Former CSUB professor speaks about religious terrorism
Katherine J. White
Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Campus
Religion can be used to justify war and is often a disguise for nationalism.
So says retired Cal State Bakersfield professor Gary Kessler, who taught the philosophy of religion and other philosophy courses at CSUB from 1970 to 2004.
Kessler, who currently resides in Bellingham, Washington and is the author of several books including "Eastern Ways of Being Religious," "Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader" as well as others, spoke to a group of Bakersfield College professors and students in the Executive Boardroom in CC4 April 23.Kessler, in his talk, delved into the paradox of religion; religion can be a potent force for either good or evil. Violence cannot be divorced from religion, he said in this talk. That violence in religion often takes the form of sacrifice, and sacrifice is found in most religions. An irony of religion is that violence through the sacrificial act of scapegoating is meant to purify a community of its violence. Kessler said that he derives a lot of inspiration from fellow scholar and writer, UC Berkeley professor Rene Gerard, who wrote "Violence and the Sacred," which first came out in French in 1972.
Kessler's lecture brought up the question of whether or not religious terrorism is really religious and whether the so-called "holy wars" are actually nationalistic movements.
Kessler believes that often in these alleged "holy wars," religious language is used as a means of justifying a cause. Often religious rhetoric and religious terrorism are used as tools to force people to conform to certain policies. Religious terrorism is a tactic to frighten people into behaving in certain ways. Kessler cited the example of the "pious, poorly educated Zealots" of Christ's time who wanted to overthrow the brutal Roman government. He also noted that the so-called "Crusaders" were supposedly driven to reclaim Palestine for religious reasons when overpopulation was the real instigating factor.
"The goal of religious terrorism is political and economical although religious terrorists give religious reasons for it," Kessler said.
So says retired Cal State Bakersfield professor Gary Kessler, who taught the philosophy of religion and other philosophy courses at CSUB from 1970 to 2004.
Kessler, who currently resides in Bellingham, Washington and is the author of several books including "Eastern Ways of Being Religious," "Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader" as well as others, spoke to a group of Bakersfield College professors and students in the Executive Boardroom in CC4 April 23.Kessler, in his talk, delved into the paradox of religion; religion can be a potent force for either good or evil. Violence cannot be divorced from religion, he said in this talk. That violence in religion often takes the form of sacrifice, and sacrifice is found in most religions. An irony of religion is that violence through the sacrificial act of scapegoating is meant to purify a community of its violence. Kessler said that he derives a lot of inspiration from fellow scholar and writer, UC Berkeley professor Rene Gerard, who wrote "Violence and the Sacred," which first came out in French in 1972.
Kessler's lecture brought up the question of whether or not religious terrorism is really religious and whether the so-called "holy wars" are actually nationalistic movements.
Kessler believes that often in these alleged "holy wars," religious language is used as a means of justifying a cause. Often religious rhetoric and religious terrorism are used as tools to force people to conform to certain policies. Religious terrorism is a tactic to frighten people into behaving in certain ways. Kessler cited the example of the "pious, poorly educated Zealots" of Christ's time who wanted to overthrow the brutal Roman government. He also noted that the so-called "Crusaders" were supposedly driven to reclaim Palestine for religious reasons when overpopulation was the real instigating factor.
"The goal of religious terrorism is political and economical although religious terrorists give religious reasons for it," Kessler said.
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