Apocalyptic Faith and Political Violence: Prophets of Terror

225 Pages·2006·1.17 MB·English

by  James F. Rinehart (auth.)

Apocalyptic Faith and
Political Violence
Prophets of Terror
James F.Rinehart
APOCALYPTICFAITHANDPOLITICALVIOLENCE
© James F.Rinehart,2006.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2006 978-1-4039-7461-7
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First published in 2006 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-53534-7 ISBN 978-1-4039-8463-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403984630
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rinehart,James F.,1950–
Apocalyptic faith and political violence :prophets of terror /
James F.Rinehart.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:Terrorism and prophecy––The rise of millenarian
terror––The mediating role of the prophet––Alienation and the quest
for renewal––Identity and apocalyptic violence.
1.Terrorism––Religious aspects––Christianity.2.Violence––Religious
aspects––Christianity.3.Religion and politics.4.End of the world.
5.Armageddon.I.Title.
BL65.T47R56 2006
303.6(cid:2)25––dc22 2006041584
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India.
First edition:September 2006
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Betty
My wife, my companion, my best friend
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Contents
Introduction 1
1 Terrorism and Prophecy 11
2 The Rise of Millenarian Terror 33
3 The Mediating Role of the Prophet 79
4 Alienation and the Quest for Renewal 115
5 Identity and Millenarian Violence 143
Conclusions 163
Notes 169
Bibliography 203
Index 219
Introduction
Questions surrounding the “end times” have haunted cultures and
societies from the very beginning of human existence. The possibility
of the demise of one’s society—one’s way of life—conjures up ques-
tions that are outside the human capacity to answer in a satisfactory
manner. Can there be an end time? Can we prepare for such an event?
What will be the outcome? As evidence of the immense power of
apocalyptic faith, these questions stand at the foundation of religions
worldwide.
Despite the fact that it was virtually ignored during the Cold War,
recent events have brought religion back to the forefront of scholarship
on world politics. In particular, we must now confront the complex
relationship between apocalyptic faith and the phenomenon of political
violence; however, scant material exists on the subject.
This study seeks to fill a modest portion of this void by investigat-
ing the functional relationship between millenarian-inspired terrorism
and the process of political change. Specifically, it examines three cases
that emerged in the late twentieth century—Aum Shinrikyo, Sendero
Luminoso, and Hezbollah—and their political impact on the global
community. Although its appearance has been episodic, becoming
most explicit during periods of general restiveness and in response
to conditions of pervasive alienation, millenarianism has been an
ever-present mechanism for engendering limited political change in all
three societies.
The advent of Western imperialism impinging on their traditional life
created the most significant challenge these societies had faced. An
important response was the evolution of a paradigm of millenarian expec-
tations usually involving political violence. I argue that this paradigm
remains fully intact and is exemplified by these late-twentieth-century
movements that utilized terror to achieve their political goals.
At first glance it would appear that the societies that gave birth to
these movements would have little in common and thus would be poor
candidates for a comparative study of political violence. After all, Japan
is one of the most advanced industrialized democracies, possessingone of
2 APOCALYPTIC FAITH AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE
the highest standards of living in the world. Peru and Lebanon, on the
other hand, exhibit a rather inchoate form of democratic system and,
economically, must be included in the category of the “developing”
world. Japan is ethnically homogeneous with virtually no racial diver-
sity. Peru, much like the rest of Latin America, can only be described as
a heterogeneous mixture of races. Japan possesses a unitary culture,
whereas Peru is a diverse convergence of many different cultures
including a distinctly and sociopolitically dominant Spanish, and thus
European, system, and a majority of its population is American Indian.
Although seemingly falling under the rubric of an Arab state, Lebanon
possesses a diversity of religions, races, and cultures.
Nonetheless, these seemingly different societies have much in com-
mon that make them fertile ground for cross-cultural research about
political violence. First, all three societies possess a lengthy and
durable history of pervasive, religiously inspired millenarian beliefs.
These beliefs frequently manifest themselves, since the ancient period,
as protest movements, which tend to emerge following episodes of
extreme social stress, associated with the challenges of massive cultural
transformation.
Second, the indigenous peoples of each society have traditionally
been imbued with a powerful sense of historical destiny and an equally
well-defined identity. For example, according to traditional legend,
the people of Japan are descended from the sun goddess, Amaterasu,
and the land itself is considered to be divine by its inhabitants.1
Indeed, the oldest written records of Shinto, the Kojiki(AD 712) and
the Nihon Shoki(AD 720), primarily focus on the ancient, supernatural
origins of the Japanese imperial family and its divine mission on
earth.2In Peru, Andean Indians trace their roots to the Inca Empire,
an advanced political and economic social system that thrived in
thepre-Columbian era. Their sacred emperors were considered to be
sons of the sun and, thus, gods.3 Shi’a Muslims of Lebanon see
themselves as the inheritors of the infallible teachings of Prophet
