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Christian terrorism comprises terrorist acts by groups or individuals who claim Christian motivations or goals for their actions. As with other forms of religious terrorism, Christian terrorists have relied on idiosyncratic or literal interpretations of the tenets of faith – in this case, the Bible. Such groups have used Old Testament and New Testament scriptures to justify violence and killing or to seek to bring about the "end times" described in the New Testament, while others have hoped to bring about a Christian theocracy.

Rajeev Srinivasan writes in the Daily News and Analysis: "There are many historical examples of Christian religious terrorism, going back to the liquidation of the Albigensians and other heretics around 345 CE, the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition... all the way to assassinations by radical anti-abortionists in the US.

By country

Great Britain

The early modern period in Britain saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches. The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt to blow up the Palace of Westminster, the English seat of government. Peter Steinfels characterizes this plot as a notable case of religious terrorism.

Northern Ireland

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Some scholars, such as Steve Bruce, a sociology professor at the University of Aberdeen, argue that the conflict in Northern Ireland is primarily a religious conflict, its economic and social considerations notwithstanding. Professor Mark Juergensmeyer has also argued that some acts of terrorism were "religious terrorism... – in these cases, Christianity". Others, such as John Hickey, take a more guarded view. Writing in The Guardian, Susan McKay discussed religious fundamentalism in connection with the murder of Martin O'Hagan, a former inmate of the Maze prison and a reporter on crime and the paramilitaries. She attributed the murder to a "range of reasons," including "the gangsters didn't like what he wrote". The alleged killers claimed that they killed him for "crimes against the loyalist people".

The Orange Volunteers are a group infamous for carrying out simultaneous terrorist attacks on Catholic churches.

Self-styled pastors Clifford Peeples, previously convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, John Somerville, and their associates, were dubbed by RUC chief constable, Ronnie Flanagan "the demon pastors" – specialising in recounting lurid stories of Catholic savagery towards Protestants, and in finding biblical justifications for Protestant retaliation.

India

Orissa

In 2007 a tribal spiritual Hindu monk, Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, accused Radhakant Nayak, chief of a local chapter of World Vision, and a former Rajya Sabha member from Orissa in the Indian National Congress party, of plotting to assassinate him. The Swami also said that World Vision was covertly pumping money into India for religious conversion during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and criticized the activities of Christian missionaries as going against tribal beliefs. In 2008, he was gunned down along with four disciples on the Hindu festive day of Krishna Janmashtami by a group of 30–40 armed men. Later, Maoist terrorist leader Sabyasachi Panda admitted responsibility for the assassination, saying that the Maoists had intervened in the religious dispute on behalf of Christians and Dalits. The non-governmental organization Justice on Trial disputed that there had been Maoist involvement, and quoted the Swami as claiming that Christian missionaries had earlier attacked him eight times.

Norway

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In July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik was arrested and charged with terrorism after a car bombing in Oslo and a mass shooting on Utøya island. As a result of his attacks, 151 people were injured, and 77 killed. Two court-appointed psychiatrists have determined that Breivik is insane. Hours prior to the events, Breivik released a 1,500 page manifesto detailing that immigrants were undermining Norway's traditional Christian values, and identifying himself as a "Christian crusader". Analyses of his motivations have noted that he did not only display Christian terrorist inclinations, but also had non-religious, right-wing beliefs. Mark Juergensmeyer and John Mark Reynolds have stated that the events were Christian terrorism, whereas Brad Hirschfield has rejected the Christian terrorist label.

Romania

Orthodox Christian movements in Romania, such as the Iron Guard and Lăncieri, which have been characterized by Yad Vashem and Stanley G. Payne as anti-semitic and fascist, respectively, were responsible for involvement in the Bucharest pogrom, and political murders during the 1930s.

Uganda

The Lord's Resistance Army, a cult guerrilla army engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government, has been accused of using child soldiers and committing numerous crimes against humanity; including massacres, abductions, mutilation, torture, rape, and forced child labour as soldiers, porters, and sex slaves. A quasi-religious movement that mixes some aspects of Christian beliefs with its own brand of spiritualism, it is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, primarily of the "Holy Spirit" which the Acholi believe can represent itself in many manifestations. LRA fighters wear rosary beads and recite passages from the Bible before battle.

