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Fear and Trembling: Terrorism in Three Religious Traditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

David C. Rapoport
David C. Rapoport*
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
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Abstract

As the first comparative study of religious terror groups, the article provides detailed analyses of the different doctrines and methods of the three best-known groups: the Thugs, Assassins, and Zealots-Sicarii. Despite a primitive technology, each developed much more durable and destructive organizations than has any modern secular group.

The differences among the groups reflect the distinguishing characteristics of their respective originating religious communities: Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. The distinctive characteristics of religious terror are discussed, and relationships between religious and secular forms of terror are suggested.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , December 1983 , pp. 658 - 677
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1983

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