Confronting Genocide

Steven Leonard Jacobs is associate professor of religious studies and holds the Aaron Aronov Endowed Chair of Judaic Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.

Religion has too often been a cause of genocide. The essays in this collection examine why, and then propose how religious texts and traditions could be re-interpreted so that religions could become forces against genocide.

• Chapter 1 Introduction: Genocide in the Name of God: Thoughts on Religion and GenocidePart 2 Part I. Textual Warrants for GenocideChapter 3 1. Theological Warrants for GenocideChapter 4 2. The Last Uncomfortable Religious Question? Monotheistic Exclusivism and Textual Superiority in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as Sources of Hate and GenocideChapter 5 3. A Sweet-Smelling Sacrifice: Genocide, the Bible, and the Indigenous Peoples of the United States, Selected ExamplesChapter 6 4. The Accountability of Religion in GenocideChapter 7 5. More than the Jews: His Blood Be Upon All the Children: Biblical Violence, Bosnian Genocide, and Responsible ReadingPart 8 Part II. Religion and Mass Violence: Empirical Data and Case StudiesChapter 9 6. Religion and GenocideChapter 10 7. Jihad and Genocide: The Case of the ArmeniansChapter 11 8. Islam and Genocide: The Case of Bangladesh in 1971Chapter 12 9. The Genocidal Twentieth Century in the BalkansChapter 13 10. "Death was everywhere, even in front of the church": Christian Faith and the Rwandan GenocidePart 14 Part III. Alternative Readings of Troubling Texts: Religion as a Force against ViolenceChapter 15 11. Getting Rid of the G-d of Abraham: A Prerequisite for GenocideChapter 16 12. The Ten Commandments, the Holocaust, and Reflections on GenocideChapter 17 13. Coming to Terms with Amalek: Testing the Limits of HospitalityPart 18 Part IV. Theologies and Practices of ReconciliationChapter 19 14. Post-Shoah Restitution of a Different KindChapter 20 15. The Holocaust, Genocide, and the Catholic ChurchChapter 21 16. Catholic Perspectives on Holocaust and Genocide: Critical AppraisalChapter 22 17. Terror out of Zion: Making Sense of Scriptural TeachingChapter 23 18. Rape, Religion, and Genocide: An Unholy Silence