Understanding the Extensive Connections Between Religions and Terrorism?

In light of the awful terrorist attacks that have been launched once again in Israel I thought it urgent to repost this item.

What are the connections between religions and terrorism? 

That's a big question. I tried to answer, explain and understand it in the past through my extensive scholarly research and my academic teaching.

Here is a selected list of my blog posts of study resources in the analysis of the connections between terrorism and religion (compiled when I taught a course on religion and terrorism at FDU a few years ago). Click on each one to read it.

1. Questions about American Christian Terrorism
2. Religion and Jewish Terrorists (and see the JTA report)
3. What is a Religious Culture of Violence and Terror? 
4. Who were Shoko Asahara and the Buddhist Aum Shinrikyo Religious Terrorists? 
5. How did Religion Motivate Sikh Terrorists? 
6. What is the Logic of the Theater of Religious Terror? 
7. Why Do Religious Terrorist Martyrs say that they aim to kill the demons? 
8. What do Sexuality and Humiliation have to do with Terrorism? 
9. Will the War Against Religious Terrorism Ever End? 
10. From Kahane to Osama: How Do Men Make Religious Terrorism Into Cosmic War? 
11. How can we end religious terrorism and achieve the peace of God? 
12. Concluding Questions on Religion and Terrorism

I have studied this subject at great length and taught courses in the area because I believe that understanding can help us resolve tragic conflicts. 

I also believe in the power of prayer to help us bring peace to the world.

I recommend to you all of my books: My Home Page

My Puffin Foundation Lecture on Religion and Terrorism

2023 update: I will never forget it. It changed our world. 9/11 is a terrible day for us all. Every year. I saw the second plane hit while I was driving in to work from the hill across the river. I saw the towers fall a short time later from my office window in Jersey City. Just know well that the terrorists acted in the name of Islam. Do not ever minimize or forget this. See the last five pages of my PPT for salient details: MAKING AN ACT OF TERROR INTO A SACRED COSMIC RITUAL. Awful horrible unforgivable.

My lecture presentation link is here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KrlfOTUK4hLW21pwiMcBdAOxG_8SDEuW

My numerous blog posts about terrorism and religion are linked here.

Will the War Against Religious Terrorism Ever End?

Will the War Against Religious Terrorism Ever End? (Repost for 9-11-2022)

I always feel deep sadness as I recall - as if it was this morning - that awful day 21 years ago when I saw the planes fly into the towers from my vantage on a hill in across the river in Jersey City. 

Mark Juergensmeyer, in Terror in the Mind of God, lays out five ways that the reign of religious terror can come to an end. Let's consider each. First consider the end will come with the forceful eradication of the terrorists, what appears to have been the US response to the 9/11 attacks, continued with the more recent killing of OBL.

Juergensmeyer outlines,

The first scenario is one of a solution forged by force. It encompasses instances in which terrorists have literally been killed off or have been forcibly controlled. If Osama bin Laden had been in residence in his camp in Afghanistan on August 10, 1998, along with a large number of leaders of other militant groups when the United States launched one hundred Tomahawk cruise missiles into his quarters, for instance, this air strike might have removed some of the persons involved in planning future terrorist acts in various parts of the world.

Resources in the analysis of the connections between terrorism and religion

I taught a college course about religion and politics and terrorism in 2005. Now the content and the analysis of terrorism is more real and more relevant and more frightening than ever.

Here is a linked guide to my substantial blog posts of study resources in the analysis of the connections between terrorism and religion.

1. Questions about American Christian Terrorism
   
2. Marginality, sexual despair, political powerlessness, masculinity and terrorism
   
3. Religion and Jewish Terrorists
   
4. What is a Religious Culture of Violence and Terror?
   
5. Who were Shoko Asahara and the Buddhist Aum Shinrikyo Religious Terrorists?
   
6. How did Religion Motivate Sikh Terrorists?
   
7. What is the Logic of the Theater of Religious Terror?
   
8. Why Do Religious Terrorist Martyrs say that they aim to kill the demons?
   
9. What do Sexuality and Humiliation have to do with Terrorism?
   
10. Will the War Against Religious Terrorism Ever End?
    
11. From Kahane to Osama: How Do Men Make Religious Terrorism Into Cosmic War?
    
12. How can we end religious terrorism and achieve the peace of God?
    
13. Concluding Questions on Religion and Terrorism

Jewish Black Magic: They Cursed Ariel Sharon with the Pulsa D'Nora in 2005 - and can it work in October 2020 for someone else?

