Considering something sacred can set one up for overwhelming rage if the sanctified object or cause is threatened. A recent study investigated what the authors call "desecration" which involves the perceived violation of something held sacred. They found the desecration of something held sacred most likely leads to overwhelming rage. Such rage is to be expected if a person's entire sense of themselves is built on a single identity as, say, a religious devotee or a patriot, or even a rational scientist. Under such conditions, individuals are set up for such rage when those foundations of selfhood appear threatened.
The main characteristic of such rage is a total lack of empathy toward the perceived offender. Such a total lack of empathy is one of the most striking traits seen in those who bomb innocent non-combatants, assassinate reproductive health care providers, and imagine (and sometimes plot) apocalyptic genocidal violence in the name of their deity.
Such rage is distinguished from ordinary aggression by its totalistic qualities and complete lack of empathy. There is a limitless, insatiable quality to this desire for revenge, like that seen in the apocalyptic fanatics who want to purge the world of all evil-doers, sinners, and non-believers. While some religiously motivated terrorists may employ violence purely tactically in the pursuit of limited and achievable political goals, others dream of complete purification and the apocalyptic eradication of all unholy people. Such totalistic schemes of divine vengeance reek of the rage born of threats to cherished beliefs and institutions.
Now the very act of killing is seen as sacred in itself. Violence is not simply a means to a spiritual or political end but violence becomes itself sacred, transcendental, almost divine. As this research would predict, when violence becomes sanctified, it is changed in ways that go beyond simply justifying its use. Now violence takes on a sacred purpose. Violence and genocide become religious imperatives, carrying a cosmic or spiritual meaning beyond that provided by any political or legal authority. This inevitably leads to a significant reduction in the usual restrictions on the deployment of violence, thus opening up the possibility of full-scale, unrestricted genocidal campaigns including weapons of mass destruction. When asked about using nuclear weapons Ba'asyir, the alleged leader of Jamaah Islamiyah in Indonesia, the group responsible for several bombings including the Bali nightclub. replied "Yes, if necessary ...Allah has said...that we should equip ourselves with weapon power-that is an order." Along this line, Zarqawi proclaims one of al Qaeda's basic doctrines,: "Allah commanded us to strike the Kuffar (unbelievers), kill them, and fight them by any means necessary to achieve the goal. The servants of Allah.. are permitted to use any and all means necessary to strike the active unbeliever combatants for the purpose of killing them...cleanse the earth from their abomination" Jihad takes precedence over any other moral or theological imperative, including the traditional prohibitions against killing fellow Muslims and innocent non-combatants. For al Qaeda, jihad means total, all-out, unrestricted warfare. Exactly the same position modeled in the writings of American apocalyptic Christians and the Left Behind series of novels. Sanctified violence is potentially limitless, unconstrained, ultimate violence. Any means are justified for an ultimate end: any means are justified to end abortion, defend and purify the Umma or the land of Biblical Israel or the Hindu Nation or the Aryan Race.
This research suggests that sacred motivation makes a big difference. Once values, goals and projects become sanctified, any attack on them becomes a matter of life and death. Sanctification of beliefs, institutions or ideologies sets one up for overwhelming rage. Desecration of sacred ideas, objects, values inevitably evokes a virtually boundless fury that leaps over all rational, strategic and even common moral limits. The apocalyptic destruction of the world becomes a wish, and maybe even a plan. The goal of transforming the world and the society is replaced by the drive to purify the world through violence and bloodshed.
Reference:
Jones, J. (2008). Blood That Cries Out From the Earth: The Psychology of Religious Terrorism. NY: Oxford University Press.
Jones, J. (2006). "Why does religion turn violent? A psychoanalytic exploration of religious terrorism. The Psychoanalytic Review. 93/2: 167-190.
Kohut, H. (1973). "Thoughts on Narcissism and Narcissistic Rage." The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, New York: Quadrangle Books.
Pargament, K., Trevino, K., Mahoney, A., Silberman, I. (2007). "They Killed our Lord: The Persecution of Jews as Desecrators of Christianity as a Predictor of Anti-Semitism." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46/2:143-148.
Pargament, K., Magyar, G., Benore, E., Mahoney, A.. (2005). "Sacrilege: A Study of Loss and Desecration." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44/1: 59-78.
