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Christian terrorism

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Christian terrorism comprises terrorist acts by groups or individuals who claim Christian motivations or goals for their actions. As with other forms of religious terrorism, Christian terrorists have relied on idiosyncratic or literalistic interpretations of the tenets of faith—in this case, the Bible. Such groups have used Old Testament and New Testament scriptures to justify violence or to seek to bring about the "end times" described in the New Testament,[1] while others have hoped to bring about a Christian theocracy.[2][3]

By country

Great Britain

Peter Steinfels characterizes the Gunpowder Plot, in which Catholics aggrieved by persecution attempted to overthrow the Protestant establishment of England by blowing up the Parliament, as a notable case of religious terrorism.[4]

Some scholars, such as Steve Bruce, a sociology professor at the University of Aberdeen, argue that the conflict in Northern Ireland is primarily a religious conflict, its economic and social considerations notwithstanding.[5] Professor Mark Juergensmeyer has also argued that some acts of terrorism were "religious terrorism... - in these cases, Christianity".[6]: 19–20  Others, such as John Hickey, take a more guarded view.[7] Writing in The Guardian, Susan McKay discussed religious fundamentalism in connection with the murder of Martin O'Hagan, a former inmate of the Maze prison and a reporter on crime and the paramilitaries. She attributed the murder to a "range of reasons," including "the gangsters didn't like what he wrote". The alleged killers claimed that they killed him for "crimes against the loyalist people".[8]

The Orange Volunteers are a group infamous for carrying out simultaneous terrorist attacks on Catholic churches.[9]

In 1999 Pastor Clifford Peeples of the Bethel Pentecostal Church was convicted of offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and sentenced to ten years imprisonment after being found in possession of hand grenades and a pipe bomb.[10] Pastor John Somerville, an associate of Peeples, had previously been convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and had received a life sentence for his part in the Miami Showband massacre.[11] RUC chief constable, Ronnie Flanagan dubbed Peeples and his associates "the demon pastors" - specialising in recounting lurid stories of Catholic savagery towards Protestants, and in finding biblical justifications for Protestant retaliation.[8] Other notable individuals convicted for terrorism offences include Pastor Kenny McClinton, a convicted murderer who once advocated beheading Roman Catholics and impaling their heads on railings, and Billy Wright, a Born again Christian preacher who became one of the most feared paramilitary figures in Northern Ireland before being assassinated whilst incarcerated in prison.[12]

India

See also: Religious violence in Orissa

The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), a rebel group operating in Tripura, North-East India, has been described as engaging in terrorist violence motivated by their Christian beliefs. [13] It is classified by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism as one of the ten most active terrorist groups in the world, and has been accused of forcefully converting people to Christianity.[14][15] The insurgency in Nagaland was led by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and continues today with its faction NSCN–Isaac Muivah, which explicitly calls for a "Nagalim for Christ".[16] The state government reports that the Baptist Church of Tripura supplies arms and gives financial support to the NLFT.[14][15][17] In April 2000, the secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, Nagmanlal Halam, was arrested with a large quantity of explosives. He confessed to illegally buying and supplying explosives to the NLFT for two years.[18] This church is reported to have encouraged the NLFT to murder Hindus, particularly infants.[17] The NLFT has threatened to kill Hindus celebrating the annual five-day religious festival of Durga Puja and other religious celebrations.[19]

In Assam, the Manmasi National Christian Army (MNCA), an extremist group from the Hmar tribe, are accused of forcing Hindus to convert at gunpoint.[20] Seven or more Hmar youths are accused of visiting Bhuvan Pahar, a Hindu village, armed with guns, and pressuring residents to convert to Christianity.[21] They also desecrated temples by painting crosses on the walls with their blood.[21] The Sonai police, along with the 5th Assam Rifles, arrested 13 members of the MNCA, including their commander-in-chief. Guns and ammunition were seized.[21][22] At least 20 Hindus in Tripura have been killed by the NLFT in two years for resisting forced conversion to Christianity.[23] A leader of the Jamatia tribe, Rampada Jamatia, said that armed NLFT militants were forcibly converting tribal villagers to Christianity, which he said was a serious threat to Hinduism.[23] It is believed that up to 5,000 tribal villagers were converted to Christianity by the NLFT in two years.[23]

