  New York University, 2010.  257p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8147-6762-1, $35.00; ISBN 9780814767627, $35.00. Reviewed in 2010oct CHOICE.
48-0814  BR517  2009-30331 CIP

Not every book juxtaposes religious theories drawn from the likes of Bruce Lincoln and Thomas Tweed; reflections on violence (defined very broadly as “any harm to or destruction of life, whether intended by individuals or enacted by systems of language, policy, and practice”) inspired by René Girard’s Violence and the Sacred; post-WW II American youth culture, and films ranging from Reefer Madness to Halloween to Spike Lee’s Malcolm X; slaveholding religion and the resistance to it from Frederick Douglass and Jarena Lee; the culture of public executions from Quakers in 17th-century New England to Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking; and finally, the rhetoric of “sacrifice” surrounding American wars and how that rhetoric has shaped recent involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq. Pahl (Lutheran Theological Seminary) analyzes such diverse texts in exploring what he believes is a characteristic American trope, “innocent domination,” or power over others exercised without conscious malice. Pahl intends his work as a call to take up the opportunity missed after 9/11, to “shape a remarkable global consensus against religious violence.” This work’s basic paradox is that religions “produce violent power” but exist ultimately to “eliminate violence.” That paradox captures the troubling message but hopeful conclusion to the work. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — P. Harvey, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 

Religion, fundamentalism, and violence: an interdisciplinary dialogue, ed. by Andrew L. Gluck.  Scranton, 2010.  312p index; ISBN 9781589662049  pbk, $27.00. Reviewed in 2011mar CHOICE.
48-3817  BL65  2010-10571 CIP 
 
The seven illuminating essays in this interdisciplinary collection explore the relationship between fundamentalist religion and violence. Each essay is followed by commentary from other contributors, with authors then responding to questions or criticisms. Editor Gluck’s introduction explores the difference between fundamentalism and orthodoxy and considers the psychological need for fundamentalist religion; R. Antoun offers a clear presentation of the attributes of fundamentalism, conceived as a protest against modernism. And C. Delaney offers a comparative anthropological perspective to argue a case, widely made, that Abrahamic religion is inherently violent due to monotheism’s creation of insiders and outsiders. Contributors examine critically the question of a causal relation between fundamentalism and violence in particular traditions: Hinduism (S. R. Garimella); Judaism (Gluck); Islam, with a focus on psychology (S. N. Ghaemi); and Christian Orthodoxy (C. Nichols). Nichols’s critical and appreciative assessment of the final essay on Christianity and just war (J. Carey) connects that essay more explicitly to the volume’s theme. This collection of diverse scholarly voices addresses a vexatious problem in the contemporary world, advancing readers’ understanding of fundamentalist religion without reducing the problem of religiously motivated violence to easy answers. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — L. Steffen, Lehigh University

Rubenstein, Richard L.  Jihad and genocide.  Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.  251p index afp; ISBN 9780742562028, $59.95. Reviewed in 2010oct CHOICE.
48-1113  BP182  2009-32040 CIP 
 
Rubenstein (religion, Univ. of Bridgeport), a distinguished scholar of Holocaust and genocide studies, describes how 9/11 caused a shift in his research focus to radical Islam and its genocidal threat. He traces jihadism in the writings of some prominent advocates and practitioners–Sayyad Qutb, Sayyid Abul Al’la al-Mawdudi, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and bin Laden. Rubenstein presents a case study of the Armenian massacres in Ottoman Turkey (1894-96), which culminated in genocide (1915-23), as an early example of genocidal jihadism. He details the pro-Nazi activities of Hajj Amin al-Husseini against Balkan Jews and plans to liquidate Palestinian Jewry. Recent jihadist threats are seen emanating from the growing Muslim population in Europe, the rise of anti-Semitism, and the possibility of an Iranian-Shiite apocalyptic nuclear confrontation with Israel. While some readers will take issue with aspects of Rubenstein’s analysis, his conclusions should be taken seriously: the rage among Islamists against Israel and the US is driven by the shame brought on by successive Muslim defeats since the 1500s; this rage will continue until the shame is erased by genocide, if Islamist threats are taken seriously. Provocative, important reading for all interested in Arab-Israeli peace and religious coexistence worldwide. Summing Up: Highly recommended.  General readers, students of all levels, and research faculty. — R. H. Dekmejian, University of Southern California 

