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Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > Religious intolerance, persecution & conflict > General
In 1590 three hundred Scottish 'witches' were tried for plotting
the murder of their King, James VI of Scotland (soon to be James I
of England). James is known to have suffered from a morbid fear of
violent death, and the trial heightened his anxiety over this
apparently treasonous 'un-Christian' sect, and stimulated him to
study the whole subject of witchcraft. 'Daemonologie' is the result
of this royal research, detailing his opinions on the topic in the
form of a Socratic dialogue between the sceptic Philomathes and
witch-averse Epistemon, who reveals many aspects of witch-craft.
The book consists of three sections, on magic, on sorcery and
witchcraft, and on spirits and ghosts, and ends with a lurid
account of the North Berwick witch trials, based on the evidence of
Dr John Fian, the alleged head of the coven, whose 'confession' was
obtained with the aid of thumbscrews, the Boot, and by the ripping
out of his fingernails.
Professor Roberts examines the relationship between antisemitism
and the practices of citizenship in a colonial context. She focuses
on the experience of Algerian Jews and their evolving identity as
citizens as they competed with the other populations in the colony,
including newly naturalised non-French settlers and Algerian
Muslims, for control over the scarce resources of the colonial
state. The author argues that this resulted in antisemitic violence
and hotly contested debates over the nature of French identity and
rights of citizenship. Tracing the ambiguities and tensions that
Algerian Jews faced, the book shows that antisemitism was not
coherent or stable but changed in response to influences within
Algeria, and from metropolitan France, Europe and the Middle East.
Written for a wide audience, this title contributes to several
fields including Jewish history, colonial and empire studies,
antisemitism within municipal politics, and citizenship, and adds
to current debates on transnationalism and globalization.
We may think we know what defines religious fanaticism: violent
action undertaken with dogmatic certainty. But the term fanatic,
from the European Reformation to today, has never been a stable
one. Then and now it has been reductively defined to justify state
violence and to delegitimize alternative sources of authority.
Unknowing Fanaticism rejects the simplified binary of fanatical
religion and rational politics, turning to Renaissance literature
to demonstrate that fanaticism was integral to how both modern
politics and poetics developed, from the German Peasants' Revolt to
the English Civil War. The book traces two entangled approaches to
fanaticism in this long Reformation moment: the targeting of it as
an extreme political threat and the engagement with it as a deep
epistemological and poetic problem. In the first, thinkers of
modernity from Martin Luther to Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
positioned themselves against fanaticism to pathologize rebellion
and abet theological and political control. In the second, which
arose alongside and often in response to the first, the poets of
fanaticism investigated the link between fanatical
self-annihilation-the process by which one could become a vessel
for divine violence-and the practices of writing poetry. Edmund
Spenser, John Donne, and John Milton recognized in the fanatic's
claim to be a passive instrument of God their own incapacity to
know and depict the origins of fanaticism. Yet this crisis of
unknowing was a productive one. It led these writers to experiment
with poetic techniques that would allow them to address
fanaticism's tendency to unsettle the boundaries between human and
divine agency and between individual and collective bodies. These
poets demand a new critical method, which this book attempts to
model: a historically-minded and politicized formalism that can
attend to the complexity of the poetic encounter with fanaticism.
6th September, 1942: a middle-aged Jewish refugee stands on the
Swiss side of the Franco-Swiss border above Geneva. He has been
living in Switzerland since he fled Vienna in November 1938, as the
Nazi persecution of the city's Jewish population intensified. He is
now waiting for the arrival of the wife he has not seen for nearly
four years. Against all odds he has managed to get an entry permit
for her to join him in Switzerland. She appears on the French side.
They see each other. Call out. She begins to cross the few yards of
no-mans-land that separate them. An official calls her back. She
hesitates, turns, goes back - and is lost forever. This book tells
the story of the wartime journey of Toni Schiff, as she ventured
across Europe to the this fateful near-meeting at the Franco-Swiss
border - and what happened next. Based on the extensive research of
her daughter, Kindertransportee Hilda Schiff, and told by Sheila
Rosenberg, who shared much of the later research and many of the
research journeys, this book sheds light on the lives of one family
- caught up in, and ultimately separated by, the tragic and
tumultuous events of World War II.