Muhammad.
Third, the intrusion of Western ideas of modernity introduced new
socioeconomic and political ideas in each of these societies that chal-
lenged and in many ways threatened not only their traditional way of
life but also their collective sense of identity. Indeed, each have had to
succumb, to no small extent, to European ways that disrupted tradi-
tional systems and forced peoples to reframe their identities in such a
way as to seek compatibility and conformity with Western norms.
Our first task is to define the notion of millenarianism. It is the
belief that at the end of time some sort of rescuer or savior will return
INTRODUCTION 3
to the culture and save the faithful from the wrath of an anti-god, and
deliver them into a Promised Land or utopian existence.
As one might expect, in its earliest form, millenarianism was perceived
of as an explicitly religious phenomenon. Indeed, it stood at the foun-
dation of traditional Chinese folklore,4ancient Zoroastrianism,5early
Judaism,6 African animism,7 Christianity,8 and Islam;9 it survives in
these forms to the modern age.
The concept of millenarianism is both significant and pervasive. It is
noteworthy in both its capacity to mobilize a culture for action, gener-
ally in the presence of perceived danger, and its relationship to the
necessity of collective identity that establishes the foundation of cultural
unity. Its pervasiveness is equally incredible. Millenarianism permeates
virtually every culture around the world largely due to its capacity to
adapt to the wants and needs of the people, even in the most modern
societies. As a result, it is both a traditional and modern phenomenon.
The Christian faith has always anticipated the end time, and its
teachings reflect this expectation. Originally, millenarianism referred
to the belief held by many Christians that after his Second Coming,
Jesus Christ will create a messianic kingdom on earth and will reign
over it, with the help of a select or chosen people, for a thousand years
preceding the Final Judgment.10
More recently, social scientists have sought to understand
millenarianism well beyond that of its original religious foundations.
Supported by an ever-growing body of research about non-Christian
movements that, nonetheless, exhibit the characteristics of millenari-
anism, researchers have come to view the phenomenon in increasingly
secular as well as behavioral terms—as a response to massive upheaval
such as that engendered by natural disasters, socioeconomic distur-
bance, or the disorientation resulting from the collision of highly
different cultures.11
Outbreaks of millenarian fervor are not exclusively dependent
upon Jewish or Christian traditions of religious prophecy or, for that
matter, on a traditional worldview. Over the past century, scholars
have uncovered remarkably similar movements, led by a prophet
leader, claiming divine revelation, outside of the traditional realm of
Judeo-Christianity in remote regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas,
and Melanesia.12Despite their diverse cultural sources, the conditions
present at the time of their eruption are notably alike. Society is
undergoing rapid change. In addition, long-standing cultural tradi-
tions are systematically invalidated by seemingly more powerful forces
generally delivered by the invasion of Western culture into the region.
As a result, the peoples of these communities are experiencing mass
4 APOCALYPTIC FAITH AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE
alienation and insecurity. Under such disruptive circumstances, pow-
erful modern messiahs have emerged around the world.13
Millenarian movements are powerfully emotional social movements
whose members anticipate a unique type of social salvationism—
an immediate, collective, total, this worldly, supernatural rescue, and
subsequent transformation of society.14
It is important to point out at this early juncture that most mil-
lenarian movements are nonviolent. There are numerous examples of
millenarian movements that are quite passive and doctrinally committed
to peaceful reconciliation of conflict.
Indeed, among those millenarian movements that have exhibited a
bent toward violent action, more often than not it has been aimed
inward, at the self, not at society at large. As a result, self-destruction
is a common characteristic of millenarian sects, possibly seen as yet
another tool of hastening the end time.15
Nonetheless, political violence and the spread of “terror” have
been frequent tools of millenarian movements as in the cases under
present investigation.
Methodology
The study of millenarianism and its relationship to terrorism presents
us with some rather significant methodological difficulties.
For example, both phenomena restrict the potential for field studies.
As a result, empirical data is rare. Such movements are quite difficult
and often dangerous to penetrate, rendering first-hand accounts and
independent observations limited, thorny, and challenging. In addi-
tion, those who survive such movements tend to selectively limit their
recall of events, reconstructing a narrative account only within certain
boundaries of their experiences.16
Research studies on terrorism or millenarianism are often not
placed within an impartial analytical structure. Unfortunately, many of
those who write about terrorism, for example, tend to possess a pre-
conceived bias of a “problem–solution” orientation in which he or she
is simply attempting to justify a set of counterterrorist prescriptives.17
Such an orientation is frequently presented in an emotional manner
and laden with personal preferences/biases.18
An additional major methodological hurdle to be overcome in any
analysis of millenarian-inspired political violence involves the nature
and difficulty of accounting for human perceptions of events. In other
words, what we or anyone else “sees” in any episode occurring in time
and space depends very much on the “lens” through which we view it.