I've spent years teaching numerous college courses on religion - always with the disclaimer that we will cover only the positive aspects of the subject. Religion used for evil, that is for war or other forms of harm, is a misuse and distortion of systems of faith.

Curses, I reasoned, were a misuse and distortion of religious practice.

Curses invoked before the Rabin assassination changed my mind about that. Prior to that tragic event, on the eve of Yom Kippur, a group of "Kabbalists" intoned the pulsa curse outside the Rabin residence. Once again, in the summer of 2005, another group gathered to invoke the curse against P.M. Ariel Sharon. It seemed to me that curses indeed were part of our religion - like it or not.

One blogger, Canonist, dealt briefly with the curse back in July 2005, complete with a link to the video of the curse "ceremony" and quotations from learned professors:

Praying for Ariel Sharon's Death

Yesterday's death-curse seems thus far to have gone unanswered by the Almighty, but we'll see. Generally speaking, I don't write much about Israel and the disengagement, but this latest is quite interesting. PaleoJudaica's got a great roundup, including descriptions of the pulsa de-nura ceremony, its detractors, and the threat of prosecution that've come out of it. Meantime, you can actually watch the ceremony in this video, which, with a bunch of people in sweats reading from photocopies, looks oddly like some run-of-the-mill Jewish ceremony, like burning chametz or somesuch. The video comes courtesy of Samuel Heilman, via a listserv to which he wrote, with the subject "Jewish Jihadists": "Lest any of you think that only Islamists have jihadists, see the video below in which so-called 'religious Jews' pray for Prime Minister Sharon's Death in a Pulsa De Nura." Bold words on both sides. Let's see what comes of them.

Erudite rabbis have written about the matter, explaining that magic is not a part of Judaism, as in the following:

Does Religion Cause Terrorism? My Jewish Standard Dear Rabbi Zahavy Talmudic Advice Column for December 2018

Does Religion Cause Terrorism?
My Jewish Standard Dear Rabbi Zahavy Talmudic Advice Column for December 2018

Dear Rabbi Zahavy,

I sit next to a person in synagogue who frequently engages me in conversation and tells me how evil Islam is. He seems preoccupied with this subject. He says Islam is a terrorist religion and he fears that all Muslims are potential terrorists. He says that sure, some members of that religion pretend to be friendly. But he claims if you turn your back on a Muslim, they will slit your throat.

I know we need to be vigilant to protect ourselves against our enemies. But I feel this person has gone off the deep end and makes me more uncomfortable each time he goes on another tirade. What should I do about this?

Tired of Terror Tirades in Teaneck

Dear Tired,

My first impulse is to smile and tell you to change your seat in synagogue. But I know that where we sit often is not easily shifted. If you move to another place, you will perhaps cause a cascading domino effect of seating shifts. And who wants to upset the equilibrium of worship?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, How to Defeat Religious Violence - WSJ

Rabbi Sacks' new book is excerpted in the WSJ in an essay adapted from his new book, “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence,” which will be published by Schocken on Oct. 13.

He speaks eloquently and intelligently. He also at times lapses into a kind of universal homiletics and we can debate whether anyone listens to that kind of discourse, for instance:

Now is the time for us to say what we have failed to say in the past: We are all the children of Abraham. We are precious in the sight of God. We are blessed. And to be blessed, no one has to be cursed. God’s love does not work that way. God is calling us to let go of hate and the preaching of hate, and to live at last as brothers and sisters, true to our faith and a blessing to others regardless of their faith, honoring God’s name by honoring his image, humankind.

My mainly academic blog posts on religious terrorism, deriving from a course that I taught at the university, are linked to this post, and other relevant posts can be found here.

Here is the extended blurb of Rabbi Sacks' book:

In this powerful and timely book, one of the most admired and authoritative religious leaders of our time tackles the phenomenon of religious extremism and violence committed in the name of God. If religion is perceived as being part of the problem, Rabbi Sacks argues, then it must also form part of the solution. When religion becomes a zero-sum conceit—that is, my religion is the only right path to God, therefore your religion is by definition wrong—and individuals are motivated by what Rabbi Sacks calls “altruistic evil,” violence between peoples of different beliefs appears to be the only natural outcome.