It seems that people often have trouble getting along together.
Families argue, neighbors come to blows, countries lob weapons at
each other. Is this the way it has to be? Anthropologists,
sociologists, psychologists and others say it is. Having observed a
long history of man's quarrelsome behavior, they claim that man has
animal instincts, or that he is antisocial and violent by his very
nature. In truth, man is rather peaceful. But he can be driven,
individually and collectively, to hatred and violence. In
researching the causes of violence, L. Ron Hubbard unearthed a
fundamental and natural law of human relations which explains why
conflicts between people are so often difficult to remedy. And he
provided an immensely valuable tool that enables one to resolve any
conflict, be it between neighbors, co-workers or even countries. In
this chapter, you will discover how to help others resolve their
differences and restore peaceable relations. Peace and harmony
between men can be more than just a dream. Widespread application
of this law will make it a reality.
This essential collection of three new essays was written out of a sense of urgency, concern, and a belief that a better future is still possible. It touches on the universal nature of fanaticism and its possible cures; the Jewish roots of humanism and the need for a secular pride in Israel; and the geopolitical standing of Israel in the wider Middle East and internationally.
Amos Oz boldly puts forward his case for a two-state solution in what he calls ‘a question of life and death for the State of Israel’.
Wise, provocative, moving and inspiring, these essays illuminate the argument over Israeli, Jewish and human existence, shedding a clear and surprising light on vital political and historical issues, and daring to offer new ways out of a reality that appears to be closed down.
Crusading fervour gripped Europe for over 200 years, creating one
of the most extraordinary, vivid episodes in world history. Whether
the Crusades are regarded as the most romantic of Christian
expeditions, or the last of the barbarian invasions, they have
fascinated generations ever since, and their legacy of ideas and
imagery has resonated through the centuries, inspiring Hollywood
movies and great works of literature. Even today, to invoke the
Crusades is to stir deep cultural myths, assumptions and
prejudices. Yet despite their powerful hold on our imaginations,
our knowledge of them remains obscured an distorted by time. Were
the Crusaders motivated by spiritual rewards, or by greed? Were the
Crusades an experiment in European colonialism, or a manifestation
of religious love? How were they organized and founded? With
customary flair and originality, Christopher Tyerman picks his way
through the many debates to present a clear and lively discussion
of the Crusades; bringing together issues of colonialism, cultural
exchange, economic exploitation, and the relationship between past
and present. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series
from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost
every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to
get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine
facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make
interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
On two hundred and one days between May 1, 1245, and August 1,
1246, more than five thousand people from the Lauragais were
questioned in Toulouse about the heresy of the good men and the
good women (more commonly known as Catharism). Nobles and diviners,
butchers and monks, concubines and physicians, blacksmiths and
pregnant girls--in short, all men over fourteen and women over
twelve--were summoned by Dominican inquisitors Bernart de Caux and
Jean de Saint-Pierre. In the cloister of the Saint-Sernin abbey,
before scribes and witnesses, they confessed whether they, or
anyone else, had ever seen, heard, helped, or sought salvation
through the heretics. This inquisition into heretical depravity was
the single largest investigation, in the shortest time, in the
entire European Middle Ages.
Mark Gregory Pegg examines the sole surviving manuscript of
this great inquisition with unprecedented care--often in unexpected
ways--to build a richly textured understanding of social life in
southern France in the early thirteenth century. He explores what
the interrogations reveal about the individual and communal lives
of those interrogated and how the interrogations themselves shaped
villagers' perceptions of those lives. "The Corruption of Angels,"
similar in breadth and scope to Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's
"Montaillou," is a major contribution to the field. It shows how
heretical and orthodox beliefs flourished side by side and, more
broadly, what life was like in one particular time and place.
Pegg's passionate and beautifully written evocation of a medieval
world will fascinate a diverse readership within and beyond the
academy.
While there exists no evidence to date that the indigenous inhabitants of Arabia knew of holy war prior to Islam, holy war ideas and behaviours appear already among Muslims during the first generation. Reuven Firestone focuses on why and how such a seemingly radical development took place. Basing his hypothesis on evidence from the Qur'an and early Islamic literary sources, Firestone locates the origin of Islamic holy war and traces its evolution as a response to the changes affecting the new community of Muslims in its transition from ancient Arabian culture to the religious civilization of Islam.
