Terror in the Mind of God: The Global
Rise of Religious Violence, 3rd
Edition (Comparative Studies in
Religion and Society, Vol. 13) by
Mark Juergensmeyer
Survey Of Religious Terrorism
Completely revised and updated, this new edition of Terror in the Mind of
God incorporates the events of September 11, 2001 into Mark
Juergensmeyers landmark study of religious terrorism. Juergensmeyer
explores the 1993 World Trade Center explosion, Hamas suicide
bombings, the Tokyo subway nerve gas attack, and the killing of abortion
clinic doctors in the United States. His personal interviews with 1993 World
Trade Center bomber Mahmud Abouhalima, Christian Right activist Mike
Bray, Hamas leaders Sheik Yassin and Abdul Azis Rantisi, and Sikh
political leader Simranjit Singh Mann, among others, take us into the
mindset of those who perpetrate and support violence in the name of
religion.
Personal Review: Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of
Religious Violence, 3rd Edition (Comparative Studies in Religion
and Society, Vol. 13) by Mark Juergensmeyer
As a comparative cultural study of religious terrorism, Mark Juergensmeyer
attempts to explain how and why religion and violence are linked.
Juergensmeyer analyzes recent incidents of global religious terrorism in
order to illumine overarching patterns that heighten the risk of religious
violence. Splitting his book into two parts, Juergensmeyer, first, highlights
examples of religious terrorism within the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh,
and Buddhist traditions. The author interviews religious leaders and
activists within cultures of violence present in each of these traditions. In

the second part of the book, Juergensmeyer identifies those characteristics
that enhance the likelihood of religion becoming violent.
Juergensmeyer believes the first common denominator in religious
extremism is the act of violence itself: terrorism is a theatrical display of
violence. According to the author, these acts are performance events,
inasmuch that they make symbolic, not strategic, statements. They are
performative acts, insofar as they attempt to create change. The location
and the time of the violent act, also, have symbolic purpose. Terrorism
needs an audience, somebody to terrify, in order to be effective, and with
the technological advancements of the twentieth century, the audience of
this theatre is virtually global.
If religious terrorism is violent theatre, the image of a cosmic war provides
the script. Violent activists view their terrorist acts as part of a larger
spiritual confrontation, a battle between good and evil, between God and
God's enemies. With the notion of warfare, compromise is not possible
and violence, naturally, is morally justified. Religious symbols also
undergird religious terrorism: all religions have symbols to overcome the
images of death, disorder, and disarray. Religion asserts the primacy of
meaning and order in the face of chaos, in this case, a world gone awry.
Juergensmeyer identifies when these symbols can become deadly and
when confrontation is likely to be characterized as a cosmic war.
The processes of satanization and empowerment are a result of viewing
the world as engulfed in a cosmic war. Juergensmeyer believes that
terrorists believe that they are victims, and this justifies their violent
actions. If they die in their cause they are martyrs - again, religious
symbolism overcoming disorder - sacrificed for their community and
religion. With every war, enemies must be created, and as such the
process of demonizing the enemy is important. Terrorists must deny the
personhood of the enemy and create stereotypes so that the enemy can
be seen as individuals. Juergensmeyer explains the process of
satanization, the creation of a cosmic foe, and the process of
empowerment, to create the hope that history can be changed, are integral
parts of the mentalities caused by the image of cosmic warfare.
Religious violence provides a sense of empowerment to religious activists
and their communities. According to the author, all terrorists fear social
marginalization. In general terrorism is a male occupation, and women
have minor ancillary roles, if at all. This gender specificity implies that
sexuality is a factor in militant movements: sexual control needs to be
established in a world gone awry, seen in active subjugation of women and
homosexuality. Juergensmeyer finds commonality in terrorist groups: they
are "anti-institutional, religio-nationalist, racist, sexist, male-bonding, bomb-
throwing young guys," (210). Their marginality is experienced through
sexual despair, which leads to violent acts of empowerment. Religious
terrorists recognize they are in a struggle that cannot be won, but by

dismantling the state's monopoly on power, the group demonstrates their
power on behalf of the powerless.
In his concluding chapter, Juergensmeyer believes that terrorists would do
anything if they believed it sanctioned by God. Because of the increasing
secularism and liberalism prevalent in the world, religious terrorists seek to
vault their religious views, perceived as both marginalized and traditional,
into the mainstream. Secular governments are by nature enemies of these
terrorist organizations, and violence is an attempt to reclaim this public
sphere. Juergensmeyer, extrapolating from current trends, concludes with
five ways in which religious terrorism can be resolved: terrorist
organizations can be literally destroyed; terrorists can be frightened into
submission by the threat of violent reprisals or imprisonment; the goals of
the terrorists can be accommodated; the religious aspects are separated
from politics; or religion and politics can be reconciled. Juergensmeyer
believes the last solution to be the most successful.
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