'Terror in the
Mind of God': The Global Rise
of Religious Violence
by Mark Juergensmeyer
continued from Page One
In
the last chapter of the book, Juergensmeyer addresses several
fundamental questions about religion and violence:
1. Why would anyone believe that
God could sanction terrorism?
2. Why has the rise of religion in recent years manifested itself in
such a bloody way?
3. What, if anything, can be done about it?
His conclusions are grounded
in both his extensive interviews and penetrating analysis:
“In order to respond
to religious terrorism in a way that is effective and
does not produce more terrorism in response, I believe
it is necessary to understand why such acts occur. Behind
this practical purpose in writing this book, however,
is an attempt to understand the role that violence has
always played in the religious imagination and how terror
could be conceived in the mind of God.
These two purposes are connected.
One of my conclusions is that this historical moment
of global transformation has provided an occasion for
religion – with all its images and ideas – to
be reasserted as a public force. Lurking in the background
of much of religion’s unrest and the occasion for
its political revival, I believe, is the devaluation
of secular authority and the need for alternative ideologies
of public order. It may be one of the ironies of history,
graphically displayed in incidents of terrorism, that
the answers to the question of why the contemporary world
still needs religion and why it has suffered such public
acts of violence, are surprisingly the same.”
(Pages 14 and 15 of the Introduction.)
Mark Juergensmeyer is Professor
of Sociology and Director of Global and International
Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
