Abstract
Religion and violence are related in an ambivalent, paradoxical way, for the systems of religious knowledge tend to prohibit violence and to motivate it at the same time. This paper looks for the roots of that ambivalence and reveals particular mechanisms that generate violence within religious systems and their associated practices. It argues that violence in religious systems is present in at least three forms: It is inherent to communication with the “sacred,” it is generated by processes of inclusion and exclusion, shaping religiously interpreted lifeworlds, and it is motivated or moderated by the respective semantics of religious narratives. The paper concludes that violence as a moment of hierophany is constitutive for the living experience in religious systems and cannot be eliminated entirely by moderating semantics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Surprisingly, not even in his last work on religion Luhmann (2002) did pay attention to these consequences that his concept entails, even though he pointed out the conflict generating character of religion (2002: 120 f).
Bellah (2011: 182, 201) stresses the “archetypical” character of the Hawaiian religious system.
For instance the fact that in “cargo cults” indigenous people tried to imitate everyday activities of the Westerners which they believed to posses magic power caused flouting attitudes toward the local religious culture (Worsley 1957).
See also Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous sculpture in Santa Maria della Victoria in Rome depicting this event.
References
Abulafia, D. (2011). The great sea. A human history of the Mediterranean. London: Lane.
Alito, G. (1992). Orthodoxie in der chinesischen Kultur. In S. N. Eisenstadt (Ed.), Kulturen der Achsenzeit, Bd. II.1: China, Japan (pp. 126–175). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Angenendt, A. (2009). Toleranz und Gewalt. Christentum zwischen Bibel und Schwert. Münster: Aschendorf.
Arnason, J., Eisenstadt, S. N., & Wittrock, B. (Eds.). (2005). Axial civilizations and world history. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
Assmann, J. (1998). The memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.
Baudler, G. (1991). Gott und Frau. Die Geschichte von Gewalt, Sexualität und Religion. Munich: Kösel.
Baudler, G. (2005). Gewalt in den Weltreligionen. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Behn, I. (1957). Spanische Mystik. Darstellung und Deutung. Düsseldorf: Patmos.
Bellah, R. N. (2011). Religion in human evolution. From the paleolithic to the axial age. Cambridge, Mass., London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Campbell, J. (1991). Die Masken Gottes. Bd.II: Mythologie des Ostens. Basel: Sphinx.
Derrida, J. (1992). The force of law. NewYork/London: Routledge.
Derrida, J. (2002). Acts of religion. New York/London: Routledge.
Durkheim, E. (1995). The elementary forms of religious life. New York: Free Press.
Eisenstadt, S. N. (Ed.). (1992a). Kulturen der Achsenzeit, Bd. II.1: China, Japan. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Eisenstadt, S. N. (Ed.). (1992b). Kulturen der Achsenzeit, Bd. II.2: Indien. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Eliade, M. (1998). The sacred and the profane. The nature of religion (W. R. Task, Trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace & Inc.
Erbstösser, Martin. (1970). Sozialreligiöse Strömungen im späten Mittelalter. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
Fürst, A. (Ed.). (2006). Friede auf Erden? Religionen zwischen Gewalt und Gewaltbereitschaft. Freiburg: Herder.
Gerlitz, Peter (1954). Fasten im religionsgeschichtlichen Vergleich, PhD thesis, University Erlangen.
Girard, R. (1981). Violence and the sacred. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
Goody, Jack. (1986). The logic of writing and the organization of society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gougaud, L. (1925). Dévotions et practiques ascétiques du moyen age. Paris: Abbaye de Maredsous.
Greyerz, K. V., & Siebenhüner, K. (Eds.). (2006). Religion und Gewalt. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Guttmann, H.-M. (2009). Gewaltunterbrechung, Warum Religion Gewalt nicht hervorbringt, sondern bindet. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus.
Hafner, J. E. (2008). Victime und Sacrifice. In B. Oberdorfer & P. Waldmann (Eds.), Die Ambivalenz des Religiösen (pp. 77–104). Freiburg: Rombach.