But through an exploration of the roots of violence and its relationship to religion, and employing groundbreaking biblical analysis and interpretation, Rabbi Sacks shows that religiously inspired violence has as its source misreadings of biblical texts at the heart of all three Abrahamic faiths. By looking anew at the book of Genesis, with its foundational stories of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Rabbi Sacks offers a radical rereading of many of the Bible’s seminal stories of sibling rivalry: Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Rachel and Leah.

“Abraham himself,” writes Rabbi Sacks, “sought to be a blessing to others regardless of their faith. That idea, ignored for many of the intervening centuries, remains the simplest definition of Abrahamic faith. It is not our task to conquer or convert the world or enforce uniformity of belief. It is our task to be a blessing to the world. The use of religion for political ends is not righteousness but idolatry . . . To invoke God to justify violence against the innocent is not an act of sanctity but of sacrilege.” Here is an eloquent call for people of goodwill from all faiths and none to stand together, confront the religious extremism that threatens to destroy us, and declare: Not in God’s Name.

The awful, evil, detestable, ironic act by bad Jews of photoshopping Angela Merkel out of the Paris march news photo

One of the worst articles that I ever read is, "Angela Merkel Got Erased — Don't We Have Better Things To Worry About?" by Tova Ross in the "Backward" magazine.

It is a carping complaint about the criticism levied against an Orthodox newspaper that cropped the women out of a news photo of the march against terrorism in Paris. One of those women was the Angela Merkel, the prime minister of Germany.

Here in bullet points is just a little bit of why I think Ross is all wrong.

• The march was a watershed moment in world history where leaders joined arms to confront the evils of terrorism.
• Merkel is a PM of Germany - marching on a street in Paris - to protest the slaughter of Jews. That is particularly noteworthy in light of European history and the Holocaust.
• It is not the case that "merkel Got Erased." It is the case that very bad Orthodox Jews deliberately removed her image from the photo and then published it.
• It does not matter what those bad Jews were thinking when they took Merkel out of the picture. It was an evil act. Publishing the doctored picture was an act of deception. The paper should know that. Just don't publish the photo at all if you don't want your readers to see her image.
• There is no way I can accept this act as a religious quirk of Orthodox men who "believe" that it is "a sin" to look at a woman or a woman's picture.
• It's not cute or quirky. It is evil to repress women in any way. It is not ignorant. It is evil. I condemn the action.
• You can be critical of terrorism and also be critical of sexism, misogyny, discrimination and the denial of civil rights. In fact all of those bad things are on the same spectrum of evil. And the lesser evils can and do lead to the greater evils.

The Terrible Theater of Religious Terror

The following is a post that I wrote when I was teaching a course on comparative religious terrorism.

What do stories of piety and mayhem have in common?
Let's focus on an interpretive framework called the "Logic of Religious Violence." We try to enter into the minds of those who perpetrate acts of violence in the name of religion. Then we try to step back and analyze what we observe.

What are the constructed events that serve as the elements of performative violence?
Mark Juergensmeyer ("Terror in the Mind of God") presents a convincing definition of the phenomena we have studied that are made up of acts of religious violence and terrorism.

"Instances of exaggerated violence are constructed events: they are mind-numbing, mesmerizing theater. At center stage arc the acts themselves--stunning, abnormal, and outrageous murders carried out in a way that graphically displays the awful power of violence--set within grand scenarios of conflict and proclamation. Killing or maiming of any sort is violent, of course, but these acts surpass the wounds inflicted during warfare or death delivered through capital punishment, in large part because they have a secondary impact. By their demonstrative nature, they elicit feelings of revulsion and anger in those who witness them.

Juergensmeyer further defines and presents his theoretical framework as follows:

How do we make sense of such theatrical forms of violence? One way of answering this is to view dramatic violence as part of a strategic plan. This viewpoint assumes that terrorism is always part of a political strategy--and, in fact, some social scientists have defined terrorism in just this way: "the use of covert violence by a group for political ends." In some cases this definition is indeed appropriate, for an act of violence can fulfill political ends and have a direct impact on public policy.

Is the United Nations Kosher?

No, the United Nations is not kosher.

In Hebrew the abbreviation for the UN is OOM and Haaretz has a humorous historical account of the common dismissal and disparagement of the UN in Hebrew/Yiddish "Oom shmoom: Blithe dismissal, Yiddish-style". [Hat tip to Yitz!]

