medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Mon, January 2, 2006 9:20 pm, Richard Landes wrote (in part):
> 1) ... all
> those people who gathered in france and germany to take off did so on
> the basis of a) religious devts in europe, and b) rumors and "news"
> that came from sources that we cd hardly credit with historical
> accuracy. to try and locate an aggressive vs. defensive motivation
> here strikes me as an effort to project "rational thought" into a mix
> that is far more volatile and passionate.
Attitudes and motivations are, surely, fed (then and now) not by facts
("true facts", if you will) but by what people believe to be the case;
sometimes, indeed, by what they wish to be the case. It is sometimes hard
for those whose habit is to proceed by careful rationality to appreciate
this. If the information is false, rational development of attitudes, and
action arising from them, will seldom appear rational. And attitudes
which are shared in a community are not easily dismantled.
>
> 2) as i have said on this list and am in print advocating, the first
> crusade in particular was motivated primarily by apocalyptic
> expectations, in which the armies of the Lord wd take Jerusalem and
> usher in the millennial kingdom.
Can you outline why millennial expectation reached such a pitch several
generations after the millennium had passed?
> 3) ... in both the xn and muslim forms of apoc jihad/crusades you have
> typical forms of megalomanic paranoia -- we alone fight the massive
> forces of evil which control this world -- linked to extreme dualism
> and limitless violence -- only the most ruthless and total violence
> can win the battle, we do god's will.
This effect is seen also in some Reformation episodes, where millennial
expectation came into play, but is a recurrent theme in other periods of
strife and change too.
>
> 5) the muslims
> are the ones either giving into or not resisting the call of active
> cataclysmic apocalypticism. they're the ones who need the auto-
> criticism most.
Hmm. By my reading, they seem to see themselves as under threat
(remember, I'm talking attitudes, not primarily historical fact) in
religion, in culture, and commercially; and the present feeling of being
threatened connects readily with their past, creating a continuity which
may be specious but is readily propagated.
>
> 6) on the other hand, the historical dimension seems particularly
> significant to me, because we have this unfortunate tendency in the
> late 20th cn, continuing far beyond the margins of safety, of
> projecting modern civic values and attitudes onto people and
> cultures which do not share those values, indeed despise them. the
> battle shaping up right now btw global jihad and western civil
> society is nothing short of world-shaping/shaking, and we will not do
> well in understanding the (literally) medieval forces of theocracy
> and supersessionism that face us if we indulge in either excessive
> self-criticism or excessive blame.
I think the only way of sustaining rational attitudes is to practice
rational thought and discourse, trusting that truth will emerge (a
statement which is not intended as any sort of counsel of despair).
"Those who live by the sword..."
Hal Cain
Joint Theological Library
Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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