Cruel Creeds, Virtuous Violence: Religious Violence Across Culture and History

by Jack David Eller

This illuminating, in-depth studypresents a wealth of case material, demonstrating the many manifestations of religious violence-not just war and terrorism, which are the focus of so many discussions of religiously motivated violence-but also more prevalent forms. The author, an anthropologist, devotes separate chapters · sacrifice (both animal and human); · self-mortification (including self-injury, asceticism, and martyrdom); · religious persecution (from anti-Semitic pogroms to witchhunts); · ethno-religious conflict (including such hotspots as Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland, and the former Yugoslavia); · religious wars (from the ancient Hebrews' wars and the Christian Crusades to Islamic jihad and Hindu righteous wars); · and religious homicide and abuse (spousal abuse, genital mutilation, and "dowry death," among other manifestations). In the final chapter, "Religion and Nonviolence," the author examines nonviolent and low-conflict societies and considers various methods of managing conflict. This book goes a long way toward helping us understand the nature of violence generally, its complicated connections with religion, and how society in the future might avoid being blindsided by the worst aspects of human nature.

Genres: History, Religion, Sociology

451 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Prof. David Eller is a cultural anthropologist who has conducted field research among Aboriginal societies in Australia and now teaches anthropology in Denver, Colorado. His recent college textbook Introducing Anthropology of Religion is being hailed as the most significant introduction to the scientific study of religion in a decade. His previous AAP book Natural Atheism showed him to be as good a philosopher as scientist. Now we see he is equally skilled as a linguist and semanticist and can show that for knowledgeable atheists "atheism" means more than the absence of god-beliefs: it is the absence (indeed the rejection) of belief altogether.

Reviews

[Jeff Crompton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a grim book, hard to read at times, but very well researched and thought out. The amount (and intensity) of religiously-inspired violence throughout history is breathtaking, and almost no religion has been exempt. Eller's approach is not a simplistic one; he doesn't "blame" religion for violence, or try to claim that religion is inherently violent. He does argue that violence and nonviolence are both parts of human nature, and both traits are part of the nature of religion. He finds that the more that dualism (the struggle between good and evil) is part of a religion, the more violent it tends to be.

Eller's final chapter is "Religion and Nonviolence," and it left me far less optimistic than I hoped. The few religions that have sustained true nonviolence are for the most part small, "traditional," and localized, like the Piaroa in Venezuela or the Amish in the United States.

I was dismayed by the amount of "mission creep" that occurs in religious violence. I hadn't realized, for instance that the Spanish Inquisition was established just to investigate and punish one particular "heresy," but expanded its mission until it had claimed approximately ten thousand lives. Again, a grim book, but a very well-done one.

[sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for an Anthropology class for my Fall 22 semester and it was a well organized and concise book that was easy to follow.

This is a book you must read syntopically. Definitely with the intention to use this information to dig deeper into the topic of Christianity.

[Amy Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it took me forever to read this book and I was really ready to be done, I believe it was very well done. As the author states in the Introduction to the book, most works dealing with religious violence either work from the premise that there would be no violence without religion and religion is bad (M-kay??) or that religion is the wonderful warm fuzzies we feel because God loves us and it could never be a bad thing. Jack David Eller does the unthinkable and doesn't look at religion from a black and white perspective but *gasp* examines collectively religion and how that has and hasn't contributed toward violence throughout the centuries. He uses facts and specific instances so that we may put the entire issue into perspective from a historical context, and he pulls from the philosophies of each religion in order to support his arguments. He does not just dwell on Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but he also examines many other religions, including tribal religions of Africa and Mesoamerica, Hinduim, Buddhism and Aboriginal religions, among others.

Eller looks at many different facets of violence, from religious and ethnic persecution, violence of the self and martyrdom, war, and sacrifice, and others. This is a very thorough accounting, but it is obviously difficult to read. Much of what this book deals with, I was already familiar with, but some of it I was not. I was particularly stricken by the beginning chapter entitled, "Understanding Violence." This chapter dwells much on the group mentality, the proverbial "us" versus "them." Violence is often more inspired by the collective angst of one group who feels persecuted and is driven by hatred toward fellow humans, people with whom they may have more in common than they think. Today, I see this happening with the Tea Party in America. They are full of hate and angst and feel the need to take it out on the rest of us. They are, of course, not the only ones, but they are the most vocal in our Country at the moment. Certainly, there are many members on the opposite side of the fence who will resort to violence out of hatred for those for whom they have a distaste. The difference is that there is, often, a religious undertone that American Conservatives use for justification of their actions and their hatred. Religion in America is used by Conservatives as a reason to hate. God says hate the fags and Jews and heathens of the world, so they do. So, yes, this book really puts all religions under the microscope and blatantly gives us a portrait about what they do that is negative, but I'll end with a quote from the book to explain why it's not all bad.

