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Adin Steinsaltz
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Terror in the name of religion is not confined to Islam
Question: Is there such a thing as Christian terrorism?
Answer: We have become accustomed to the notion of Muslim terrorism because it is common and prevalent; we’ve also come to understand Jihad is a basic commandment in Islam – the holy war, whether organized or done in sporadic, private ways.
But terrorism in the name of religion is surely not confined to Islam. The spread of Christianity in the Middle Ages was very much a result of forced conversion throughout Europe. Christians may think of the Crusades as romantic, chivalrous events; Jewish memories of the Crusades are of fearsome times of terror, massacre and cruelty, when many thousands of Jews were killed. And religious Christian terrorism is not confined to Catholics: the Thirty Years War during the 17th century involved Catholics, Protestants and Calvinists.
Moreover, religious terrorism is neither a specifically Christian or Moslem phenomenon; pacifistic religions, such as the Brahamins in India and Buddhists in South-East Asia also had a fair share of religious terror, whether in war or by way of private deeds.
Adin Steinsaltz | Jul 27, 2011 8:03 PM
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