United States

Beginning after the Civil War, members of the Protestant-led Ku Klux Klan organization began engaging in arson, beatings, cross burning, destruction of property, lynching, murder, rape, tar-and-feathering, and whipping against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and other social or ethnic minorities.

They were explicitly Christian terrorist in ideology, basing their beliefs on a "religious foundation" in Christianity. The goals of the KKK included, from an early time on, an intent to "reestablish Protestant Christian values in America by any means possible," and believe that "Jesus was the first Klansman." Their cross-burnings were conducted not only to intimidate targets, but to demonstrate their respect and reverence for Jesus Christ, and the lighting ritual was steeped in Christian symbolism, including the saying of prayers and singing of Christian hymns. Many modern Klan organizations, such as the Knights Party, USA, continue to focus on the Christian supremacist message, asserting that there is a "war" on to destroy "western Christian civilization."

During the twentieth century, members of extremist groups such as the Army of God began executing attacks against abortion clinics and doctors across the United States. A number of terrorist attacks were attributed to individuals and groups with ties to the Christian Identity and Christian Patriot movements, including the Lambs of Christ. A group called Concerned Christians were deported from Israel on suspicion of planning to attack holy sites in Jerusalem at the end of 1999, believing that their deaths would "lead them to heaven." The motive for anti-abortionist Scott Roeder murdering Wichita doctor George Tiller on May 31, 2009 was a belief that abortion is criminal and immoral, and that this belief went "hand in hand" with his religious beliefs. The Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996, as well as subsequent attacks on an abortion clinic and a lesbian nightclub, were made by Eric Robert Rudolph; Michael Barkun, a professor at Syracuse University, considers Rudolph to likely fit the definition of a Christian terrorist, whereas James A. Aho, a professor at Idaho State University, argues instead that Rudolph was inspired only in part by religious considerations.

Hutaree was a Christian militia group based in Adrian, Michigan. In 2010, after an FBI agent infiltrated the group, nine of its members were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges of seditious conspiracy to use of improvised explosive devices, teaching the use of explosive materials, and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. On March 28, 2012, the conspiracy charges were dismissed. Terrorism scholar Aref M. Al-Khattar has listed The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, Defensive Action, The Freemen Community, and some "Christian militia" as groups that "can be placed under the category of far-right-wing terrorism" that "has a religious (Christian) component".

Peru

Fourteen traditionalist shamans about to form a shamanic school and association were murdered in Peru over a period of several months prior to October 2011. The murders were allegedly committed by, and/or at the behest of, the local mayor and a group of other evangelical Christians. The mayor's brother was known in the area as a matabrujos or witch killer. The Peruvian government continues to investigate.

Motivation, ideology, and theology

Christian views on abortion have been cited by Christian individuals and groups that are responsible for threats, assault, murder, and bombings against abortion clinics and doctors across the United States and Canada.

Christian Identity is a loosely affiliated global group of churches and individuals devoted to a racialized theology that asserts that North European whites are the direct descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, God's chosen people. It has been associated with groups such as the Aryan Nations, Aryan Republican Army, Army of God, Phineas Priesthood, and The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord. It has been cited as an influence in a number of terrorist attacks around the world, including the 2002 Soweto bombings.

See also

• Christianism
• Christianity and violence
• Hate groups
• Islamic terrorism
• Religious war
• Sikh extremism
• Zionist political violence

References

1. B. Hoffman, "Inside Terrorism", Columbia University Press, 1999, p. 105–120.
2. Mark Juergensmeyer. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24011-1.
3. Mark Juergensmeyer (2010-04-15). "The Return of Christian Terrorism". AlterNet. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
4. The Reformation in England and Scotland and Ireland: The Reformation Period & Ireland under Elizabeth I, Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
5. Peter Steinfels (2005-11-05). "A Day to Think About a Case of Faith-Based Terrorism". New York Times.

6. The Northern Ireland conflict is a religious conflict. Economic and social considerations are also crucial, but it was the fact that the competing populations in Ireland adhered and still adhere to competing religious traditions which has given the conflict its enduring and intractable quality.

   Steve Bruce (1986). God Save Ulster. Oxford University Press. p. 249. ISBN 0-19-285217-5. Reviewing the book, David Harkness of The English Historical Review agreed "Of course the Northern Ireland conflict is at heart religious". David Harkness (1989-10). "God Save Ulster: The Religion and Politics of Paisleyism by Steve Bruce (review)". The English Historical Review. 104 (413). Oxford University Press. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. Mark Juergensmeyer. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24011-1.

