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Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, by Karen Armstrong
Download Ebook Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, by Karen Armstrong
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Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of the Month, November 2014: Does religion lead to violence? This is the question that Karen Armstrong, the erudite former nun, asks in Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence. Her answer is “noâ€â€”or more specifically, that religion is not itself a source of violence and the problem lies more deeply in “our human nature and the nature of the state.†To prove her point, she covers roughly five thousand years of religious history, from Gilgamesh to the present day. Along the way, she builds the case against those who state, often without much context, that “religion has been the cause of all the major wars in history.†This is both an apologia and a wide-ranging and very readable lesson in the history of religion. It may not completely change the mind of everyone who reads it; but like everything Armstrong writes, it will leave them more enriched. –Chris Schluep
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“Impressive . . . Particularly valuable is the book’s long historical span, which allows the reader to trace not just the early history of warrior faith in such societies but also its evolution in modern times . . . That long historical reach allows Armstrong to argue very convincingly against some modern clichés about religious violence . . . Fields of Blood has a terrific amount to offer virtually any reader.” --Philip Jenkins, The Christian Century“A vast overview of religious and world history, sketching the early evolution of all global faiths . . . Armstrong denounces authoritarian secularism with eloquent passion . . . [and] does a good job of explaining why people who are deeply invested in traditional beliefs and social systems feel threatened and inclined to fight back.” --The Economist“Careful, fair, and true . . . Armstrong demonstrates again and again that the great spasms of cruelty and killing through history have had little or no religious overlay . . . [and that] an overemphasis on religion’s damage can blind people to the nonholy terrors that their states inflict . . . Apart from its larger argument, the book is packed with little insights and discoveries . . . The page-by-page detail of the book is much of the reason to read it . . . I generally end up judging books in two ways: by whether I can remember them and whether they change the way I think about the world. It’s too soon to know about the first test, but on the basis of the second I recommend ‘Fields of Blood.’” --James Fallows, New York Times Book Review “A valuable, readable rebuttal of a pernicious contemporary myth. The problem is not that religion corrupts human nature, but that human greed too often corrupts religion . . . Armstrong goes through the centuries and assorted cultures to demonstrate again and again how religious principles and religious leaders were co-opted to support warfare.” --Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch “A convincing case that the relationship of religion to violence is complicated and ambivalent.” --Molly Farneth, Commonweal“In a lucid and fleet prose . . . Armstrong argues that religion has been made a scapegoat for wars and violence . . . [She is] one of the keenest minds working on understanding the role religion plays in cultures around the globe.”–Graydon Royce, Minneapolis Star Tribune “Armstrong comes out swinging . . . [Her] prose is crisp and lucid, her command of fact encyclopedic, and her insights often brilliant.”–David Laskin, The Seattle Times “So important . . . [Fields of Blood] has been widely acclaimed for its scholarship, and deservedly so.”–Maureen Fiedler, National Catholic Reporter “Thought-provoking . . . a tour-de-force of the history of the world’s major religions.”–Rebecca Denova, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette“[A] bold new book . . . Armstrong makes a powerful case that critics like Dawkins ignore the lessons of the past and present in favor of a ‘dangerous oversimplification’ . . . [Her argument] is strong enough to change minds.”–Randy Dotinga, The Christian Science Monitor“With exquisite timing, religious historian Karen Armstrong steps forth with Fields of Blood . . . Laden with example . . . [Armstrong’s] overall objective is to call a time-out. Think before you leap to prejudice, she says . . . Among the most interesting stuff in [her] book is her deconstruction of the modern Islamic stereotype . . . In the end, the point Armstrong feels most adamant about is that by blaming religion for violence, we are deliberately and disastrously blinding ourselves to the real, animating issues in the Middle East and Africa.”