2nd Hand - In The Name Of Jesus: Violence And Destruction In The World's Religions By Michael Jordan

2nd hand hardback book . Slight tear to cover front and age marks on the edges of the pages. Otherwise in good condition!. Published 2006

'Kill them all for God will know His own'. this was the alleged battlecry of Crusader Arnaud-Amalric, before storming the city of Bezier in 1209. While it is a matter for debate whether he actually uttered those words, he was certainly not alone in his violence towards 'unbelievers'. Throughout the centuries the powerful influence of religion has not only been a force for good, it has also sparked bloodshed. Michael Jordan's powerful book explores why and how religion fuels fighting, death and destruction.

In the ancient fertility cult of the Sumerians, the goddess Ishtar represented love and fecundity but was also the one who stood 'arrayed in battle, beautiful...who handles the utug weapon, who washes the tools in the blood of battle'. The God of the Old Testament, worshipped by Christians and Jews, crushed nations and annihilated the entire earth by a flood. The Hindu god Krishna tells his discile that risk in war is preferable to abstention from war, while the Qur'an states that 'idolatry is more grevious than bloodshed'.

With such encouragement in religious texts it is perhaps not surprising that 'holy' wars - whether a crusade or jihad - as well as individual acts of violence have occurred again and again over the centuries. Invoking martyrdom is a fast track to paradise.

In the name of god examines the history of religious violence and the relationship between religion, politics and society. This timely and important book also looks at modern religious terrorism and its link to religious absolitists, for whom the world is clearly divided into good and bad.

16x24x3cm