Religious Violence

Nigeria Imploding? Boko Haram, Religious Violence and Oil

Jacques Berlinerblau | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: Nigeria, Boko Haram, Nigeria Violence, Al Qaeda, Religious Violence, Christianity in Africa, Video, Religion News

What little recent Western media attention has been given to the remarkable country of Nigeria has not been positive. This is somewhat understandable as horrific images of violence against Christians has become an all too common news item.

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Faith Fueled Violence Invades Video Games

Greg Perreault | Posted 05.13.2012

Read More: Slidepollajax, Violence and Religion, Violence, Religious Violence, Violent Video Games, Games, Video Games, Religion News

As game technology has increased and censorship decreased, so has its ability to tell a story. Now, game developers are tapping into the great conversations of Western civilization. The role of religion in games can't be ignored.

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Serious Misunderstanding Of Purim's Mirth

Joshua Stanton | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Religious Freedom, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Religious Violence, Israel, Purim, Trauma, Humor, Parody, Judaism, Religion News

For those who engage in a more fundamentalist reading of the Scroll of Esther, Purim provides an answer to the profound fear of hatred between faiths: freedom of the mind and the suggestion to laugh off tough times once in a while.

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Trusting Love Over Fear

Rev. Emily C. Heath | Posted 04.08.2012

Read More: Religious Violence, Churches, Otherside Lounge, Atlanta, Lgbt, Gay Rights, Inclusion, Eric Rudolph, Religion and Sexuality, Religion News

The people of faith in my life who dared to speak louder than the anti-gay voices around them made me believe that was true.

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What To Do About Violent Biblical Texts?

Philip Jenkins | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Scripture Commentary, Religious Books, Interfaith, Religious Violence, Phinehas, Christianity, Laying Down the Sword, Judaism, Religion News

Before attacking Islam, Christians and Jews need to think carefully about one name in particular, which is that of Phinehas, the patron saint of hate crime.

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Interfaith Peace In The Face Of Escalating Christian-Muslim Conflict

Georgette Bennett, Ph.D. | Posted 03.04.2012

Read More: Islam, Boko Haram, Religious Violence, Christianity, Interfaith Engagement, Interfaith Dialogue, Religious Tolerance, Inter-Religious Understanding, Religion News

For Christians, how does a gospel of love turn into a gospel of hate toward fellow countrymen in Africa? For Muslims, how does a religion of peace get turned into a mandate for murder in Iraq, the Sudan, Nigeria and elsewhere?

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Does Defending The Bible Mean Advocating Violence?

Derek Flood | Posted 01.21.2012

Read More: Biblical Interpretation, Jesus Christ, Bible, Genocide, Religious Violence, Christianity, The Bible and Violence, Biblical Scholaship, The Bible and Slavery, Scripture Commentary, Genocide in the Bible, Amalek, Religion News

What causes otherwise decent and loving people like this to defend genocide in God's name? I think the problem lies in the basic approach they take to reading the Bible.

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Evangelicals Don't Believe Life Begins At Conception

Jonathan Dudley | Posted 09.20.2011

Read More: Abortion, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Francis Schaeffer, Evangelicals, Religious Violence, Christianity, Religion and Politics, Michele Bachmann Abortion, Christian Right, New Yorker Bachmann, Evangelicals and Abortion, Abortion Debate, When Does Life Begin, Evangelicals Don't Believe Life Begins at Conception, Evangelical, Religion News

It makes little sense to reject pacifism, to insist abortion is morally equivalent to the organized slaughter of millions of children and then to say that violence should never be used to end abortion.

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Nigerian Muslims Attacked With Machetes, Knives, Bows And Arrows

AP | AHMED SAKA | Posted 11.02.2011

Read More: Jos Riots, Jos, Nigeria, Religious Violence, Jos Nigeria, Religious Riots, Nigeria Religious Riots, Ramadan, World News

JOS, Nigeria — Religious rioting in the troubled central Nigeria city of Jos has killed at least 21 people in recent days, as authorities seem t...

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Does Religion Cause Terrorism? It's Complicated

Posted 10.31.2011

Read More: Religious Extremism, Islam and Terrorism, Religious Violence, Faith and Terrorism, Religion and Terrorism, Does Religion Cause Terrorism, Faith and Violence, Religious Fundamentalism, Religion-and-Politics, Does Religion Cause Terrorism? It?S Complicated, Decade After 9/11 - Religion, September 11 Anniversary, Religion News

By David Gibson Religion News Service (RNS) The shock of the 9/11 attacks was so great, and the personal losses so deep, that many people understa...

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Muslim-Majority Nations More Likely To Deny Religious Freedom

David Briggs | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religious Freedom, Religious Violence, Religion and Politics, The Price of Freedom Denied, Association of Religion Data Archives, Pew Research Center, Blasphemy Laws, Ahmadiyya Sect, Religious Intolerance, Religious Persecution, Religion News

Even amid this widespread disregard for religious freedom, one group of countries stands out: Muslim-majority nations.