Heesterman, J. C. (1992). Ein geteiltes Haus: hinduistisch-muslimische Beziehung. In S. N. Eisenstadt (Ed.), Kulturen der Achsenzeit, Bd. II.2: Indien (pp. 275–293). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Hunger, H. (1984). Die Heilige Hochzeit. Vorgeschichtliche Sexualkulte und –mythen. Wiesbaden: Verlag Medical Tribune.
Juergensmayer, M. (2000). Terror in the mind of god. The global rise of religious violence. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: Universitty of California Press.
Juergensmeyer, M. (Ed.). (2006). The Oxford handbook of global religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kalisch, M. (2006). Monotheismus des Islam und die Problematik von Toleranz und Gewalt. In A. Fürst (Ed.), Friede auf Erden? Religionen zwischen Gewalt und Gewaltbereitschaft (pp. 151–166). Freiburg: Herder.
Khoury, A.-T. (1976). Die Gewalt in der Lehre und im Leben der Buddhisten. In E. Kroker (Ed.), Die Gewalt in Politik, Religion und Gesellschaft (pp. 123–138). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Kippenberg, H. G. (2011). Violence as worship. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Koselleck, R. (Ed.). (1979). Zur historisch-politischen Semantik asymmetrischer Gegenbegriffe. In Vergangene Zukunft. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Kroker, E. J. M. (Ed.). (1976). Die Gewalt in Politik, Religion und Gesellschaft. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Lal, V. (2006). Intolerance for Hindu tolerance: Hinduism, religious violence in pre-modern India, and the fate of a ‘modern’ discourse. In K. V. Greyerz & K. Siebenhüner (Eds.), Religion und Gewalt (pp. 51–84). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Lambert, M. D. (1977). Medieval Heresy. London: Erward Arnold.
Luckmann, Th. (1967). The invisible religion. New York: Mac Millan.
Luhmann, N. (1997). Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Luhmann, N. (2002). Die Religion der Gesellschaft. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Maffesoli, Michel. (1982). L’ombre de Dionysos. Contribution à une s ociologie de l’ orgie. Paris: Méridiens/Anthropos.
Malinowski, B. (1954). Magic, science and religion and other essays. Gardens City: Doubleday.
Mannheim, Karl. (1991). Ideology and Utopia. London: Routledge.
Matthes, J. (Ed.). (1992). The operation called ‘Vergleichen’. In Zwischen den Kulturen? Die Sozialwissenschaften vor dem Problem des Kulturvergleichs (Soziale Welt, Sonderband 8) (pp. 75–99). Göttingen: Schwartz.
Métral, M.-O. (1981). Die Ehe. Die Analyse einer Institution. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Müller, W. (1970). Glauben und Denken der Sioux. Zur Gestalt archaischer Weltbilder. Berlin: Reimer.
Oberdorfer, B., & Waldmann, P. (Eds.). (2008). Die Ambivalenz des Religiösen. Freiburg: Rombach.
Otto, R. (1979). Das Heilige. Munich: Beck [Engl. Trans. by J. W. Harvey: The idea of the holy. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books 1959].
Parsons, T. (1966). Societies. Evolutionary and comparative perspectives. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Pollock, S. (2005). Axialism and empire. In J. P. Arnason, S. N. Eisenstadt, & B. Wittrock (Eds.), Axial civilizations and world history (pp. 397–450). Leiden, Boston: Brill.
Rotter, E., & Rotter, G. (2002). Geschichte der Lust—zwischen Himmel und Hölle. Düsseldorf: Patmos.
Rzepkowski, H. (1976). Die Gewalt in der Lehre und im Leben der Hindus. In E. Kroker (Ed.), Die Gewalt in Politik, Religion und Gesellschaft (pp. 139–149). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Sahlins, M. (1981). Historical metaphors and mythical realities: Structure in the early history of the Sandwich Islands Kingdom. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Sahlins, M. (1986). Tod des Kapitän Cook. Berlin: Wagenbach.
