One place you may wish to check out on the issue would be
Christian Terrorism, Dominion Theology, Theonomy, Reconstruction Theology, and Tea Parties | The Dunedin School
I had a couple of thoughts, if I may share.
First, I think it needs to be remembered that being Militant is not necessarily opposite of being Christian nor a bad thing - just as it's not always negative if seeing other Muslims who are Militant. Defining "Militant" is very key, as being Militant in the sense of defending yourself when you and your family are harmed is never a bad thing - the right of self preservation and respect of dignity as a human being. Other groups in history fit into that world very well (more shared elsewhere on the issue
here and
here as well as here when it comes to seeing the ways that
Blacks responded to aggression if they were helpless, be it with
others like Malcolm X or MLK or
the work of Robert F. Williams and so many other) - and there are other forms of Militant Christianity which are damaging, more shared in
Militant Christianity: An Anthropological History - Alice Beck Kehoe
Second, The groups you listed are good examples of the issue you're discussing when it comes to Extremist Christians. I'd add groups that were in existence far earlier such as the Dutch Reformed in South Africa when seeing the ways
that they treated those who were Indigenous to the land and call them Cannanites......and for others in the U.S, we can see people such as t
he Branch Davidians (as
with Koresh ) and others like the KKK (
as mentioned before) - which were condoned in the U.S for an extensive amount of time, in addition to other groups that were openly promoting segregation and enforcing that through violence (from
lynching to
mob beatings - be it on black people
or whites supporting them - and many other things).
In addition to this, we can also examine the history of groups who claimed to represent Christ such a
s Mormons.....groups which have been noted to be semi-Christian even though there is an extensive history of violence in the camp. One hundred fifty years ago, the U.S. Army marched into Utah prepared to battle Brigham Young and his Mormon militia which did damage to countless people after harming others:
Many are not aware of information present on how those in Mormonism actually waged war in the history of Utah when it came to the U.S - and the people they claim were the Biblical Hebrews (Native Americans) in how they actually treated them when it came to expanding into the Western Frontier.
Mormon war on Native Americans (Black Hawk War between Natives and Mormons) - YouTube
A lot of that is
simply a reflection of Manifest Destiny - connected with American Exceptionalism ideals that often justified eradication of minority groups in the name of God condoning it. . This is similar to what happened with the Puritans when they came over (at least in certain camps) when they initially came over and later felt it was God's calling for them to treat Native Americans and Blacks in negative ways because of God backing it (even though other Puritans felt otherwise ) - more shared in
Utopian Promise as well as Perry Miller's
"Errand into the Wilderness" alongside
Puritans | Sects and Violence in the Ancient World and
The Puritan Origins of Black Abolitionism in Massachusetts | Christoper Cameron - Academia.edu (if wishing to learn on ways that the Puritan tradition was used positively) as well as
Civil Religion and the Anglo-and African American Jeramaid
But of course, outside of that, there are many other groups which one could consider as well - and when seeing the history of the Bible in where it was used for violence, it's not that difficult to see how many groups claimed Christ and yet were violent.
Dr. Philip Jenkins did an excellent review on the issue not too long ago when going through the history of groups that claimed to be Christian even though they condoned violence - as seen here:
The James F. Veninga Lecture on Religion and Politics Presents Philip Jenkins - YouTube
It's unfortunate when most people who are radical for Christ choose to see Jesus appearing as this:
Ultimately, only Jesus can save others caught up in terrorism and when we treat others the way Jesus treated those who were radical or extreme toward him on the cross, there can be real hope...
GG
In the Monumental film with Kirk Cameron, they make a good point that there were both people fleeing religious persecution and people looking for opportunity on the ships that brought people over here. That means there were people who were just in it for financial reasons coming over too. To them the Indians were a roadblock. They could show up in church and blend in with the people who came here for religious freedom. They could listen in on spiritual arguments and conjure up ways to use scripture to use the Bible to get what they wanted. Then when the Indians became trouble, they could look at books like Joshua and Numbers where the Israelites were commanded to wipe out the enemy.
Gxg (G²);66059046 said:
Whenever it seems others say that the nation was founded on "Christian principles" simply because of where others either spoke of Christ or referenced things from the Bible, it tends to remind me of the same thing my friends and I would wonder when we asked "Why do Rappers on the B.E.T. network always "Thank God" or Jesus on stage when they win music awards...but then they keep rapping about guns and "ho's" and 'busting a cap' in someone's behind and other un-Christian things?" -
many Christians have long called out the issue when it comes to the many secular artists claiming Christ and yet going against everything He actually stood for.......like
Beyonce in nearly ALL of her songs celebrating a lifestyle of wild living and yet saying that she/others pray to God before their concerts and therefore are "Christian" - that's not gonna fly.
.....The British Empire referenced Christ and God repeatedly with regards to colonialism and imperialism - long before others came over on the Mayflower. But that doesn't mean the British Empire was a Christian Empire. There were things others did simply because of how Christianity was the official RELIGION of the day for Empires. More on the issue was wisely shared elsewhere, as seen in
Monumental Myth | The Centrality and Supremacy of Jesus - as well as
The Victorians: Empire and Race
I've heard that sentiment for most of my life. But, what does it really mean? What are the principles,
which are exclusive to Christianity, on which America was founded?
Gxg (G²);66041228 said:
I think it's important to know the actions that were focused upon by the founders in order to really understand what principles they had that were either exclusive or non-exclusive to Christianity. It's a very complicated mater..
