Quotes to Chew On: Religious Violence
“The myth of religious violence promotes a dichotomy between us in the secular West who are rational and peacemaking, and them, the hordes of violent religious fanatics in the Muslim world. Their violence is religious, and therefore irrational and divisive. Our violence, on the other hand, is rational, peacemaking, and necessary. Regrettably, we find ourselves forced to bomb them into the higher rationality.” ~William Cavanaugh, DePaul University
Image by geopungo. Used in accordance with Creative Commons. Sourced via Flickr.
Category: General
Tags: Non-Violence, Quotes, Religious Idolatry
Related Reading
Was Jesus Violent in the Temple?
Many adopt the attitude depicted in the picture above, saying that Jesus used violence when he cleansed the temple. But Jesus’ stance on nonviolence is clear not only from how he responded to threatening enemies at the end of his life; it’s also strongly emphasized his teachings. We need to understand what Jesus was up…
You’re Not a Pacifist Are You?
Jayel Aheram via Compfight Brian Zahnd wrote a great piece the other day on this topic. He contends that when he is asked this question, it often has the same flavor of the question, “You’re not a pornographer are you?” Why is this question so contentious among believers? Brian has some interesting ideas about it.…
Defining Love
If God’s eternal essence is love, as discussed in this post, then we must ask: What does this confession actually mean? We must explore this question carefully because “love” has been defined in many theological streams in ways that seem contradictory to the kind of love revealed by Christ. As with so many other things,…
Podcast: A Cross Vision Reading of David & Goliath
Dan takes a shot at interpreting the David & Goliath story through a cruciform lens. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0294.mp3
Religion that Blinds Us to God
For a variety of reasons, many Jews at the time of Jesus had come to believe that heaven had been closed since the writing of the last book of the Old Testament. God was distant and no longer active among his people. Their religion focused on holding fast to the law God had given in…
Is the Jesus of Revelation Wrathful?
In the second coming of Jesus, will he turn with wrath? Will he come as a roaring lion, ready to put on his display all of his anger, power, and might? What does the Jesus revealed in Revelation look like? This is a short clip that addresses these questions. If you want to watch the…