Make sure you know the rules of engagement before reading on…

Anecdote or from those killed in Holy War:

“One of history’s most dangerous games begins with dividing the world into the good guys and the bad guys and ends with using any means necessary to take the villains out.”

― Stephen R. Prothero

Etymology of “victim:”

“Victims” are people who are harmed, injured or killed as a result of a crime or accident or other event. “Victim” comes from the late 15^th century Latin victima which denoted a creature killed as a religious sacrifice. Sins were propitiated by transferring harm onto a victim.

Three famous people(s) who adhered to this term

1. Ancient Canaanites affected by Torah
2. Medieval Muslims affected by The Crusades
3. Modern Christians affected by Sharia Law

List of terms: Who? Where? When? Why? How?

• Who victimized: Those on the opposite side of holiness—infidels, Gentiles, heretics.
• Where victimized: Often people who are victimized by Holy War are victimized because they live next to their holier neighbors.
• When victimized: Whenever the threshold of their limit for unrighteousness is breached, victims of Holy War will be purged.
• Why victimized: Because they have sinned and their sin deserves death or because they are occupying space that is set apart for a holier purpose than they can fulfill or because someone else’s god went to war with their god.
• How victimized: Typically by being driven out of the land, terrorized, and plundered.

Three positive tendencies of Holy War victims:

1. Some reevaluate and clean up their act
2. They attract the attention of the Just, one way or another
3. They have a deeper understanding of “home” than most

Three negative tendencies of Holy War victims:

1. Many respond with Holy War themselves
2. They tend to think in Us/Them terms
3. Racism

Fantastic example:

Victims of vampire or werewolf attacks.

Further reading:

Tyerman, Christopher (1998). The Invention of the Crusades (here on Amazon)