MetaFilter posts tagged with violence and Religion

The Rebellion Within

homunculus — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:15:19 -0800

The Rebellion Within: An Al Qaeda mastermind questions terrorism.

The arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

CCBC — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:57:57 -0800

Armed guards in church? Colorado's New Life Church: "The church's undercover security force is made up of an undisclosed number of volunteers with military or law-enforcement backgrounds, who carry radios and concealed weapons when they attend services." One of these guards recently shot a deranged gunman. This is a single-link post but the page contains many links to the New Life shooting, the guard responsible, church security, Amish attitudes, a guide to hiring security for a synagogue, and a (possibly strained) comparison to the BBirmingham Baptist church that lacked security in 1963.

God made me do it.

Brian B. — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 12:49:59 -0800

Increased violence linked to scriptures. University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman and his colleagues suggest that scriptural violence sanctioned by God can increase aggression, especially in believers.

guess who comes off as more angry (and more insulting)?

amberglow — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:28:17 -0800

Jewcy asks The Big Question-- Why Are Atheists So Angry? with Sam Harris and Dennis Prager. Email exchanges on the topic--and if you can get past the incredibly loaded and one-sided question, really interesting.

Acts of sacred violence

languagehat — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 12:30:17 -0800

What’s "Sacred" about Violence in Early America? Susan Juster discusses the "oversized colonial martyr complex" with its attendant paradox: "colonial martyrs were everywhere, religious violence... in short supply." She begins:

One of the most chilling images in early American history is the deliberate firing of Fort Mystic during the Pequot War of 1637. Five hundred Indian men, women, and children died that day, burned alive along with their homes and possessions by a vengeful Puritan militia intent on doing God’s will. "We must burn them!" the militia captain famously insisted to his troops on the eve of the massacre, in words that echo the classic early modern response to heretics. Just five months before, the Puritan minister at Salem had exhorted his congregation in strikingly similar terms to destroy a more familiar enemy, Satan; "We must burne him," John Wheelwright told his parishioners. Indians and devils may have been scarcely distinguishable to many a Puritan, but their rhetorical conflation in these two calls to arms raises a question: Was the burning of Fort Mystic a racial or a religious killing?

She avoids easy answers and makes some interesting connections. If you want to find out more about the Pequot War, there's good material in the History section of this site. (Main link via wood s lot.)