San Antonio College Library

"While almost everyone has a strong opinion about the profusion of violence - in film, TV, video games, and on line - paralysis sets in when it comes to action. The issue is seen as a hopeless standoff between free speech and preserving public morality. In Mayhem, Sissela Bok reframes the issue. She shows us that we have created a false dilemma and that we need not feel so helpless." "Mayhem lays out the arguments and weighs the evidence on each side:...

"Politicians, the media, and religious leaders are all quick to assure us that religion has no share of the blame for the terrorist campaigns and the ethnic and inter-communal conflicts that increasingly threaten our peace and security. In a passionate and powerfully-written analysis Oliver McTernan argues that unless this mindset is challenged the world will never eliminate the threat of faith-inspired terror."--Provided by publisher--

The notion of identity -- personal, religious, ethnic, or national -- has given rise to heated passions and crimes throughout history. What makes each one of us unique has been a fundamental question of philosophy from Socrates to Freud. This book argues that the concept of identity that prevails the world over is still very much tribal. It allows men of all countries, conditions, and faiths to be transformed into butchers and fanatics, passing themselves...

"In Beyond Sacred Violence, Kathryn McClymond argues that the modern Western world's reductive understanding of sacrifice simplifies an enormously broad and dynamic cluster of religious activities. Drawing on a comparative study of Vedic and Jewish sacrificial practices, she demonstrates not only that sacrifice has no single, essential, identifying characteristic but also that the e1ements most frequently attributed to such acts - death and violence...

Reviews the complex issue of nationalism and ethnic conflict through a variety of articles and book excerpts.

"In the latter part of this century, an increasingly vigorous and sophisticated scientific study of antisocial behavior has emerged. This new science has offered partial answers to some very important questions which will lead to better understanding and prevention of antisocial behavior. In 50 chapters, more than 100 leading scientists, clinicians, and scholars review the research in their area of expertise to provide extraordinary extensive and...

"In this book Beverley Milton-Edwards explores the relationship between Islam and violence in the modern era. She chronicles the history of Islam's development and the expression of violence exhibited by its rulers. She accounts for definitions of violence and terrorism while exploring the powerful motifs of sacrifice, martyrdom and holy terror, and challenges the responses and reactions to an increasingly prevalent belief that an intimate link exists...

Philip Jenkins identifies the "holy amnesia" that, while allowing scriptural religions to grow and adapt, has demanded a nearly wholesale suppression of the Bible's most aggressive passages, leaving them dangerously dormant for extremists to revive in times of conflict. Jenkins lays bare the whole Bible, without compromise or apology, and equips us with tools for reading even the most unsettling texts, from the slaughter of the Canaanites to the alarming...