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Christian terrorism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christian terrorism is terrorism by those whose motivations and aims have a predominant Christian character or influence[1]; to be considered religious terrorism the perpetrators must use religious scriptures to justify or explain their violent acts or to gain recruits and there must be some sort of clerical figures involved in some leadership roles. [2]
In recent periods, examples of Christian terrorism are overwhelmingly tied to individuals and small groups, drawing condemnation from various institutional church bodies.[3]
Many contemporary allegations of Christian terrorism are closely tied to American Protestant white supremacy organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan[citation needed]. Other groups, such as the Christian Identity movement bridge the gap between racism and religious theology by targeting racial and religious minorities, immigrants, gays and lesbians, and women. White supremacists in America often believe that the United States is a "Christian" nation as they define it.[4][5][6]
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A widely-reported US domestic terrorist is Eric Robert Rudolph, an American who committed a series of bombings across the southern United States in the 1990s, killing three people and injuring at least 150 others, because he violently opposed abortion and homosexuality as contrary to Christian doctrine.[7] Rudolph has said referring to people that have written to him while he is in prison: "They have been so nice I would hate to break it to them that I really prefer Nietzsche to the Bible." [8]
The National Liberation Front of Tripura is a Fundamentalist Christian militant group in India, demanding a separate Christian state. Allegedly funded by the Baptist Church of Tripura, it is accused of ethnic cleansing[9] and bombings that have killed hundreds, as well as forcing gunpoint conversions. They were declared a terrorist organization under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 2002.[10]
Freedomites (also Svobodniki or Sons of Freedom, Canada, 1902-present)[11]
On July 26, 2007, 17 Christians were convicted of religion-inspired terrorism under Indonesian law. A Christian mob attacked, murdered, and beheaded two Muslim fishermen in September 2006, reportedly as retaliation for a previous court ordered and legally sanctioned execution in 2006 of three Christians convicted of leading a militant group which killed hundreds of Muslims in Poso in 2000.[12] In addition to the seventeen Christian defendants found guilty of "acts of terrorism by the use of violence", two defendants received fourteen year sentences for their main roles in the killings, while ten were sentenced to twelve year terms. Five other defendants in separate hearings received eight year sentences for their part in the disposal of the bodies.
In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Mob: Violence against Religious Outsiders in the U.S. South, 1865-1910", Patrick Q Mason describes a wide range of activities, including lynching, murder, attempted murder, rape, beating, tar-and-feathering, and whipping. In addition, it took the form of property destruction, such as when vigilantes burned or ransacked homes, businesses, and churches.[1]
Critics of the concept of "Christian Terrorism" have maintained that the moniker is a false pretext used by the radical left and radical secularists to discredit Christianity with those that have little affiliation with or are not really motivated by Christianity. [13] As one commentator put it: "Watch closely and see how the Leftist media raises up the image of Rudolph as a 'Christian terrorist' as its latest tactic to damage and discredit Christianity." [14] An expert on extremist groups, James A. Aho, of Idaho State University, said he is reluctant to apply "Christian terrorist" to Eric Rudolph because it is an oxymoron. Instead he prefers "religiously inspired terrorist" because most mainstream Christians consider Christian Identity a heresy.[15] U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations does not list any Christian organizations.
- Anti-abortion violence
- Christian patriot
- Domestic terrorism in the United States
- Hate groups
- Islamic terrorism
- Religious terrorism
- KKK
- Totalitarianism
- Racism
- Army of God
- ^ Hoffman, Bruce Inside Terrorism p. 90 (1999 Columbia University Press)ISBN 0231114699
- ^ [http://www.religioscope.com/info/articles/003_Hoffman_terrorism.htm RELIGION AND TERRORISM Interview with Dr. Bruce Hoffman] Religioscope 22 Feb. 2002
- ^ On Crusades: Tyerman 2006; On small networks tied to Christian anti-abortion terrorism: Mason 2002; On Christian terrorism and violence: Juergensmeyer 2000; On small, marginal, fragmented nature of Christian Identity: Barkun 1994, pp. viii-xi; On condemnation of Christian Identity and terrorism by National Council of Churches: Zeskind 1987; On Inquisition: Lea 1961.
- ^ http://www.publiceye.org/eyes/whitsup.html
- ^ Barkun, Michael (1996). Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement. University of N. Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0807846384.
- ^ Berlet, Chip (2004). A New Face for Racism & Fascism. White Supremacist, Antisemitic, and Race Hate Groups in the U.S.: A Geneaology. Political Research Associates. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1196-2003Jun1?language=printer
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-05-rudolph-cover-partone_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
- ^ http://www.stephen-knapp.com/christian_terrorists_kill_44.htm
- ^ http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/tripura/terrorist_outfits/nlft.htm
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842462-1,00.html
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSJAK25548520070726?pageNumber=2&sp=true
- ^ Christian Terrorism? By Lowell Ponte, FrontPageMagazine.com, June 4, 2003
- ^ Christian Terrorism? By Lowell Ponte, FrontPageMagazine.com, June 4, 2003
- ^ Is Terrorism Tied To Christian Sect? By Alan Cooperman, Washington Post, June 2, 2003
- Barkun, Michael. 1994. Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement, revised. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press.
- Hedges, Chris. 2007. American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. Free Press.
- Juergensmeyer, Mark. 2000. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. Berkeley: University of California.
Lea, Henry Charles. 1961. The Inquisition of the Middle Ages. Abridged. New York: Macmillan.
- Mason, Carol. 2002. Killing for Life: The Apocalyptic Narrative of Pro-Life Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- Tyerman, Christopher. 2006. God's War: A New History of the Crusades. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Belknap.
- Zeskind, Leonard. 1987. The ‘Christian Identity’ Movement, [booklet]. Atlanta, Georgia: Center for Democratic Renewal/Division of Church and Society, National Council of Churches.