–Patricia Pearson, The Daily Beast“Elegant and powerful . . . Both erudite and accurate, dazzling in its breadth of knowledge and historical detail . . . [Armstrong] seeks to demonstrate that, rather than putting the blame on the bloody images and legends in sacred texts and holy history, we should focus on the political contexts that frame religion.”–Mark Juergensmeyer, The Washington Post “A timely work . . . This passionately argued book is certain to provoke heated debate against the background of the Isis atrocities and many other acts of violence perpetrated around the world today in the name of religion.” –John Cornwell, Financial Times “Detailed and often riveting . . . a mighty offering . . . Armstrong can be relied on to have done her homework and she has the anthropologist’s respect for the ‘otherness’ of other cultures . . . [Her] oeuvre is extensive, bringing a rare mix of cool-headed scholarship and impassioned concern for humanity to bear on the vexed topic of religion . . . [And she] is nothing if not democratic in her exposition.” –Salley Vickers, The Guardian (UK) “Eloquent and empathetic, which is rare, and impartial, which is rarer . . . [Armstrong] ranges across the great empires and leading faiths of the world. Fields of Blood is never less than absorbing and most of the time as convincing as it is lucid and robust . . . [This] wonderful book certainly cleanses the mind. It may even do a little repair work on the heart.” –Ferdinand Mount, The Spectator (UK)“Characteristically eloquent and instructive . . . Armstrong’s survey of four millennia of organized violence with religious overtones . . . aspires to put historical flesh on the bare bones of [the facts] . . . Modern society “has made a scapegoat of faith”, thereby obscuring and thus partly exonerating the far more massive crimes of modern secular states and armies, while also defaming the majority of religious believers who work for tolerance, justice and peace by nonviolent means . . . We are all awash in “fields of blood”. [This] engaging new book makes that case eloquently.” –Scott Appleby, The Tablet (UK)“From Gilgamesh to bin Laden, [Armstrong covers] almost five millennia of human experience . . . Supplying the context of what may look like religiously motivated episodes of violence, in order to show that religion as such was not the prime cause . . . She is no doubt right to say that the aggression of a modern jihadist does not represent some timeless essence of religion, and that other political, economic and cultural factors loom large in the stories of how and why individuals become radicalized.” –Noel Malcolm, The Telegraph (UK) “Fluent and elegant, never quite long enough . . . as much about the nature of warfare as it is about faith . . . [Armstrong] is taking issue with a cliché, the routine claim that religion, advertising itself as humanity’s finest expression, has been responsible for most of the woes of the species . . . The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Wars of Religion, even modern “jihadi” terrorism: each is investigated . . . The picture is bleak, but certainly accurate . . . Exploitation and oppression continue . . . but these provide a challenge for the godly and the godless alike. The proposition, like the book, is noble.” –Ian Bell, The Sunday Herald (Scotland) “A well-written historical summary of what have traditionally been viewed as “religious” wars, showing convincingly that in pretty much all cases it was not so much religion as it was political issues that fueled the conflict.” –Augustine J. Curley, Library Journal (starred review) “Provocative and supremely readable . . . the comparative nature of [Armstrong’s] inquiry is refreshing . . . Bracing as ever, [she] sweeps through religious history around the globe and over 4,000 years to explain the yoking of religion and violence and to elucidate the ways in which religion has also been used to counter violence.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Epic in scale . . . a comprehensive and erudite study of the history of violence in relation to religion . . . Armstrong leads readers patiently through history . . . her writing is clear and descriptive, her approach balanced and scholarly . . . An intriguing read, useful resource and definitive voice in defense of the divine in human culture.” –Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Armstrong again impresses with the breadth of her knowledge and the skill with which she conveys it to us.” –Ray Olson, Booklist (starred review)
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Product details
Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (October 28, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307957047
ISBN-13: 978-0307957047
Product Dimensions:
6.6 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.2 out of 5 stars
312 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#154,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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.