As a person who supports Israel, I take note of these top reasons that I think the UN is not kosher:

• The declaration in the General Assembly in 1975 that Zionism is racism.
• The creation of refugee camps in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 1948-49 to prolong the suffering of the Palestinians and to foster terrorism.
• The appointment of Kurt Waldheim, a former Nazi Wehrmacht officer, as Secretary General from 1972 to 1981.

So indeed, Oom Shmoom, not kosher!

How do Islamic Jihadists try to merge religion and terror?

After US forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 I came back to look again at the larger issues of how Islamic Jihadists merge religion and terror. Again in 2014 we confront this issue in the aftermath of terrible violence. I probed the topic back in 2006. Here are some of my questions and answers on the subject.

Why have religious conviction, hatred of secular society, and the demonstration of power through acts of violence frequently coalesced in Islamic activist movements?

Mark Jeurgensmeyer describes in Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, how one of the men convicted of the bombing of the World Trade Center Mahmud Abouhalima expressed his understanding of some terrorist acts that have little impact on political reality:

"But it's as I said," Abouhalima responded, "at least the government got the message." Moreover, he told me, the only thing that humans can do in response to great injustice is to send a message. Stressing the point that all human efforts are futile and that those who bomb buildings should not expect any immediate, tangible change in the government's policies as a result, Abouhalima said that real change - effective change - "is not in our hands, only in God's hands."

"THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW TERRORISM" in the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States provides additional insight and background.

Israeli Haredim Gather in Support of Universal Yeshiva Conscription and the Abolition of the IDF

Israeli Haredim gathered in synagogues today all over the world in support of universal Yeshiva conscription for all Israeli men.

A Haredi rabbinic spokesman explained, "Study in Yeshivas protects Israel from all enemies, all attacks. Israeli men should be drafted into the Yeshivas, not into the useless IDF. The Israel Defense forces are redundant and not needed anymore."

The Haredim were calling for the immediate abolition of the IDF. "Every secular Israeli man should be forced to study in Yeshivas. It's the only way Israel can achieve true security in the world," the Haredi spokesman continued.

When asked how he could be so serious and certain that Yeshiva study will be an effective deterrent to Arab terror and aggression, he looked at the interviewer and said, "Are you kidding me? I'd never in a million years think seriously that sitting in front of a book can stop a tank or a terrorist. This is Purim brother, a happy holiday."

Kindle Talmud in English
Ponder the Questions of Whence and Wherefore
Experience God's Favorite Prayers

Dear Rabbi Swims in Hudson River on a Triathlon Relay Team

It happened on Sunday, July 14! We did it!

And believe me - it was tough!

Update: Yitz's dad (that's me) swam 1500 meters in the Hudson as part of a relay for Team One with teammates Harvey (bike) and Leiba (run).

Yitz completed all three legs of the tri in excellent time.

Yitzhak Zahavy's Team One Family Fundraising Triathlon Event. Help Celebrate Three Lives with Three Sports.

Yitz Tells What Happened
On October 27, 2002 my platoon in the IDF was attacked by a hamas suicide bomber outside the city of Ariel. Three soldiers, Amihud Hasid, Tamir Masad and Matan Zagron, where killed saving my life and the lives of my fellow soldiers. The One Family Fund is helping their families cope with the difficulties of life without their loved ones.

Morally below an eye for an eye - a life for a video

In light of the barbaric murder of Americans in Libya, a very good friend reminded us of our concern on this blog and in our op eds for the concept of lex talionis - often associate with the biblical notion of an eye for an eye.

We wrote in the past about how that biblical legal notion was a great leap forward in moral compensation thinking in the ancient world of the middle east, even though it seems to many of us now to be a brutal principle of justice.

To be clear, we say now that those who murder and claim it is a response to a video will have to be classed with the most primitive of the pre-biblical tribes.

See one newspaper op-ed that we wrote about this in 2005 - here.

44 Talmudic Books for Kindle | The 36 Volume Kindle Talmud in English | Whence and Wherefore | God's Favorite Prayers

Daily Beast: Is there a moderate islam?

We don't know what the question means when people ask, "Is there a moderate Islam?" There is no denying that Islam lends itself to radicalism and part of that agenda is deeply embedded in the Koran.

Sure, we wish to encourage moderate politics in Islam, especially when radical Islam is aimed at the US. But wishful thinking must not replace scholarship and analysis.

Chris Dickey writes that prominent Dutch politician, "Geert Wilders Says There's No Such Thing as Moderate Islam." He opines, "Can't Someone Tell Geert Wilders to Stop His Anti-Muslim Diatribes Before Somebody Gets Hurt?"

