Fields
of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence
by Karen Armstrong
Hearing the mantra that
religion is the cause of many wars on this Earth and poisonous to humanity is
echoed among those who reject religion and also those who question religion’s
capacity for goodness. Karen Armstrong,
in her new book, Fields of Blood, tackles the muddy relationship between
religion and violence with care, probing early sources, but also judiciously
reflecting on the nature of religion, its relationship to violence, and looking
at violent activity being caused by other sources. In turn, Armstrong makes a case that pointing
to religion as the sum reason why wars take place is not only simplistic but
doesn’t fit the records we find. Noting
the ample supply of food in Jericho in the ninth millennium BCE, Armstrong
writes, “Warfare would not become endemic in the region for another five
thousand years, but it was already a possibility and from the first, it seems,
large-scale violence was linked not with religion but with organized theft
(13).”
Pointing
out that religion isn’t the one and only source of violence doesn’t excuse it
from promoting violence through the centuries.
Upon ascending to the Persian throne, Darius I combined three themes in
his leadership that caused his enemies to fear him; namely, “a dualistic
worldview that pits the good of the empire against evildoers who oppose it; a
doctrine of election that sees the ruler as a divine agent; and a mission to
save the world (122).” This religious,
economic, and power hungry impulse was central to Darius’ insistence that he
would unite the world, bringing happiness to those who lived in his
empire. Furthermore, we see this kind of
dualistic mentality carried out in the early stages of Roman rule. Armstrong contends that, “Rome’s fully
professional army became the most efficient killing machine the world had ever
seen (131).” Laying bare the enemy was
part of the Roman mission, leaving nothing but the land and sea.
Armstrong
also weaves together the themes of religious conviction found in the Civil
War. Writing about this she notes, “The
Civil War armies have been described as the most religiously motivated in
American history (295).” Northern and
Southern victories would rally the people around political ideals that were
held to be ultimately the hand of Divine Providence. Mark Noll has written in his book on the
Civil War that the greatest theologian of the Civil War was Abraham
Lincoln. With national fasts, prayers,
preachers thundering from the pulpit concerning the war, the Civil War imbued
the strong sense that religion has played in America’s history, especially its
wars.
Tracing
religion and violence through India, China, Europe, and North America,
Armstrong writes with keen eye towards the foundational sources of religion and
politics that have shaped the conversation between religion and violence. You won’t agree with everything here, but you
are bound to learn much and be illuminated by this discussion.
Thanks to Blogging for Books and
Alfred A. Knopf for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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