Scheler, M. (1973). Wesen und Formen der Sympathie. Bern: Francke.
Schieder, R. (2008). Sind Religionen gefährlich?. Berlin: Berlin University Press.
Schmitt, C. (2005). Political theology. Four chapters on the concept of sovereignty. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Schmitt, C. (2007). The concept of the political. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Schutz, A. (Ed.). (1962a). Common-sense and scientific interpretation of social action. In Collected papers, Vol. I: The problem of social reality (pp. 3–47). The Hague: Nijhoff.
Schutz, A. (Ed.). (1962b). Symbol, reality and society. In Collected papers, Vol. I: The problem of social reality (pp. 287–356). Den Haag: Nijhoff.
Schutz, A. (Ed.). (1962c). On multiple realities. In Collected papers, Vol. I: The problem of social reality (pp. 207–259). The Hague: Nijhoff.
Schutz, A. (Ed.). (1964). The stranger. An essay in social psychology. In Collected papers, Vol. II: Studies in social theory (pp. 207–259). The Hague: Nijhoff.
Schutz, A. (Ed.). (2003). Das Problem der Personalität in der Sozialwelt. In Werkausgabe, Vol. V 1A: Theorie der Lebenswelt 1. Die pragmatische Schichtung der Lebenswelt (pp. 95–162). Konstanz: UVK.
Shichor, Y. (1992). Konfuzianismus in einem land: Einige Betrachtungen zur universalistischen und partikularistischen Kollektividentität in China. In S. N. Eisenstadt (Ed.), Kulturen der Achsenzeit, Bd. II.1: China, Japan (pp. 91–107). Suhrkamp: Frankfurt.
Shulman, D. (1992). Die Dynamik der Sektenbildung im mittelalterlichen Südindien. In S. N. Eisenstadt (Ed.), Kulturen der Achsenzeit Bd. II.2: Indien (pp. 102–128). Suhrkamp: Frankfurt.
Smith, W. C. (1967). Questions of religious truth. London: Golancz.
Smith, W. C. (1978). The meaning and end of religion. New York: Harper & Row.
Speyer, A. V. (1970). Das Wort und die Mystik. Part II.: Objektive Mystik. Johannes Verlag: Einsiedeln.
Srubar, I. (2014). Gewalt als asemiotische Kommunikation. In M. Staudigl (Hg) (Ed.), Gesichter der Gewalt (pp. 74–86). München: Fink.
Steinach, U. (1976). Die Gewalt im Islam. In E. Kroker (Ed.), Die Gewalt in Politik, Religion und Gesellschaft (pp. 150–178). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Stobbe, H.-G. (2010). Religion, Gewalt und Krieg. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Voegelin, E. (Ed.). (2000a). The new science of politics. In Modernity without restraints (collected works) (Vol. 5, pp. 77–241). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Voegelin, E. (Ed.). (2000b). The political religions. In Modernity without restraints (collected works) (Vol. 5, pp. 19–73). Columbia and London: Univ. of Missouri Press.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society (E. Fischoff et al., Berkeley et al. Trans.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Wilke, A. (2006). Gewaltlosigkeit und Gewaltausübung in Hinduismus und Buddhismus. Tamilische Devotion, Singhalesischer Buddhismus und die Macht der Repräsentation. In A. Fürst (Ed.), Friede auf Erden? Religionen zwischen Gewalt und Gewaltbereitschaft (pp. 83–150). Freiburg: Herder.
Wittrock, B. (2005). The meaning of the axial age. In J. P. Arnason, S. N. Eisenstadt, & B. Wittrock (Eds.), Axial civilizations and world history. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
Worsley, Peter. (1957). The trumpet shall sound: A study of “cargo cults” in Melanesia. London: MacGibbon & Kee.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Srubar, I. Religion and Violence. Paradoxes of Religious Communication. Hum Stud 40, 501–518 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-015-9375-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-015-9375-z