There have been assassinations of Hindu religious leaders. In August 2000, a popular tribal Hindu spiritual leader, Shanti Tripura, was shot dead by about ten guerrillas belonging to the NLFT, and the NLFT said it wanted to convert all people in the state to Christianity.[24] In December 2000, Labh Kumar Jamatia, a religious leader of the state's second largest Hindu group, was kidnapped by the NLFT, and found dead in a forest in Dalak village in southern Tripura. According to police, rebels from the NLFT wanted Jamatia to convert to Christianity, but he refused.[25] A local tribal CPM leader, Kishore Debbarma, was clubbed to death in Tripura's Sadar (north) by militants belonging to the Biswamohan faction of the NLFT in May 2005.[26] He was dragged away at gunpoint by a group of NLFT militants. His body was found with multiple head injuries in a roadside ditch in the Katabon area. In 2007 a tribal spiritual Hindu monk, Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, accused Radhakant Nayak, chief of a local chapter of World Vision, and a former Rajya Sabha member from Orissa in the Indian National Congress party, of plotting to assassinate him.[27] The Swami also said that World Vision was covertly pumping money into India for religious conversion during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and criticized the activities of Christian missionaries as going against tribal beliefs.[28] In 2008, he was gunned down along with four disciples on the Hindu festive day of Krishna Janmashtami by a group of 30–40 armed men.[29] Later, a Maoist leader admitted responsibility for the murder, saying that the Maoists had intervened in the religious dispute on behalf of Christians.[30][31] The non-governmental organization Justice on Trial disputed that there had been Maoist involvement, and said that the Christian missionaries had earlier attacked the Swami eight times for opposing clandestine conversion activities.[32][33]

Romania

Orthodox Christian movements in Romania, such as the Iron Guard and Lăncieri, which have been characterized by Yad Vashem and Stanley G. Payne as anti-semitic and fascist, respectively, were responsible for involvement in the Bucharest pogrom, and political murders during the 1930s.[34][35][36][37]: 37 [38]

Uganda

The Lord's Resistance Army, a cult guerrilla army engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government, has been accused of using child soldiers and committing numerous crimes against humanity; including massacres, abductions, mutilation, torture, rape, porters, and sex slaves.[39] A quasi-religious movement that mixes some aspects of Christian and Islamic beliefs with its own brand of spiritualism,[40] it is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, primarily of the "Holy Spirit" which the Acholi believe can represent itself in many manifestations.[page needed][41][41][42][43] LRA fighters wear rosary beads and recite passages from the Bible before battle.[44][45][46][dead link][47][48][49]

United States

See also: Anti-abortion violence in the United States
Ku Klux Klan with a burning cross
The End. Victoriously slaying Catholic influence in the U.S. Illustration by Rev. Branford Clarke from Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty 1926 by Bishop Alma White published by the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, NJ.

Beginning after the Civil War, the Protestant-led, white supremacist Ku Klux Klan members in the Southern United States engaged in arson, beatings, cross burning, destruction of property, lynching, murder, rape, tar-and-feathering, and whipping against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and other social or ethnic minorities.[citation needed] The goals of the KKK included, from an early time on, an intent to, "reestablish Protestant Christian values in America by any means possible," and believe that "Jesus was the first Klansman."[50] Their cross-burnings were conducted not only to intimidate targets, but to demonstrate their respect and reverence for Jesus Christ, and the lighting ritual was steeped in Christian symbolism, including the saying of prayers and singing of Christian hymns. [51] Many modern Klan organizations, such as the Knights Party, USA, continue to focus on the Christian supremacist message, asserting that there is a "war" on to destroy "western Christian civilization." [52]

During the twentieth century, members of extremist groups such as the Army of God began executing attacks against abortion clinics and doctors across the United States.[53][54][55] A number of terrorist attacks were attributed to individuals and groups with ties to the Christian Identity and Christian Patriot movements, including the Lambs of Christ.[56] A group called Concerned Christians were deported from Israel on suspicion of planning to attack holy sites in Jerusalem at the end of 1999, believing that their deaths would "lead them to heaven."[57][58] The motive for anti-abortionist Scott Roeder murdering Wichita doctor George Tiller on May 31, 2009 was a belief that abortion is criminal and immoral, and that this belief went "hand in hand" with his religious beliefs.[59][60]

Hutaree was a Christian militia group based in Adrian, Michigan. In 2010, after an FBI agent infiltrated the group, nine of its members were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges of seditious conspiracy to use of improvised explosive devices, teaching the use of explosive materials, and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.[61]

Motivation, ideology, and theology

See also: Anti-abortion violence, Christian Patriot movement, and Christian Identity movement

Christian views on abortion have been cited by Christian individuals and groups that are responsible for threats, assault, murder, and bombings against abortion clinics and doctors across the United States and Canada.[citation needed]

Christian Identity is a loosely affiliated global group of churches and individuals devoted to a racialized theology that asserts that North European whites are the direct descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, God's chosen people. It has been associated with groups such as the Aryan Nations, Aryan Republican Army, Army of God, Phineas Priesthood, and The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord. It has been cited as an influence in a number of terrorist attacks around the world, including the 2002 Soweto bombings.[62][63][64][65]

