Karen Armstrong should not need another introduction. She left behind her life as a Roman Catholic nun to devote a lifetime studying world religion, and she becomes one of the greatest religious scholars that has ever lived in the process. She is now, in her own words, a "freelance monotheist", and it is reflected in her careful, respectful and unbiased way of writting on every different religion. This book is another testament on this deep care and her range of knowledge on the subject matter.
Fields of Blood seemingly discusses every single violence conducted in the name of religion, from ancient societies like the Summerians, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, Zoroastrians, Confucian, to the Abraham religion and the many religions in the Sub Continent, to the era of first secular states (the US and post-revolution France), until the rise of Zionism, the current "war on terror" era and the most recent rise of ISIS. Within this scope, she masterfully narrated on the politics, the struggles and the social interactions in each one of those eras, and explains us the gradual and intricate evolution of religion from the time religion, state and daily lives have not been separated yet, into the religion as we know it today.
The book is so full of information and so airtight, however, that it can sometimes feel a little too complicated and unecessarily detailed. But I believe it is not meant to be memorised but rather to give us the big picture of how massively complex religious evolution is.
As always, Ms Armstrong focused on the historical facts rather than the mystics or the folklores, and thus some may find the revelation in the book unsettling, such as the degree of editing the Bible experienced, or how Islamic Hadits were conveniently tailored, or the mysterious discovery of questionable scrolls containing the teachings of Moses for the Jews, despite the fact that during Moses' time in 8th century BC teachings were taught verbally rather than in writting - all of which have 1 underlying purpose: to match the rulers' political needs at the time. And this is the central thesis of the book, where all violence that are conducted in the name of religion are all ultimately man made. And the scripture-based justification that comes with them are nothing short of a political doctrine, not much different than the atheist doctrines by Hitler, Stalin and Mao.
As Karen Armstrong herself puts it "terrorism is fundamentally and inherently political, even when other motives—religious, economic, or social—are involved. Terrorism is always about "power—acquiring it or keeping it." And so, according to one of the pioneering experts in the field, "all terrorist organizations, whether their long-term political aim is revolution, national self-determination, preservation or restoration of the status quo, or reform, are engaged in a struggle for political power with a government they wish to influence and replace.""
Indeed, our main focus when it comes to religious violence should not be the religion, but what have happened in that specific occurance that created violence in the name of religion. And to that end, learning from this book, there seems to be a pattern where all root causes of violence eventually come from these 4 stages: 1. A group of minority are treated unfairly or even oppressed 2. A leader emerged among them to fight for their cause, which originally preach non-violence 3. Only to be crushed by those in power, pushing them further into the edge and force them to be radical 4. And so they launch their radical offensives, justifying their violent acts by (mis)quoting their Holy Book and fitting their oppressor into their doctrine (i.e. Infidels, the devil, etc).
Karen Armstrong then elaborate, "the claim that the primary motivation of a terrorist action is political may seem obvious—but not to those who seem determined to regard such atrocious acts of violence as merely "senseless." Many of that view, not surprisingly, find religion, which they regard as a byword for irrationality, to be the ultimate cause."
Questioning which religion is more violent than the other is, therefore, completely missing the point. Although she did admit that "this, of course, is not to deny that religion has often been implicated in terrorist atrocities." But nevertheless, "it is far too easy to make it a scapegoat rather than trying to see what is really going on in the world."
There are thousands more words that can be written in this review, with thousands specific examples can be derived from this book. It is indeed the hardest review I've written so far, simply because there are so many great things about the book, and so many important points that I want to cover but could not possibly fit them all in just one short review. It is definitely one of my top 10 books to read to understand how the world really works. It is trully a masterpiece.
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Fascinating! Karen Armstrong always impresses me in her books with her total grasp of the subject, her great intelligence and the empathy and humility with which she deals with these issues that are so personal to so many people. I've often wanted to write her, but I am sure so many others do as well. She is a contemporary of mine as we were both born within 6 months of each other. Like Karen, I was raised a Catholic, but do not now practice. Yet I do consider myself a Christian and, by that, I mean a follower of Christ, an individual who tries to conform his life to the themes described in His words and actions in the Gospels. I do not attend any church and I am well read in one other tradition, which is Buddhism. I see Karen, as I see Thomas Merton, as I see myself, as a searcher, who has never stopped searching. I stand at the chasm which she best described in a previous book and I am paraphrasing: How is there anything when there could so easily have been nothing. Mike
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buy a magnifying glass to go with it!
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