   "Like residents of Belfast and London, Americans were beginning to learn to live with acts of religious terrorism: shocking, disturbing incidents of violence laced with the passion of religion - in these cases, Christianity" and "The violence in Northern Ireland is justified by still other theological positions, Catholic and Protestant."

8. Politics in the North is not politics exploiting religion. That is far too simple an explanation: it is one which trips readily off the tongue of commentators who are used to a cultural style in which the politically pragmatic is the normal way of conducting affairs and all other considerations are put to its use. In the case of Northern Ireland the relationship is much more complex. It is more a question of religion inspiring politics than of politics making use of religion. It is a situation more akin to the first half of seventeenth‑century England than to the last quarter of twentieth century Britain.John Hickey (1984). Religion and the Northern Ireland Problem. Gill and Macmillan. p. 67. ISBN 0-7171-1115-6.

9. ^ Susan McKay (2001-11-17). "Faith, hate and murder". London: The Guardian.
10. Claire Mitchell (2006). Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 51. ISBN 0-7546-4155-4.
11. "Self-styled loyalist pastor jailed". BBC News. 2001-03-08.
12. http://www.dailypioneer.com/61677/RSS-wing-blames-Cong-MP-for-triggering-communal-tension-in-Kandhamal.html
13. News Today
14. Net closes in on Cong MP for Orissa swami’s murder - Indian Express
15. Why Swami Laxmanananda was killed
16. "Advani, Singhal, Togadia natural targets of Maoists". The Times Of India. 2008-10-05.
17. Swami Laxmananand feared for his life: NGO : Latest Headlines: News India Today
18. http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=255&page=4
19. "Scores killed in Norway attack". BBC. UK. 23 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
20. "Norway massacre: Breivik declared insane". BBC News. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
21. Schwirtz, Michael (August 14, 2011). "Suspect in Norway Reconstructs Killings for Police". New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
22. Washington, Jesse (July 31, 2011). "'Christian terrorist'? Norway case strikes debate". Associated Press. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
23. Sheppard, Robert (July 24, 2011). "Norway's shooter: Delusional loner or far-right conspirator?". CBC News. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
24. Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks (July 25, 2011). "When Christianity becomes lethal". Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
25. Juergensmeyer, Mark (July 24, 2011). "Is Norway's Suspected Murderer Anders Breivik a Christian Terrorist?". Religious Dispatches Magazine. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
26. Reynolds, John Mark (July 28, 2011). "Breivik betrays Christianity". Washington Post.
27. Hirschfield, Brad (July 29, 2011). "Breivik a Christian, terrorist but not 'Christian terrorist'". Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
28. Paul Tinichigiu (2004-01). "Sami Fiul (interview)". The Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
29. Radu Ioanid (2004). "The Sacralised Politics of the Romanian Iron Guard". Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions. 5 (3): 419–453(35). doi:10.1080/1469076042000312203.
30. Leon Volovici. Nationalist Ideology and Antisemitism. p. 98. ISBN 0-08-041024-3. citing N. Cainic, Ortodoxie şi etnocraţie, pp. 162–4
31. "Roots of Romanian Antisemitism: The League of National Christian Defense and Iron Guard Antisemitism" (PDF). Background and precursors to the Holocaust. Yad Vashem – The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.
32. Payne, Stanley G. (1995). A History of Fascism 1914–1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press (pp. 277–289) ISBN 0-299-14874-2
33. Xan Rice (2007-10-20). "Background: the Lord's Resistance Army". London: The Guardian.
34. ^ Marc Lacey (2002-08-04). "Uganda's Terror Crackdown Multiplies the Suffering". New York Times.
35. The scars of death: children abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda By Human Rights Watch/Africa 1997 page 72
36. ^ Ruddy Doom and Koen Vlassenroot (1999). "Kony's message: A new Koine? The Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda". African Affairs. 98 (390). Oxford Journals / Royal African Society: 5–36.
37. "Ugandan rebels raid Sudanese villages". BBC News. 2002-04-08. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
38. K. Ward (2001). "The Armies of the Lord: Christianity, Rebels and the State in Northern Uganda, 1986–1999". Journal of Religion in Africa. 31 (2).