For Christians living as a persecuted minority in the Middle East,
the question of whether their allegiance should lie with their
faith or with the national communities they live in is a difficult
one. This collection of essays aims to reconcile this conflict of
allegiance by looking at the biblical vision of citizenship and
showing that Christians can live and work as citizens of the state
without compromising their beliefs and make a constructive
contribution to the life of the countries they live in. The
contributors come from a range of prestigious academic and
religious posts and provide analysis on a range of issues such as
dual nationalism, patriotism and the increase of Islamic
fundamentalism. An insightful look into the challenges religious
minorities face in countries where they are a minority, these
essays provide a peace-building and reconciliatory conclusion for
readers to consider.
The Templars' and Hospitallers' daily business of recruitment,
fund-raising, farming, shipping and communal life explored
alongside their commitment to crusading. The military and religious
orders of the Knights Templar (founded 1120) and Knights
Hospitaller (founded c.1099) were a driving force throughout the
long history of the crusades. This study examines the work of the
two orders closely, using original charters to analyse their
activities in their administrative heartland in south-west France,
and sets them in the context of contemporary religious life and
economic organisation. Recruitment, fund-raising, farming,
shipping, and communal life are all touched upon, and the orders'
commitment to crusading through control and supply of manpower,
money, arms and supplies is assessed. Dr Selwood shows the orders
at the centre of religious life in Occitania, highlighting their
success compared with other new orders such as the Cistercians, and
looking at their relationships with the secular and monastic
Church. Other themes addressed include the orders' relationshipto
Occitanian society and to the laiety, their involvement with
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, their innovative administrative
structures, and their logistical operations. DOMINIC SELWOOD gained
his Ph.D. at Oxford; he is now a barrister at Lincoln's Inn, and
practices from chambers in the Inner Temple.
State sponsorship of terrorism is a complex and important topic in
today's international affairs - and especially pertinent in the
regional politics of the Middle East and South Asia, where Pakistan
has long been a flashpoint of Islamist politics and terrorism. In
Islamism and Intelligence in South Asia, Prem Mahadevan
demonstrates how over several decades, radical Islamists, sometimes
with the tacit support of parts of the military establishment, have
weakened democratic governance in Pakistan and acquired
progressively larger influence over policy-making. Mahadevan traces
this history back to the anti-colonial Deobandi movement, which was
born out of the post-partition political atmosphere and a
rediscovery of the thinking of Ibn Taymiyyah, and partially
ennobled the idea of `jihad' in South Asia as a righteous war
against foreign oppression. Using Pakistani media and academic
sources for the bulk of its raw data, and reinforcing this with
scholarly analysis from Western commentators, the book tracks
Pakistan's trajectory towards a `soft' Islamic revolution.
Envisioned by the country's intelligence community as a solution to
chronic governance failures, these narratives called for a
re-orientation away from South Asia and towards the Middle East. In
the process, Pakistan has become a sanctuary for Arab jihadist
groups, such as Al-Qaeda, who had no previous ethnic or linguistic
connection with South Asia. Most alarmingly, official discourse on
terrorism has been partly silenced by the military-intelligence
complex. The result is a slow drift towards extremism and possible
legitimation of internationally proscribed terrorist organizations
in Pakistan's electoral politics.
'This elegantly written, erudite book is essential reading for all
of us, whatever our identifications' - Lynne Segal Antisemitism is
one of the most controversial topics of our time. The public,
academics, journalists, activists and Jewish people themselves are
divided over its meaning. Antony Lerman shows that this is a result
of a 30-year process of redefinition of the phenomenon, casting
Israel, problematically defined as the 'persecuted collective Jew',
as one of its main targets. This political project has taken the
notion of the 'new antisemitism' and codified it in the flawed
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's 'working definition'
of antisemitism. This text is the glue holding together an
international network comprising the Israeli government, pro-Israel
advocacy groups, Zionist organisations, Jewish communal defence
bodies and sympathetic governments fighting a war against those who
would criticise Israel. The consequences of this redefinition have
been alarming, supressing free speech on Palestine/Israel,
legitimising Islamophobic right-wing forces, and politicising
principled opposition to antisemitism.
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