Is Dickey worried about Wilders getting hurt? That is not clear to us. In some ways there is no denying that Wilders is right. Moderate Islam exists when Muslims actively ignore core preachings of their religion.

It's much like Modern Orthodoxy in Judaism. To live it, you have to actively ignore deep seated essences of the rabbinic religious tradition.

AP: Israel Education Ministry shuts Yeshiva in Yitzhar

AP reports:

Israel has shut down a religious school in an ultranationalist settlement in the West Bank, saying students and staff "have been involved in violence against Palestinians and the Israeli military," The Associated Press reports.

The education department has also cut off funding to an adult seminary at the school in Yitzhar for teachings "inconsistent with Jewish, democratic and educational values" — including that the killing of Palestinians is justified under certain circumstances.

"God's Favorite Prayers" where nobody gets shut down

NYTimes: Complaining Clergy @ the 9/11 Ceremony = Chutzpah

The Times reports that clergy are complaining that they are not being included in the 9/11 ceremonies.

We think it's just wrong for rabbis, ministers and priests to seek publicity and self-aggrandizement on the backs of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Now those clergy might argue with us that they indeed are merely humble servants of God and of those victims and their families. They might proffer that they are just stepping up to serve the needs of the occasion. After all, they might assert, clergy must be there at the 9/11 memorials to show the participants how to pray. And religious leaders must be there at the 9/11 commemorations to make sure that everyone grieves in the proper manner.

We don't think that line of argument holds any credence. The public NYC 9/11 ritual makes no call for clergy intervention, leadership or participation. Here is how the NYC 9/11 events have been held in the past according to the Times report:

Jewish Standard Story on Yitz's Triathlon Fundraising

A great story about our son Yitz in the Jewish Standard.

Triathlon tribute: Bergenfield resident races to honor slain compatriots
by Heather Robinson

Yitzhak Zahavy is competing this Sunday in a grueling sports event because he can. He can, he says, because three of his comrades gave their lives to save his. He is competing to honor them.

Zahavy, who was born in Rhode Island, moved to Israel and joined the Israel Defense Forces. In October 2002, he and three friends confronted a suicide bomber as they were waiting for a bus near a gas station outside the west bank town of Ariel. Matan Zagron, Tamir Masad, and Amihud Hasid lost their lives in an attempt to prevent the bomber from detonating his device. In giving their lives, Zahavy says, they saved his.

Is Glenn Beck Jewish?

No, Glenn Beck is not a Jew. He was raised a Roman Catholic in Bellingham, Washington. Beck is a recovering alcoholic and a follower of the spiritual programs of Alcoholics Anonymous. He formally converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons. "God stalked me!...He had a giant baptismal rifle," Beck has said melodramatically. "I thwarted him. I led people astray as much as I could, but he kept putting Mormons in my way."

Update: 11/12/2010 - Glenn does not like Jewish billionaire Holocaust survivor George Soros. The Daily Beast said, "The Fox host’s stunning two-day tirade against George Soros is a new low on American television."

Given the comical penchant that this right-wing, gingoistic, narrow-minded and bigoted Fox News TV and radio personality has for theatrical overstatement (he feigned crying recently about his love for America while on the air), we recommend watching this video clip of a hilarious parody of Glenn Beck by comedian Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The 10/31 Project
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

A good Glenn Beck watch page is here.

Update 6/2/2011: Beck is a hard line supporter of the State of Israel as the video demonstrates.


(Reposted)

Forward: Deborah Lipstadt Ponders Eichmann, Bin Laden, Ben Gurion and Obama

We have wondered about this issue. Deborah Lipstadt, author of a new book on Eichmann trial, considers the similarities and differences of the Eichmann mission and the Bin Laden mission, as follows:

Adolf Eichmann was responsible for the murder of close to 1.5 million Jews. Bin Laden had far less blood on his hands. And while both men wished to kill as many Jews as possible, bin Laden was, of course, also interested in killing any American or “Westerner” he could. Each man was ferreted out, in the end, by forces operating clandestinely on foreign soil. Both operations were decisive, swift and successful.

But, of course, what happened to bin Laden and Eichmann after each was located was radically different. One was shot and killed on the spot; the other was put on trial.

It was not inevitable, however, that this would be Eichmann’s fate. It was a decision by David Ben-Gurion that prevented Eichmann from ending up like bin Laden and having justice delivered immediately, with a bullet to the head. Read more...