Symbolic Empowerment: Thoughts on the Alliance of Religion and Violence
Introduction
The religious motivations of extremists both empower and validate acts of violence and serve as a cohesive element uniting social groups.[1] Religion and violence exists together with those that seek heightened sense of validation for acts of violence. Religion is only one such excuse or ideology to legitimize and justify violence, but religion is frequently and effectively used to link groups and individuals to feel strong moral validation to justifying their acts of violence
“Symbolic Empowerment”
The main weapon of religious violence is eloquence in that it serves, “to give people the strength or the zeal to take up arms.” [2] Juergensmeyer states that, “To a large extent the use of the term (terrorist) depends on one’s world view: if the world is perceived as peaceful, violent acts appear as terrorism. If the world is thought to be at war, violent acts may be regarded as legitimate.”[1] Because of individual discretion there are many different interpretations of religious teachings and texts.
Juergensmeyer wrote that religious violence serves as a source of “symbolic empowerment” for individuals or groups to legitimize violence with a sense of higher purpose than what truly exists. These “ordinary individuals” are empowered when they link their identity and dignity to a struggle, of which, loss is unimaginable. Yet, there may not be any real “victory” available. [3] For example, it will certainly be hard to determine the victor in what we have termed the “war on terrorism”. Symbolic terminology such as ‘sacrifice’ which originates from the Latin, sacrificium, “to make holy” and ‘martyr’ which originates from the Greek term meaning, “to witness one’s faith”, are two examples of the deeper hidden rhetoric in religious violence. The “symbolic empowerment” of extremist religious rhetoric is delusional and dangerously subjective.
Example of Religion used as “Symbolic Empowerment”
One example of the use of religion as a “symbolic empowerment”, is that of rightwing extremists, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. McVeigh signed his violent directives, “a soldier for Christ and country.” This shows that he may have used religion to amplify his feelings of legitimacy for violence and justify killing others, using religion as a “symbolic empowerment.” [4]
“ Hyper-Assabiyah”
As discussed by Akbar Ahmed, society forms social bonds and cohesive groups based on ideas of honor, revenge, and dignity. Ahmed defines the use of religion to justify violence as living in a “post-honor” world where violence has become routine and people are protecting their “honor” of their groups, culture, and religion. [5] Ibn Khaldun’s theory of asabiyah shows that social bonds can give us an idea of the meaning behind of changing social orders. Hyper-asabiyah is the study of how these socials bonds develop into excessive religious or tribal loyalties.[6] My theory is that religion heightens the sense of social bonds in a greater way than other types of social, cultural, or nationalistic ideologies which thus may lead to more groups with religious elements to their ideology being more violent than similar groups without religious beliefs.
Example of Religious Violence and Khaldun's “hyper-assabiyah”
One example of religious violence and Khaldun’s “hyper-assabiyah” is the organization of the Hutaree Militia which recently made headlines because of FBI raids during March 2010.[7] This particular group identifies themselves as an apocalyptic Christian militia. On their website they wrote they are, "Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive". [8] The Hutaree use religion to justify planning an attack to kill law enforcement officers in several States. They quote many Bible verses such as Luke 22 and John 15 as empowerment to take up arms against transgressors and to protect and defend themselves and their compatriots. The combination of religious rhetoric with anger shows the Hutaree’s “hyper-assabiyah” or heightened sense of group loyalty that the Hutaree feel. They feel that they must protect each other and their ideologies.
Current Contemporary Issues in the Alliance between Religion and Violence: Homosexuality in Uganda
A current example of the dangerous combination of “symbolic empowerment” and “hyper-assabiyah” in society is the growing surge of condemnation and hatred towards homosexuals in Uganda. This issue reportedly originated from a religious conference in Uganda where American evangelicals discussed the fear that homosexuality is ruining the institution of marriage as well as associating homosexuality with pedophilia. Although homosexuality is already currently illegal, recently proposed legislation, entitled the Bahati Bill, may make the crime of homosexuality punishable by death and life in prison in Uganda. Religion has played a huge role in this debate as evangelicals cry for violence as vengeance for other’s individual sexual choices. Religious leaders have used fear to promote their agendas scaring crowds by showing radical gay pornography and instituting McCarthy-esque finger-pointing in public newspapers. The Western response has thus been to sit back and wait to see the finality of the parliamentary debate, but aid organizations are poised to withhold funds from the country and there is growing discussion of the fear of violence during the upcoming political election. These issues may be responsible for slowing the debate. At a local rally, James Buturo, one of the Bahati Bill’s supporters stated, ““These are desperate times, but we will not accept intimidation. It is our business to do what God wants. Pray for Bahati, and pray for the bill.” [9]
Conclusion
It remains to be determined how Uganda and other African nations will handle this religious call to violence against homosexual citizens, but it certainly adds to my assessment that there is often a relationship between religion and violence. There are endless of examples of the use of religion as “symbolic empowerment” toward violent ends and as an aspect of violent ideology for groups to form have excessive bonds of loyalty known as “hyper-assabiyah” that may exacerbate violence as group members strive to protect their "honor".
[1] I recognize that analysis of religion is subjective and thus through an individual’s discretion can be used as a symbol to empower violence and an ultimate source of morality. However, I have chosen to discuss the ways in which religion is used as a tool of radicals to legitimize their violence.
[2] Juergensmeyer, 150.
[3] Ibid., 161-162.
[4] Juergensmeyer, 188.
[5] Ibid., 57.
[6] Ahmed, 15.
[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30militia.html
[8] http://www.hutaree.com/
[9] Entire section involves portions of both: In Uganda Push to Curb Gays Draws US Guest http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/world/africa/03uganda.html and Vanguard’s Series Missionaries of Hate http://www.hulu.com/watch/150328/vanguard-missionaries-of-hate
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