- "Religious violence is violence that is motivated by, or in reaction to, religious precepts, texts, or the doctrines of a target or an attacker."
The ways in which religion can be used to justify power and authority, and how it can be a source of resistance against oppression and injustice.
Definitions of religion: This topic explores the many definitions of religion and the complexities of defining it, including debates about what constitutes a religion and how different cultures understand and practice religion.
Theories of religion: This topic examines different theoretical perspectives on religion, including functionalist, structuralist, and symbolic interactionist approaches, and how they help us understand the relationship between religion and power.
Religious rituals: This topic looks at the significance of religious rituals in different cultures, the role they play in maintaining social order, and how power is expressed through religious practices.
Religious symbols and icons: This topic explores the meaning and significance of religious symbols and icons, such as sacred art and architecture, and how they reflect and reinforce religious values and beliefs.
Religious institutions and hierarchies: This topic examines the structures and hierarchies of religious institutions, including the role of religious leaders, clerics, and the laity in maintaining and exercising power.
The role of religion in politics: This topic addresses the ways in which religion intersects with politics, including the use of religion by politicians and the influence of religious organizations on policy-making.
Power and control in religious movements: This topic looks at the dynamics of power and control within religious movements, including charismatic figures and the use of charisma to manipulate and control followers.
Gender and religion: This topic examines the impact of religion on gender roles and relations, including the roles of women in religious organizations and the intersection of religious and sexual identities.
Religion and social change: This topic considers the role of religion in promoting or resisting social change, including the ways in which religious beliefs and practices have been used to challenge or uphold social hierarchies.
Cross-cultural perspectives on religion and power: This topic explores the ways in which different cultures understand and practice religion, and how these practices reflect and shape power relations within and between cultures.
Monotheism: Belief in one god or supreme being who is responsible for all aspects of the world and human life.
Polytheism: Belief in multiple gods or goddesses, each with their own specific role or function.
Animism: Belief that all things, animate or inanimate, have a spirit or soul.
Shamanism: Religion that emphasizes the role of a shaman or medicine man as a mediator between the physical and spiritual world.
Totemism: Belief in a spiritual connection between a group of people and a particular animal or plant species.
Ancestor worship: Belief in the spirits of deceased ancestors who can provide guidance, protection, or assistance.
Mysticism: The belief in a spiritual experience or union with a divine being or force.
New religious movements: Recently developed religions or spiritual movements that combine elements from different traditions or create new forms of practice.
State religion: A religion that is officially recognized and supported by the government or ruling authority of a state.
Cults: Religious organizations or groups that have a particular charismatic leader or strong authoritarian structure.
- "It includes violence against religious institutions, people, objects, or events."
- "Religious violence does not exclusively include acts which are committed by religious groups, instead, it includes acts which are committed against religious groups."
- "Violence' is a very broad concept which is difficult to define because it is used against both human and non-human objects."
- "Furthermore, the term can denote a wide variety of experiences such as blood shedding, physical harm, forcing against personal freedom, passionate conduct or language, or emotions such as fury and passion."
- "Though there is no scholarly consensus over what a religion is, today, religion is generally considered an abstraction which entails beliefs, doctrines, and sacred places."
- "Decades of anthropological, sociological, and psychological research have all proven the falsehood of the assumption that behaviors directly follow from religious beliefs and values."
- "In general, religions, ethical systems, and societies rarely promote violence as an end in itself since violence is universally undesirable."
- "There is a universal tension between the general desire to avoid violence and the acceptance of justifiable uses of violence to prevent a 'greater evil' that permeates all cultures."
- "Religious violence, like all forms of violence, is a cultural process which is context-dependent and very complex."
- "Oversimplifications of 'religion' and 'violence' often lead to misguided understandings of causes for why some people commit acts of violence and why most people never commit such acts in the first place."
- "Violence is perpetrated for a wide variety of ideological reasons and religion is generally only one of many contributing social and political factors that can lead to unrest."
- "Studies of supposed cases of religious violence often conclude that violence is strongly driven by ethnic animosities rather than by religious worldviews."
- "Due to the complex nature of religion and violence and the complex relationship which exists between them, it is normally unclear if religion is a significant cause of violence."
- "Religious violence does not exclusively include acts which are committed by religious groups, instead, it includes acts which are committed against religious groups."
- (no direct quote in the provided paragraph)
- "People's religious ideas are fragmented, loosely connected, and context-dependent just like all other domains of culture and life."
- "The term can denote a wide variety of experiences such as blood shedding, physical harm, forcing against personal freedom, passionate conduct or language, or emotions such as fury and passion."
- "In general, religions, ethical systems, and societies rarely promote violence as an end in itself since violence is universally undesirable."
- "Violence is perpetrated for a wide variety of ideological reasons and religion is generally only one of many contributing social and political factors that can lead to unrest."