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

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 to:· sacrifice (both animal and human); · self-mortification (including self-injury, asceticism, and martyrdom); · religious persecution (from anti-Semitic pogroms to witchh...