Barker (2009) ‘In God’s Name.’ Citation: Barker, Eileen (2009) ‘In God’s Name: Practising Unconditional Love to the Death’ in Madawi Al-Rasheed and Marat Shterin (eds.) Dying for Faith: Religiously Motivated Violence in the Contemporary World, London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 49-58.
Time Period Covered:
Theory, Research Question, Hypothesis:
Relationship to Other Research/Ideas Contested/Noted Gaps:
Barker (2009:49): The term brainwashing is rejected by most scholars for expressing distaste for the results of a process rather than explaining the process itself.
Barker (2009:50): “I had never been very impressed with rational choice as either an explanatory theory or even a very helpful descriptive tool if it is being assumed that we perform actions because they are the most efficient means to achieve a desired goal. It has always seemed to me that such an explanation must be either a tautology or wrong. Even if we knew what goals people would choose, it is obvious enough that they do not always, or even usually, use the most rational means to achieve their goals. All manner of quirks and moral and religious sentiments interfere with the most efficient means being adopted.” Despite this, the link between means and ends is not unimportant.
Concepts and Definitions:
Barker (2009:50-51): Cited own definition of choice from 1984 work: A choice would involve reflection (in the present), memory (of the past) and imagination (of possible futures). A person would be an active agent in deciding between two or more possible options when he could anticipate their potential existence and when, in doing so, he drew upon his previous experience and his previously formed values and interests to guide his judgement.”
Method:
Primary/Original Data:
Argument/Conclusion:
Limitations/Flaws:
Abstract:
Notes:
Barker (2009:49): Religion can persuade people to do something they would not otherwise consider doing, to act with added commitment and disregard for other considerations. While it is not the only reason people do things they may otherwise have eschewed, posits that someone is more likely to do something commanded by God than by a normal man (unless we believe that man to have a direct line to God).