Graduation Year
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Religious Studies
Major Professor
Michael DeJonge, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Adib Farhadi, Ph.D.
Committee Member
William Schanbacher, Ph.D.
Keywords
Jihad, Politics, Religion, Seculaism, War
Abstract
Religion is often invoked as a driving force behind violence, disentangled from political, social, and economic reasons. In this thesis, we will be exploring the viewpoints of three prominent religious thinkers in investigating the principal causes behind what is called religious violence. The works of Karen Armstrong, Mark Juergensmeyer, and William T. Cavanaugh are considered as theoretical frameworks for understanding violence in an Islamic context. While Armstrong argues that the root cause of violence can be traced back to economic, political, and cultural reasons, Juergensmeyer contests that religion is the most important cause underlying all violence. In their analyses, both thinkers rely heavily on a distinction between religious and secular violence. Cavanaugh, on the other hand, regards such a distinction as itself a legitimation of secular forms of violence that obscures the real causes of what we call religious violence.
Scholar Commons Citation
Camur, Ayse, "Three Theorists on Religious Violence in an Islamic Context: Karen Armstrong, Mark Juergensmeyer, and William T. Cavanaugh" (2019). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/7756