Selengut, Charles.  Sacred fury: understanding religious violence.  AltaMira, 2003.  269p bibl index afp ISBN 0-7591-0361-5, $69.00; ISBN 0-7591-0362-3  pbk, $24.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2004jul CHOICE.
41-6607  BL65  2003-12057 CIP 
 
Although religion may be “a force for goodness, charity and reconciliation,” it also “encourages and promotes war and violent confrontation.” Selengut (sociology and religious studies, Drew Univ.) attempts to explain what he sees as “among the most pressing and dangerous issues facing the world community.” In a well-organized and ethically or evaluatively neutral fashion (to borrow the Weberian perspective), Selengut uses many worldwide examples to consider religious violence from five perspectives: (1) violence and conflict based on sacred writings and teachings of a religious tradition; (2) religious violence that serves necessary social psychological functions and needs for the larger society; (3) violence as a means by which a religion protects its historical or “civilizational” position from cultural or political groups perceived to be more powerful; (4) apocalyptic violence, such as death, suicide, and terrorism, thought to bring redemption and salvation; and (5) self-inflicted pain, abuse, and martyrdom and the role of the body in religious organization and its accompanying theology. A concluding sixth chapter suggests techniques for curbing the potency of religious motivation to violence. The reasoned juxtaposition of theoretic orientation and examples, despite typographical errors, makes this volume an outstanding–indeed, necessary–contribution to understanding religion and its operation in the larger society. Summing Up: Essential. All levels and libraries. — L. Braude, SUNY College at Fredonia 
 
Teehan, John.  In the name of God: the evolutionary origins of religious ethics and violence.  Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.  272p bibl index afp; ISBN 9781405183826, $84.95; ISBN 9781405183819  pbk, $24.95. Reviewed in 2010dec CHOICE.
48-2025  BJ1188  2009-41467 CIP
 
Teehan (Hofstra) examines the shadow side of religious morality from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. As he indicates, violence grounded in religious communities is not simply an aberration of morality; rather, religious moral systems evolve so as to preserve cultural “fitness” according to Darwinian principles of inheritance, variation, and competition. Morality evolves naturally, as boundaries between in-groups and out-groups create preferences for those on the inside while eliminating competition from outside threats–with violence, if necessary. Such religious exclusivity is problematic in all three monotheistic traditions. Teehan calls for a more pragmatic approach to enlarge the sphere of moral concern, proposing, for example, that people be introduced to alternative religious worldviews that promote critical discussions of religion. Although the two chapters on Judaism and Christianity provide carefully nuanced analyses of the roots of religious violence, the author devotes only five pages to an exploration of the roots of violence in Islam. Since 9/11 is so central to Teehan’s analysis, one wonders why he did not undertake a more complete analysis of Islam using his theory of evolved morality. This is an exceedingly provocative study and one that merits careful attention from general readers and scholars alike. Summing Up: Highly recommended.  Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. — P. K. Steinfeld, Buena Vista University 

Triandis, Harry C.  Fooling ourselves: self-deception in politics, religion, and terrorism.  Praeger, 2009.  246p bibl indexes afp  (Contributions in psychology, 52); ISBN 9780313364389, $49.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2009jun CHOICE.
46-5909   BF697  2008-33679 CIP 
 
A respected, internationally known expert on cross-cultural issues in psychology, Triandis (emer., Univ. of Illinois) offers here what is perhaps his most important piece of work. He argues that many of the problems confronting the world can be traced to discrepancies between the way people would “like the world to be” and what is real in the world. To understand how and why people engage in self-deception, one must look first at how humans learn to process information–thus, Triandis’s first chapter, “How Can We Avoid Fooling Ourselves.” The author goes on to show how flaws in information processing influence views about politics, religion, and terrorism. How, he asks, can individuals interact successfully with others in the world if they see things in such a black-and-white perspective? Triandis believes that conflict will be inevitable until such time as people learn to accept that the world is not “either-or.” Triandis closes on an up-note, with a chapter titled, “What Can We Do?” A significant start, he observes, would be emphasizing the need for equity (fairness) in dealing with others and not just equality (treating everyone the same). Required reading for all concerned citizens. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. — R. E. Osborne, Texas State University–San Marcos 

See related, Living the New Reality: Reviews of Resources on the Post-9/11 World.

To obtain permission for other uses, contact [email protected].  CHOICE is a publication of the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.