See also

References

  1. ^ B. Hoffman, "Inside Terrorism", Columbia University Press, 1999, p. 105–120.
  2. ^ Mark Juergensmeyer. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. University of California Press. ISBN 0520240111.
  3. ^ Mark Juergensmeyer (2010-04-15). "The Return of Christian Terrorism". AlterNet. Retrieved 20011-02-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ Peter Steinfels (2005-11-05). "A Day to Think About a Case of Faith-Based Terrorism". New York Times.
  5. ^

    The Northern Ireland conflict is a religious conflict. Economic and social considerations are also crucial, but it was the fact that the competing populations in Ireland adhered and still adhere to competing religious traditions which has given the conflict its enduring and intractable quality.

    Steve Bruce (1986). God Save Ulster. Oxford University Press. p. 249. ISBN 0192852175.: 249  Reviewing the book, David Harkness of The English Historical Review agreed "Of course the Northern Ireland conflict is at heart religious". David Harkness (1989-10). "God Save Ulster: The Religion and Politics of Paisleyism by Steve Bruce (review)". The English Historical Review. 104 (413). Oxford University Press. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Mark Juergensmeyer. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. University of California Press. ISBN 0520240111.

    "Like residents of Belfast and London, Americans were beginning to learn to live with acts of religious terrorism: shocking, disturbing incidents of violence laced with the passion of religion - in these cases, Christianity" and "The violence in Northern Ireland is justified by still other theological positions, Catholic and Protestant."
  7. ^

