The theme ‘religion and violence' or ‘religious violence' gained worldwide attention after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in 2001.1
In Japan, this theme was already being publicly discussed in 1995 when the gas attack on passengers in the Tokyo subways occurred, for which a new Buddhist group was blamed.[703] [704] Surprised reactions to both revealed the widespread opinion that religion had nothing to do with violence.
However, historical studies show that religious groups are prone to violence, and since they elaborate the causes they may contribute to understanding modern cases better. In the end we must ask whether ‘religious violence' exists, or whether the relationship between ‘religion and violence' is rather arbitrary.In premodern Japan[705] at least five forms of violent actions involving Buddhist groups can be observed: (1) conflicts between adherents of the newly introduced Buddhism and those of indigenous beliefs; (2) sectarian conflicts among competing Buddhist groups; (3) conflicts between established Buddhist schools and newly founded groups; (4) battles between Buddhist groups and secular authorities; and (5) violent Buddhist peasant uprisings. This chapter follows more or less the historical order of developments.
More on the topic The theme ‘religion and violence' or ‘religious violence' gained worldwide attention after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in 2001.1:
- Shiti usul, in general, has received little attention in scholarly discussions of Islamic legal theory. Whilst Twelver usul has gained some attention, there is almost no coverage of the Ismatili and Zaydi usul traditions.[1]
- Although wars, classic insurrections and genocides have claimed far more lives, terrorism has become the very face of modern conflict and turbulence, particularly since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
- Religious Violence and its Suppression
- Though the rise of religious violence has been a global phenomenon in the modern period, perhaps nowhere is the arena of competition among contesting religious and secular politics greater than in South Asia.
- Religious violence
- Religion and Violence
- Violence in Religion
- Religious Violence in the Early Twentieth Century
- Organised Religious Violence
- Towards the Dissolution of Religious Violence in Late Antiquity
- Religious Violence in the People's Republic
- Religion and Violence among the People
- New Religious Ideas and New Forms of Writing Violence