"Let us remind ourselves one final time that every single type of religious crime has its nonreligious counterpart... We are not arguing that religion causes violent crime; we are arguing that religion does not altogether prevent it and that, instead, religion often provides not only a basis but also a reason and justification for such violence. This will surprise and disturb some people: aren't religious people supposed to be "better" people, more "moral" people? Not only is there no evidence for any such claim, not only is there evidence quite to the contrary, but, as we have seen, religion often supplies not just legitimation but also the best possible legitimation for violence, including what we would call violent crime. - Eller p. 292

[Book Shark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cruel Creeds, Virtuous Violence: Religious Violence Across Culture and History by Jack David Eller

"Cruel Creeds, Virtuous Violence..." is a scholarly, thoroughly researched book that focuses on the many manifestations of religious violence in an even-handed manner. The 451-page book is an ambitious work composed of the following nine chapters: 1. Understanding Violence, 2. Understanding Religion, 3. Sacrifice, 4. Self-Injury, 5. Persecution, 6. Ethnoreligious Conflict, 7. War, 8. Homicide and Abuse, and 9. Religion and Nonviolence.

Positives:
1. A scholarly effort that provides great case samples of religious violence throughout our planet's history.
2. A well-written, well-researched effort that is treated with the utmost of care and respect.
3. I love the perspective that an accomplished anthropologist provides to this topic.
4. A thorough and objective look at violence of all kinds.
5. Covers all the major religions including Eastern religions and various cults.
6. Fascinating look at sacrificial rituals. It has given me a better understanding of the significance behind them.
7. Some rituals will leave you speechless.
8. Interesting history of religious mass suicides.
9. You will end up with a much better understanding of the basic philosophies of religions across the planet.
10. Great historical accounts of persecution...this is where this book shines brightest.
11. Inquisitions, Crusades, Thirty Years' War...oh my.
12. Great explanations on the kinds of wars and how they are justified.
13. Religion and politics and the implications...
14. Religion can be so cruel. Some notorious cases in detail.
15. Religious terrorism and how it is viewed from the perpetrator's point of view.
16. Religions' attitudes toward women.
17. Some data will flabbergast you.
18. Even handed approach on human violence even though this books focus is on the religious variety.
19. A just final chapter on religious nonviolence.
20. An extensive bibliography.

Negatives:
1. The book feels a bit uneven. That is, the author takes too long to build the foundation of the book but once it was established the book takes off.
2. It requires an investment of time but it will reward you with wisdom.
3. Illustrations would have been a nice addition to compliment the topics.
4. Links don't work on the Kindle, arg. A well-researched book like this deserved better.

In summary, this is a book worth reading. It provides a new perspective on rituals. It is a thought-provoking, fascinating and ambitious topic and the author rewards his readers with an excellent book. I'm looking forward to reading more books from Mr. Eller. I am waiting for some of his previous great work to be available on the Kindle.

Further recommendations: "Society without God" by Phil Zuckerman, "50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God" by Guy P. Harrison, "The Religion Virus" by Craig A. James, "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright, and "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens.

[Justin Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is in no way exhaustive on the topic of religious violence, but it's as damn close as you could probably get and not be boring. Eller first establishes what is violence and how do we define religion. This is key to understanding the rest of the book. For if one disagrees or ignores these two foundations, then one will not get much from the rest. The "religion" that is covered in this book is mostly the "World" religions and not the "Local". The specific forms of violence covered in this book are sacrifice, self-injury, persecution, ethnoreligious conflict, war, and homicide and abuse. The concluding chapter is about religion and nonviolence and is Eller's attempt to tell us what he thinks is needed to prevent further violence based in, or on religion. Accepting that there are intrinsically more violent religions than others is key. He lists the Semai, Piaroa, Buddhists, Jains, Mennonites, Amish, and the Quakers as groups that seriously and successfully renounce violence, and have clear, consistent, and convincing beliefs and values of nonviolence. The conclusion on monotheism's is something I found rather obvious. Otherwise known as dualist religions for their ability to divide the world irreparably into Us and Them, Good and Evil, and Light and Darkness. They are by nature, prone to more violence. The key point of exclusivity exacerbates it within Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.

Most likely if you read this from the eyes of being religious, you won't agree with everything, or maybe even nothing. However, one can not ignore the facts of the matter. Religion and violence is a complex topic and through example after example, Eller proves it. Violent religion isn't a thing of the past, or something limited to only Islam as some Americans think. No, religious violence is here in the 21st century and the motivation and justifications are exactly the same as they've been for 1,000+ years. Whether it's the Judeo-Christian/Islamic tradition of gender/spousal abuse, or the medical neglect of children in the United States for the parental religious reasoning, religious violence is a problem we all will come into contact with, sooner or later. Hopefully we can make societal changes quickly, but I won't hold my breath.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars (why can't we do halfsies on here?)

I'm a big fan of Eller's earlier volume on ethnic conflict. It should be a classic in the field even if only 10 people have read it. Though I missed the in-depth study of particular conflicts, the broader brush here has revelations on every page. Eller neither demonizes nor elevates religion as a phenomenon. He treats religion as neither inherently violent nor inherently peaceful.

Although I admire his intent, the last chapter on religious nonviolent comes across, at least partly, as a cheap panacea.

That aside, an excellent read.