Christian Terrorism: Examining Religious Extremism and Armed Conflict

By Fouad Sabry

What is Christian Terrorism

Christian terrorism, a form of religious terrorism, comprises terrorist acts which are committed by groups or individuals who profess Christian motivations or goals. Christian terrorists justify their violent tactics through their interpretation of the Bible and Christianity, in accordance with their own objectives and worldview.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Christian terrorism

Chapter 2: Hate crime

Chapter 3: Terrorism

Chapter 4: Aryan Nations

Chapter 5: Religious nationalism

Chapter 6: Religious terrorism

Chapter 7: Militant

Chapter 8: Lone wolf attack

Chapter 9: Religious violence

Chapter 10: Army of God (terrorist organization)

(II) Answering the public top questions about christian terrorism.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Christian Terrorism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: May 27, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Christian terrorism

A subset of religious terrorism known as Christian terrorism consists of terrorist attacks carried out by persons or groups who claim to have Christian motives or objectives.

It is questioned if the term Christian terrorism is used literally.

There are no known instances of early Christian organizations trying to utilize terrorism or random acts of violence as religious weapons. It is disputed to what extent these activities were religious as opposed to ethnic or political in nature, as with examples from the current day.

Religious strife stemming from the Reformation and the recusancy that developed in opposition to it was evident in Britain during the early modern period.

Movements in Romania influenced by Eastern Orthodox Christianity, such as the Iron Guard and Lăncieri, which Stanley G. and Yad Vashem have described.

Payne as a fascist and anti-Semite, respectively, participated in the Bucharest pogrom and carried out a number of murders with political motivation in the 1930s.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was established by former Confederate troops following the American Civil War (1861–1865). The Ku Klux Klan began as a social organization, but a year after its founding, night rider elements overtook it. It subsequently started engaging in violent behavior, including lynchings, murder, rape, arson, beatings, property destruction, tar and feathering, whipping, and voting intimidation. Newly liberated slaves, carpetbaggers, scalawags, and the occupying Union Army were all targets of the Klan. In Georgia, a new version of the Klan led by Protestants was founded in 1915, during a time when racism, xenophobia, nativism, and anti-Catholicism were all common. That version of the Klan vanished by the 1870s. Compared to the original Klan, this one significantly broadened both its geographic reach and its list of potential victims.

The 1915 Klan, which was vehemently anti-Catholic and promoted an openly Protestant Christian terrorist ideology, targeted Jews, Catholics, and other social, racial, and religious minorities and partially based its principles on a religious foundation in Protestant Christianity, Former American Academy of Religion president Mark Juergensmeyer has claimed that the post-Cold War decline in faith in Western conceptions of nationalism and the advent of globalization are to blame for the increase in religious nationalism around the world.

Many people and organizations have claimed that their terrorism was inspired by their Christian faith or Christianity.

Religion frequently has strong correlations with ethnic identity, socioeconomic status, and self-image. Terrorists may identify as Christians in these situations, but it's possible that their motivations have nothing to do with any particular understanding of Christian doctrine. In these circumstances, Christianity is a name that reflects cultural influences rather than purely ideological ones.

By demonizing the other group or exaggerating its threat, media and political sources frequently strengthen this cultural Christian identity in the minds of terrorists. An important factor in the violence in the Central African Republic is the politicization of ethnic and religious tensions. Those that the perpetrator perceives as posing a threat to him or her in any way, such as LGBT individuals or members of any group that does not fit the perpetrator's definition of who they are, can also be the targets of this kind of terrorism.

It is frequently referred to as non-Christian or anti-Christian when the opposing group is likewise Christian but belongs to a different denomination. For instance, the Orange Volunteers' leader, who identified his group as fundamentalist Protestants, justified his group's attacks on Catholic churches by claiming that they were bastions of the Antichrist..

Criminals have repeatedly used their own unique interpretations of Christianity to both justify and inspire their crimes. Conventional Christian readings of the Bible also provide a number of prohibitions against using violence as a tool of politics or religion.

Six people were killed in a fundamentalist Christian terror incident that took place in Wieambilla, Australia, on December 12, 2022.

There are many different mental health disorders and illnesses, but it is extremely uncommon for them to result in violence.

Terrorists who assert a Christian motive may operate singly or in groups. It can be challenging to tell whether a criminal acted entirely alone or was motivated by a political or religious organization. The same issue applies to acts of terrorism that are ostensibly motivated by politics, religion, or other ideologies.

Peter James Knight entered the East Melbourne Fertility Clinic, a private abortion facility, on July 16, 2001, bringing a rifle and other weapons.

Benjamin Matthew Williams and James Tyler Williams murdered Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder, a gay couple from Redding, California, in 1999. Neighbors claimed that the Williams Brothers' family was well-known for their conservative Christian beliefs and that they frequently heard sermon recordings and religious music coming from their home.

Robert Doggart, a 63-year-old mechanical engineer, was charged in 2015 with soliciting to violate a person's civil rights by intending to harm or destroy religious property after declaring his intention to gather weapons and attack the Islamic community and hamlet of Islamberg in Delaware County, New York.

{End Chapter 1}

Chapter 2: Hate crime

A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a crime motivated by prejudice that happens when a criminal targets a victim on the basis of their membership (or perceived membership) in a particular social group or racial demographic.

Examples