Gods at War examines the role played by religions in starting or supporting wars from ancient Egypt and Israel to the current conflicts in Yemen and the Ukraine. It not only analyses the traditionally recognised wars of religion such as the Crusades and the Thirty Years War and the many Islamic jihads, but also addresses the role played by nearly all religions in encouraging warrior kings, dictators and even democracies to wage wars, supporting them with money, promises of paradise in the after-life, guarantees of victory (God is on their side) and ceremonial to keep up morale. Onward Christian Soldiers. Oliver Thomson assesses the level of religious involvement in wars, including less obvious ones such as the attempted invasion of the Spanish Armada, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Japanese War in the Pacific; the prime minister of Japan who launched the attack on Pearl Harbor was a devout Buddhist. There are examples of wars inspired by Judaism, rival Christian and Muslim sects, Sikhism and Japanese Shinto. The first section of the book discusses several different types of religious influence in conflicts, ranging from almost purely religious wars like the French or German wars of religion, to the many others where religion only played a supportive but still significant role. It also explores the reasons why religious sanction has been welcomed by war leaders and why religions chose to cooperate. Distinctions are drawn between the documented faith of each religion and its manipulation by its leaders when it suited them. Four main sections cover wars from the pre-Christian era, the Middle Ages, the early modern period and finally the conflicts of the twenty-first century, including the use made of the Russian church by Vladimir Putin, of Sunni Islam by Mohammed bin Salman - even of Pentecostalism in Guatemala.

The five-year period following the proclamation of the Republic in April 1931 was marked by physical assaults upon the property and public ritual of the Spanish Catholic Church. These attacks were generally carried out by rural and urban anticlerical workers who were frustrated by the Republics practical inability to tackle the Churchs vast power. On 17-18 July 1936, a right-wing military rebellion divided Spain geographically, provoking the radical fragmentation of power in territory which remained under Republican authority. The coup marked the beginning of a conflict which developed into a full-scale civil war. Anticlerical protagonists, with the reconfigured structure of political opportunities working in their favour, participated in an unprecedented wave of iconoclasm and violence against the clergy. During the first six months of the conflict, innumerable religious buildings were destroyed and almost 7,000 religious personnel were killed. To date, scholarly interpretations of these violent acts were linked to irrationality, criminality and primitiveness. However, the reasons for these outbursts are more complex and deep-rooted: Spanish popular anticlericalism was undergoing a radical process of reconfiguration during the first three decades of the twentieth century. During a period of rapid social, cultural and political change, anticlerical acts took on new -- explicitly political -- meanings, becoming both a catalyst and a symptom of social change. After 17-18 July 1936, anticlerical violence became a constructive force for many of its protagonists: an instrument with which to build a new society. This book explores the motives, mentalities and collective identities of the groups involved in anticlericalism during the pre-war Spanish Second Republic and the Spanish Civil War, and is essential reading for all those interested in twentieth-century Spanish history. Published in association with the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies.

Over the last fifteen years, Pakistan has come to be defined exclusively in terms of its struggle with terror. But are ordinary Pakistanis extremists? And what explains how Pakistanis think? Much of the current work on extremism in Pakistan tends to study extremist trends in the country from a detached position-a top-down security perspective, that renders a one-dimensional picture of what is at its heart a complex, richly textured country of 200 million people. In this book, using rigorous analysis of survey data, in-depth interviews in schools and universities in Pakistan, historical narrative reporting, and her own intuitive understanding of the country, Madiha Afzal gives the full picture of Pakistan's relationship with extremism. The author lays out Pakistanis' own views on terrorist groups, on jihad, on religious minorities and non-Muslims, on America, and on their place in the world. The views are not radical at first glance, but are riddled with conspiracy theories. Afzal explains how the two pillars that define the Pakistani state-Islam and a paranoia about India-have led to a regressive form of Islamization in Pakistan's narratives, laws, and curricula. These, in turn, have shaped its citizens' attitudes. Afzal traces this outlook to Pakistan's unique and tortured birth. She examines the rhetoric and the strategic actions of three actors in Pakistani politics-the military, the civilian governments, and the Islamist parties-and their relationships with militant groups. She shows how regressive Pakistani laws instituted in the 1980s worsened citizen attitudes and led to vigilante and mob violence. The author also explains that the educational regime has become a vital element in shaping citizens' thinking. How many years one attends school, whether the school is public, private, or a madrassa, and what curricula is followed all affect Pakistanis' attitudes about terrorism and the rest of the world. In the end, Afzal suggests how this beleaguered nation-one with seemingly insurmountable problems in governance and education-can change course.

Africa continues to be a region with strong commitments to religious freedom and religious pluralism. These, however, are rarely mere facts on the ground – they are legal, political, social, and theological projects that require considerable effort to realise. This volume – compiling the proceedings of the third annual conference of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies – focuses on various issues which vastly effect the understanding of religious pluralism in Africa. These include, amongst others, religious freedom as a human right, the importance of managing religious pluralism, and the permissibility of religious practice and observance in South African public schools.

The report states that Government rhetoric and actions created a threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for Bahais, as well as for Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, and Shia groups not sharing the government's official religious views. Bahai and Christian groups reported arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and confiscation of property. Government-controlled broadcast and print media continued negative campaigns against religious minorities, particularly Bahais. All religious minorities suffered varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and housing. Bahais continued to experience expulsions from, or denial of admission to, universities. Large Print Edition 18pt]