    Politics in the North is not politics exploiting religion. That is far too simple an explanation: it is one which trips readily off the tongue of commentators who are used to a cultural style in which the politically pragmatic is the normal way of conducting affairs and all other considerations are put to its use. In the case of Northern Ireland the relationship is much more complex. It is more a question of religion inspiring politics than of politics making use of religion. It is a situation more akin to the first half of seventeenth‑century England than to the last quarter of twentieth century Britain.John Hickey (1984). Religion and the Northern Ireland Problem. Gill and Macmillan. p. 67. ISBN 0717111156.
  8. ^ a b Susan McKay (2001-11-17). "Faith, hate and murder". London: The Guardian.
  9. ^ Claire Mitchell (2006). Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 51. ISBN 0754641554.
  10. ^ "Self-styled loyalist pastor jailed". BBC News. 2001-03-08.
  11. ^ Ciaran McGuigan (2005-06-12). "Bomb preacher flees UVF mob". Belfast Telegraph.
  12. ^ Martin Dillon. God and the Gun: The Church and Irish Terrorism. Routledge. ISBN 0415923638.
  13. ^ "In the Name of the Father? Christian Militantism in Tripura, Northern Uganda, and Ambon". Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. 30: 963. 2007. doi:10.1080/10576100701611288. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  14. ^ a b "Constitution of National Liberation Front Of Tripura". South Asia Terrorism Portal.
  15. ^ a b "National Liberation Front of Tripura, India". South Asia Terrorism Portal.
  16. ^ http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/nagaland/terrorist_outfits/Nscn_im.htm
  17. ^ a b Bhaumik, Subhir (April 18, 2000). "'Church backing Tripura rebels'". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
  18. ^ "Church backing Tripura rebels". BBC News. 2000-04-18.
  19. ^ "Separatist group bans Hindu festivities". BBC News. 2000-10-02.
  20. ^ Christianity threat looms over Bhuvan Pahar Assam Times - June 23, 2009
  21. ^ a b c http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jun2309/State3
  22. ^ http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/arms/india/stats/
  23. ^ a b c http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/aug/02trip.htm
  24. ^ "Hindu preacher killed by Tripura rebels". BBC News. 2000-08-28.
  25. ^ "Tripura tribal leader killed". BBC News. 2000-12-27.
  26. ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050517/asp/northeast/story_4747409.asp
  27. ^ http://www.dailypioneer.com/61677/RSS-wing-blames-Cong-MP-for-triggering-communal-tension-in-Kandhamal.html
  28. ^ http://www.newstodaynet.com/printer.php?id=3557
  29. ^ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/net-closes-in-on-cong-mp-for-orissa-swamis-murder/403507/0
  30. ^ http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/05orissa1.htm
  31. ^ The Times Of India http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-10-05/india/27938513_1_orissa-s-rayagada-bjp-leaders-maoists. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ^ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/Swami+Laxmananand+feared+for+his+life:+NGO/1/14653.html
  33. ^ http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=255&page=4
  34. ^ Paul Tinichigiu (2004-01). "Sami Fiul (interview)". The Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ Radu Ioanid (2004). "The Sacralised Politics of the Romanian Iron Guard". Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions. 5 (3): 419–453(35). doi:10.1080/1469076042000312203.
  36. ^ Leon Volovici. Nationalist Ideology and Antisemitism. p. 98. ISBN 0080410243. citing N. Cainic, Ortodoxie şi etnocraţie, pp. 162–4
  37. ^ "Roots of Romanian Antisemitism: The League of National Christian Defense and Iron Guard Antisemitism" (PDF). Background and precursors to the Holocaust. Yad Vashem – The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.
  38. ^ Payne, Stanley G. (1995). A History of Fascism 1914–1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press (pp. 277–289) ISBN 0-299-14874-2
  39. ^ Xan Rice (2007-10-20). "Background: the Lord's Resistance Army". London: The Guardian.
  40. ^ Marc Lacey (2002-08-04). "Uganda's Terror Crackdown Multiplies the Suffering". New York Times.
  41. ^ a b Ruddy Doom and Koen Vlassenroot (1999). "Kony's message: A new Koine? The Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda". African Affairs. 98 (390). Oxford Journals / Royal African Society: 5–36.
  42. ^ "Ugandan rebels raid Sudanese villages". BBC News. 2002-04-08. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  43. ^ K. Ward (2001). "The Armies of the Lord: Christianity, Rebels and the State in Northern Uganda, 1986–1999". Journal of Religion in Africa. 31 (2).
  44. ^ Marc Lacey (2002-08-04). "Uganda's Terror Crackdown Multiplies the Suffering". New York Times.
  45. ^ "In pictures: Ugandan rebels come home". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-01-02. One of the differences on the LRA pips is a white bible inside a heart
  46. ^ David Blair (2005-08-03). "I killed so many I lost count, says boy, 11". London: The Telegraph.
  47. ^ Matthew Green (2008-02-08). "Africa's Most Wanted". Financial Times.
  48. ^ Christina Lamb (2008-03-02). "The Wizard of the Nile: The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted by Matthew Green". London: The Times.
  49. ^ Marc Lacey (2005-04-18). "Atrocity Victims in Uganda Choose to Forgive". New York Times.
  50. ^ Michael, Robert, and Philip Rosen. Dictionary of antisemitism from the earliest times to the present. Lanham, Maryland, USA: Scarecrow Press, 1997 p. 267.
  51. ^ Wade, Wyn Craig (1998). The fiery cross: the Ku Klux Klan in America. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 185. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  52. ^ Robb, Thomas. [1] "The Knights Party, USA." Accessed March 22, 2011
  53. ^ Frederick Clarkson (2002-12-02). "Kopp Lays Groundwork to Justify Murdering Abortion Provider Slepian". National Organization for Women.
  54. ^ Laurie Goodstein and Pierre Thomas (1995-01-17). "Clinic Killings Follow Years of Antiabortion Violence". Washington Post.
  55. ^ "'Army Of God' Anthrax Threats". CBS News. 2001-11-09.
  56. ^ Bruce Hoffman (1998). Inside Terrorism. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231114680.
  57. ^ "Apocalyptic Christians detained in Israel for alleged violence plot". CNN. 1999-01-03. [dead link]
  58. ^ "Cult members deported from Israel". BBC News. 1999-01-09. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  59. ^ "George Tiller's killer has no regrets, doesn't ask for forgiveness". Houston Belief. 1999-02-09. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  60. ^ Davey, Monica (January 28, 2010). "Doctor's Killer Puts Abortion on the Stand". New York Times. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  61. ^ "US 'Christian militants' charged after FBI raids " BBC, March 30, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  62. ^ Mark S. Hamm (2001). In Bad Company: America's Terrorist Underground. Northeastern. ISBN 1555534929.
  63. ^ James Alfred Aho (1995). The Politics of Righteousness: Idaho Christian Patriotism. University of Washington Press. p. 86. ISBN 029597494X.
  64. ^ Alan Cooperman (2003-06-02). "Is Terrorism Tied To Christian Sect?". Washington Post.
  65. ^ Martin Schönteich and Henri Boshoff (2003). 'Volk' Faith and Fatherland: The Security Threat Posed by the White Right. Pretoria, South Africa, Institute for Security Studies. ISBN 1919913300.

Bibliography

  • Mason, Carol. 2002. Killing for Life: The Apocalyptic Narrative of Pro-Life Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  • Zeskind, Leonard. 1987. The ‘Christian Identity’ Movement, [booklet]. Atlanta, Georgia: Center for Democratic Renewal/Division of Church and Society, National Council of Churches.
  • Al-Khattar, Aref M. Religion and terrorism: an interfaith perspective. Greenwood. January 2003. ISBN 978-0275969233
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