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The Surprising Effect Of Religious Devotion On Suicide Attacks

Matt J. Rossano | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Terrorism, Suicide Attacks Religion, Suicide Attacks Religious Beief, Suicide Bombing Religion, Religion Suicide Bombers, Religion Suicide Attacks, Religious Violence, Religion Suicide Bombing, Suicide Bombers Religion, Religion Violence, Religion News

We all have our personal "theories" about what motivates religious terrorists, but one recent study draws the provocative conclusion that ritual participation more than religious belief may be behind suicide attacks.

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Kashmir Protests Leave 15 Dead, 45 Wounded

AP | AIJAZ HUSSAIN | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion, Kashmir Protest, Quran, Religious Violence, Kashmir Violence, Kashmir, India, Koran, World News

SRINAGAR, India — Indian forces fought Kashmiri demonstrators in street battles that killed 15 people – including one police officer &ndas...

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Indonesian Christians Attacked On Their Way To Prayers

AP | IRWAN FIRDAUS | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Islam, Bekasi, Indonesia, Indonesia Religious Violence, Muslims, Religious Violence, Religious Intolerance, Religious Attacks@Y:World, Indonesia Christians Attacked, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, World News

BEKASI, Indonesia — Indonesia's president ordered police to arrest the assailants who stabbed a Christian worshipper in the stomach and beat a m...

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Religious War On A Global Scale? An Interview With Mark Juergensmeyer

blogs.ssrc.org | Nathan Schneider | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion War, Religious Conflict, Religious War, Militant Religion, Religious Violence, Religion News

As director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Mark Juergensmeyer brings the s...

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The Voices of Religious Youth: Are You Listening?

Frank Fredericks | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religious Violence, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Forum, Interfaith Dialogue, United Nations, Unaoc, Religion News

Until more non-youth leaders turn to the youth as equitable partners in addressing religious and cultural tension on a global scale, youth involvement will be limited to unproductive demonstrations instead of powerful world movements.

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Understanding Rationality in Religious Violence

Monica Duffy Toft | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religious Violence, Religion and Politics, Iran, Religion-Based Violence, Religiously Inspired Violence, Religion News

Religiously-inspired actors are rational, but like nationalists, their rationality is different. Therefore, we need not avoid theorizing about religious actors because their rationality differs from our common understandings.

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Downward Christian Soldiers

Matthew Harwood | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jihadism, Hutaree Militia, Evangelical Christians, Right-Wing Extremism, Irrationality, Christian Right, Militia, Violence, Christianity, Religious Violence, Hutare Militia, Huttaree Militia, Religion News

The recent resurgence of right wing violence turned particularly bizarre and creepy over the weekend.

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Does The Hutaree Militia Represent Christianity? A Muslim Knows Better

Yasmin Mogahed | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion, Domestic Terrorists, Militant Christianity, Hutaree, Islamic Terrorism, Terrorism, Religion and Violence, Religious Violence, Christian Militia, Christianity, Domestic Terrorism, Militant Islam, Hutaree Militia Group, Religion News

If there's news of a Muslim terrorist, Islam becomes complicit in the crime. Yet few people are going to accuse Christianity of motivating the terrorism of the Hutaree militia.

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Christian Militias: Is God Violent?

Brian D. McLaren | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion, Brian Mclaren a New Kind of Christianity, Militant Christianity, Brian McLaren, Violent Christians, Is Jesus Violent, Christian Militia, Religious Violence, Brian D. Mclaren, A New Kind of Christianity, Brian D. Mclaren a New Kind of Christianity, Violent God, Is God Violent, Religion News

There is no question that Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others have been violent in God's name. The question is whether we believe violence is inherent to the character of God.

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Bible Vs. Quran: The Evolution Of Violence In Religion

Clay Farris Naff | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Npr, Quran, Islam, Religion, Christianity, Bible, Jesus, Richard Nixon, Ten Commandments, Violence in the Name of Religion, Violence in Religion, Christians, Muslims, Religious Violence, Religion News

Christianity and Islam are the world's dominant religions because they have used every possible tactic, including large-scale violence and intimidation, to get that way. There are no clean hands in this quarrel.

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Open Trade Within Closed Civil Society?

Mohsin Mohi-Ud Din | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, Elections, India, Islam and the West, Human Rights, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Atrocities, Global War on Terror, Extremism, Kashmir, Kashmir Protesters, India Protesters, Unarmed Protesters, Pakistani Militants, Religious Violence, US Pakistan Relations, Kashmir Conflict, US Indian Relations, India Pakistan Conflict, US War on Terror, Kashmir Trading Route, Religious Conflict, Political Protest, Politics News

A trade route may alleviate concerns for now; but it will take more than a reopened trade route to erase decades of continued manipulation by India and Pakistan over Kashmiri civil society.

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