Is Religion Killing Us?

by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer

Book Overview

Coverage of recent world events has focused on violence associated with Islam. In this courageous and controversial book, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer claims that this narrow view ignores the broader and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1563384086
• ISBN13: 9781563384080
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Trinity Press International
• Length: 169 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

'preaching to the choir'?

The book is really quite good, and a welcome contribution. My principle criticism is that it was too short, and could have done better with historical context. (But I'm an admittedly hard customer in that area, being a historian.) It's quite the shame that most of those who read such works as this are already sympathetic to the conclusions, and that those who most need to understand their faith's darker side are somehow entirely immune to reason. As one example, we have the gentleman reviewer 'Kayden Raine', who seems to believe that violence against other humans is perfectly acceptable, so long as we don't hate G-d. He goes so far as to declare that 'violence' is, by definition, only this latter notion (and has clearly never opened a dictionary to check: violence, n., "The exercise of physical force so as to inflict injury on, or cause damage to, persons or property; action or conduct characterized by this; treatment or usage tending to cause bodily injury or forcibly interfering with personal freedom." -OED) Whatever "pure Christianity" he claims to represent seems to me, by his own professions, to be pure evil.

Challenging the easy acceptance of sacred texts.

There have been a lot of books recently on the relationship of religion and violence, but few have taken a close look at the sacred texts that play such a large role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Nelson-Pallmeyer challenges us to take seriously the language and images of violence in the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and the Qur'an. He suggests that there is something inherent in treating a text as "sacred" (and he uses quotes around the word "sacred" every time it refers to a text) that leaves the way open for defending, justifying, or perpetrating violence. He goes through the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an identifying both violence-of-God traditions and violent story lines. Finally, he explores how a measure of doubt and appreciation for what the enemy can teach us are important for counterating the violent themes and stories. Nelson-Pallmeyer gives too much weight to the texts themselves, in my opionon, and too little weight to the interpretive traditions that surround them. Reading Torah without consulting Talmud, or the Qur'an without Hadith gives one a warped understanding of how a religious tradition actually relates to its sacred texts. On the other hand, Nelson-Pallmeyer may be right in saying that those traditions often amount to special pleading or apologetics, and don't address tha fact that the texts can, in fact, be read as justifying violence. And this is precisely how many radical, "fundamentalist" groups have read them. I don't entirely agree with everything Nelson-Pallmeyer proposes, but he raises some very important considerations for those who consider their scriptures as sacred and yet consider their religious traditions to be peaceable.

Honest Look At the Violence Within Religion

The central idea of this book is that all three of the world's major monotheistic religions- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - have a long "violence of God" tradition which is harming the world. Furthermore, Nelson-Pallmeyer says that this tradition is rooted in actual scripture from the Bible and the Koran rather than a misinterpretation of the sacred texts. I appreciate the fact that Nelson-Pallmeyer is willing to state the truth of this obvious relationship rather than, like many religious people, attempt to explain away or ignore the "violence of God" tradition so apparent in the Bible and the Koran. Nelson-Pallmeyer, by the way, is a Christian who teaches Justice and Peace Studies at a university in Minnesota. He is also a dedicated advocate for peace and justice whose religious beliefs are firmly connected to his philosphy of non-violent social change such as practiced by Gandhi and others. Some readers may find his brand of pacifism to be naive or even extremist. But Nelson-Pallmeyer is certainly clear and consistent in his belief in peace and his opposition to violence. Also it's refreshing to find a Christian who is so willing to bravely critique his own religion. I don't agree with the writer 100%. But he definitely offers a perspective worth reading!

Great book discussing the violence of "sacred" texts

In light of the 9/11 attacks by fundamentalist Muslims and conservative Christian response to the attacks, Nelson-Pallmeyer argues that those (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) who use "sacred" texts to justify violence, do not distort their scripture: "religiously justified violence is first and foremost a problem of 'sacred' texts and not a problem of misinterpretation" (xiv). Therefore, any reasonable interpretor of these scriptures, can find texts to justify violence. Nelson-Pallmeyer, then, examines the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and the Quran, highlighting those passages that presuppose violence. The author believes in a responsible reading of these sacred texts - one that does not dismiss these passages - and proposes a doubting hermeneutic: humanbeings wrote "sacred" scripture, projecting violent images onto God. This hermeneutic challenges the authority of these texts, but can ultimately lead to nonviolent problem solving among the major religions.

In your face religion

The author is not going to let the three major religions of Islam, Christianity, and Judiasm get away with avoiding responsibility for their own sacred writings. And he documents the words in these books that support the idea of "Our God's bigger than your God". At the roots of the words of these Gods is the command to help Him inflict superior violence on his enemies. Perhaps some answers can be more clearly found to questions about: "Why the Inquisition?", "Why the holocost on Native Americans?", and "Why 9/11?".