39. "In pictures: Ugandan rebels come home". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-01-02. One of the differences on the LRA pips is a white bible inside a heart
40. David Blair (2005-08-03). "I killed so many I lost count, says boy, 11". London: The Telegraph.
41. Matthew Green (2008-02-08). "Africa's Most Wanted". Financial Times.
42. Christina Lamb (2008-03-02). "The Wizard of the Nile: The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted by Matthew Green". London: The Times.
43. Marc Lacey (2005-04-18). "Atrocity Victims in Uganda Choose to Forgive". New York Times.
44. Al-Khattar, Aref M. (2003). Religion and terrorism: an interfaith perspective. Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 21, 30.
45. Al-Khattar, Aref M. (2003). Religion and terrorism: an interfaith perspective. Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 21, 30, 55, 91.
46. Michael, Robert, and Philip Rosen. Dictionary of antisemitism from the earliest times to the present. Lanham, Maryland, USA: Scarecrow Press, 1997 p. 267.
47. Wade, Wyn Craig (1998). The fiery cross: the Ku Klux Klan in America. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 185. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
48. Frederick Clarkson (2002-12-02). "Kopp Lays Groundwork to Justify Murdering Abortion Provider Slepian". National Organization for Women.
49. Laurie Goodstein and Pierre Thomas (1995-01-17). "Clinic Killings Follow Years of Antiabortion Violence". Washington Post.
50. "'Army Of God' Anthrax Threats". CBS News. 2001-11-09.
51. Bruce Hoffman (1998). Inside Terrorism. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11468-0.
52. "Apocalyptic Christians detained in Israel for alleged violence plot". CNN. 1999-01-03. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
53. "Cult members deported from Israel". BBC News. 1999-01-09. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
54. "George Tiller's killer has no regrets, doesn't ask for forgiveness". Houston Belief. 1999-02-09. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
55. Davey, Monica (January 28, 2010). "Doctor's Killer Puts Abortion on the Stand". New York Times. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
56. Cooperman, Alan (June 2, 2003). "Is Terrorism Tied To Christian Sect? Religion May Have Motivated Bombing: Suspect". Washington Post. Retrieved August 10, 2011. "Based on what we know of Rudolph so far, and admittedly it's fragmentary, there seems to be a fairly high likelihood that he can legitimately be called a Christian terrorist," said Michael Barkun, a professor of political science at Syracuse University who has been a consultant to the FBI on Christian extremist groups.
57. "US 'Christian militants' charged after FBI raids " BBC, March 30, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
58. http://www.freep.com/article/20120328/NEWS06/203280435/Defense-lawyers-hail-Hutaree-acquittals-as-free-speech-victory
59. Al-Khattar, Aref M. (2003). Religion and terrorism: an interfaith perspective. Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 21, 30.
60. Collyns, Dan (2011-10-06). "Peru shaman murders investigated". The Guardian. London.
61. Mark S. Hamm (2001). In Bad Company: America's Terrorist Underground. Northeastern. ISBN 1-55553-492-9.
62. James Alfred Aho (1995). The Politics of Righteousness: Idaho Christian Patriotism. University of Washington Press. p. 86. ISBN 0-295-97494-X.
63. Alan Cooperman (2003-06-02). "Is Terrorism Tied To Christian Sect?". Washington Post.
64. Martin Schönteich and Henri Boshoff (2003). 'Volk' Faith and Fatherland: The Security Threat Posed by the White Right. Pretoria, South Africa, Institute for Security Studies. ISBN 1-919913-30-0.

Bibliography

• Mason, Carol. 2002. Killing for Life: The Apocalyptic Narrative of Pro-Life Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Zeskind, Leonard. 1987. The ‘Christian Identity’ Movement, . Atlanta, Georgia: Center for Democratic Renewal/Division of Church and Society, National Council of Churches.
• Al-Khattar, Aref M. Religion and terrorism: an interfaith perspective. Greenwood. January 2003. ISBN 978-0-275-96923-3

Further reading

• Robert Spencer (author) Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't, Regnery Publishing, 2007, ISBN 1-59698-515-1
• Rodney Stark God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, HarperOne, 2010,

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from July 2011
• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from December 2011
• Christian terrorism
• Anti-abortion violence in the United States
• Religiously motivated violence in the United States
• Christianity-related controversies
• Christianity and violence