Religion and Violence (syllabus)
(3 semester hours, RECU 65033/85033/95033)
Spring 2016, Brite Divinity School, Moore 209, Tuesday, 6:15-8:45

Instructor: Charles Bellinger c.bellinger@tcu.edu 817-257-7668

Course Description:
This course explores the highly ambiguous relationship between religious faith and violence. It provides an overview of situations in modern history that are examples of this ambiguous relationship, including terrorism and the responses it provokes. Students are exposed to authors who seek to comprehend violent behavior using explanatory theories. Students are also exposed to ethical perspectives on violent actions. The goal is to allow students in the course to develop an understanding of various dimensions (ethical, social, psychological, political, and theological) of the relationship between religious faith and intentional actions that result in ending human lives.

Course Objectives:
1. Students will be able to express informed views on the relationship between religious faith and violent behavior in the contemporary world.

2. Students will be able to articulate an understanding of violent behavior that is not only psychological or sociological, but also theological.

3. Students will be able to lead religious communities in reflection on these important issues in public theology.

Instructional Methods:
Lectures and discussion of assigned texts.

Texts:
Bellinger, Charles. The Trinitarian Self: The Key to the Puzzle of Violence. Eugene, Ore.: Pickwick, 2008. ISBN: 1556352328, $22

Girard, René. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2001. ISBN: 1570753199, $15

Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. ISBN: 0520240111, $21

 

Each student will also choose one more book, to review.

There will also be shorter required readings made available online.

 

65033 Grading Procedures:
1. Attendance and class participation, 20% [missing more than one class and not contributing to discussion will negatively impact grade]
2. Four short papers (3-4 pp.* each), 15% each
3. Book review (4-5 pp.*), 20% [on a book chosen by the student, in consultation with the instructor; see links page for more info]

85033/95033 Grading Procedures
The final paper for Th.M., D.Min., and Ph.D. students will be 20-25 pages*, on a topic approved by the instructor.

* double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt preferred

 

Schedule: (reading assignments should be completed by the date next to which they are listed) This syllabus represents current plans that are subject to change. Such changes, communicated by the instructor, are not unusual and should be expected. NB: The live links to online readings are here: http://lib.tcu.edu/staff/bellinger/rel-viol/rel-viol2016links.htm
	date	themes	reading assignments	writing assignments
Week 1	Jan. 12	Introduction to Course
Week 2	Jan. 19	cases and theories of violence	Juergensmeyer, ch. 1-3 Kenneth Burke, "The Rhetoric of Hitler's Battle"
Week 3	Jan. 26	continued	Juergensmeyer, ch. 4, 7-8 Ernest Becker, excerpts from Escape from Evil
Week 4	Feb. 2	continued	Juergensmeyer, ch. 9-11 Wm. Cavanaugh, "Does Religion Cause Violence?"	response to Juerg.
Week 5	Feb. 9	continued	Alice Miller, excerpts from For Your Own Good Ruth Stein, excerpts from For Love of the Father Chantal Delsol, excerpts from The Unlearned Lessons of the Twentieth Century Paul Kahn, excerpts from Out of Eden Giorgio Agamben, excerpts from Homo Sacer
Week 6	Feb. 16		Minister’s Week, no class
Week 7	Feb. 23	ethical perspectives	Reinhold Niebuhr, John Ford, John Howard Yoder, MLK
Week 8	March 1	9/11 responses	Jean Bethke Elshtain, Stanley Hauerwas, George W. Bush, Brian McLaren, Bellinger, The Trinitarian Self, 130-140	response on 9/11
Week 9	March 8		Spring Break, no class [book choice due]
Week 10	March 15	Girard’s mimetic theory	René Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, 1-100
Week 11	March 22	(Holy Week)	René Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, 103-94	response to Girard
Week 12	March 29	dimensional anthropology	Bellinger, The Trinitarian Self, 1-82
Week 13	April 5		Bellinger, The Trinitarian Self, 82-156	response to Bellinger
Week 14	April 12		[attendance at 12pm Community Conversation recommended] book reports
Week 15	April 19		book reports
Week 16	April 26		book review due April 28, noon, 4-5 pages