I enjoyed reading this scholarly effort and find myself in agreement with the author most of the time. She points out that while religion has often been blamed for wars and various other human evils, careful examination of historical facts clearly reveal that the root cause of war and other human acts of violence on large scales is politics. Religion, however, has often been waiting in the wings in the form of convenient ways to rally parts of society or to paint these acts with a sort of spiritual permission or encouragement. I gave the book 4 stars only because the author’s bias gradually became evident as the latter chapters evolved: those that discussed modern times. She was obviously quite critical of the US and its historical role in sowing the seeds of hatred in the middle east, particularly following 911, and even tacitly suggested that the US should have done nothing afterward in order to better counter terrorism. This chapter (Global Jihad) had a faintly apologetic feel to it, favoring the enemies of the US, referring to Bin Laden’s death, for example, as an “assassination,†and describing President Bush, with his “100 million evangelical Christians,†as having a “messianic streak.†She also too easily dismissed the role of Islam by pointing out that many of the more infamous terrorist attacks (including 911) have been carried out by people with little training or familiarity with the Quran. I was reminded of a limo ride I took from New York to New Jersey a few years after 911. My driver was Muslim and had been raised in Pakistan. We talked the whole way. At one point I asked him if he’s read the Quran. He told me that he hadn’t because he was illiterate, but he was a firm believer.
This ambitious work purports to examine "religion and the history of violence." I would recommend it for more than that, however. For its first 10 chapters (spanning the very beginnings of civilization to 1914), the book functions as a worthy introduction to world history for those who don't have the time to devote to the Durants' multi-volume "Story of Civilization." Yes, you do need to know a little about world history for this book to make sense, but anyone in college or later should be able to integrate it into their thinking.Armstrong's overall politics are clearly left-liberal, but she manages to fairly describe the role of religion in the majority of human history, when a sacred context was sought for all human activity. She describes how Western Enlightenment philosophers and European politicians turned religion into a private zone of inner beliefs and rarely action -- and then loses interest in the West. The last three chapters focus almost exclusively on the Middle East and South Asia as a sort of rebuttal to the received wisdom of unthinkingly pro-Western elites like Thomas Friedman and the early Andrew Sullivan.I frankly do not have time here to grapple with all the worthy arguments made in this book, although I have decided to join the discussion group at my father's church that reads one chapter a week, and may well use the book for a future discussion group at my own church. Armstrong's insight into the human condition is captured by this paragraph from the Afterword:"John Locke believed that the separation of church and state was the key to peace, but the nation-state has been far from war-averse. The problem lies not in the multifaceted activity that we call 'religion' but in the violence embedded in our human nature and the nature of the state, which from the start required the forcible subjugation of at least 90 percent of the population. As Ashoka discovered, even if a ruler shrank from state aggression, it was impossible to disband the army. The Mahabhrata lamented the dilemma of the warrior-king doomed to a life of warfare. The Chinese realized very early that a degree of force was essential to civilized life. Ancient Israel tried initially to escape the agrarian state, yet Israelities soon discovered that much as they hated the exploitation and cruelty of urban civilization, they could not live without it; they too had to become 'like all the nations.' Jesus preached an inclusive and compassionate kingdom that defied the imperial ethos, and he was crucified for his pains. The Muslim ummah began as an alternative to the jahili injustice of commercial Mecca, but eventually it had to become an empire, because an absolute monarchy was the best and perhaps the only way to keep the peace. Modern military historians agree that without professional and responsible armies, human society would either have remained in a primitive state or would have degenerated into ceaselessly warring hordes."The last sentence seems especially appropriate for Memorial Day -- we really do owe it all to the troops. Armstrong's last few chapters, particularly chapter 10, perfectly summarize how while many things have gotten better as a result of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, other things have gotten worse. The last three chapters argue that people in developing countries, especially those where the US is conducting military operations, owe their misery to the West and that we therefore reciprocally owe them some interest in their welfare and right to develop, according to the tenets of every religion in history. This sweeping review of the history of warfare, religion, and their relationship belongs on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in these topics.
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