Artigo Revisado por pares

Theological warrants for genocide: Judaism, Islam and Christianity

1990; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 2; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09546559008427070

ISSN

1556-1836

Autores

Leo Kuper,

Tópico(s)

Islamic Studies and History

Resumo

Religious differences between victimizers and their victims are a common characteristic of genocides and genocidal massacres. Often the significance of these religious differences is very clear, as in the religious persecutions of the Middle Ages, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the root and branch annihilation of settlements during the partition of India, the massacres of Hindus in East Pakistan (Bangladesh), the threatened genocide against the Baha'is in Iran, and the seemingly interminable conflicts in the southern Sudan. At other times, the influence of religious difference is more indirect, compounded with many other elements, for example in Uganda under Amin, or the massacres of Ibos in Northern Nigeria. This article concentrates on one aspect of religious differentiation, the theological warrants for genocide in the sacred texts in the interrelated religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The influence of these texts is analyzed in historical perspective, with emphasis on the broad societal context, and the power to engage in genocidal action. The contemporary spread of religious fundamentalism enhances the significance of these texts, as notably in Israel and its occupied territories, where the clash of religious fundamentalisms introduces a particularly threatening extremist element in the ongoing conflict.

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