Sacred Violence in Early America by Susan Juster (review)

In this intelligent and insightful study, Sacred Violence in Early America, historian Susan Juster provides an in-depth analysis of the background and evolution of violence within the realm of religion. Venturing past the 1607 founding of Jamestown and the establishment of a Puritan colony at Plymouth Rock in 1620, Juster turns to sixteenth-century "theologies of violence" in an effort to further investigate how some of America's earliest settlers conceptualized and legitimized violence inspired by ideological differences. As an inquiry into the methods and practices of sacred violence as well as the many motivations behind them, Juster's work is composed of four chapters which chronicle the developments of blood sacrifice, holy war, malediction and iconoclasm.

In an effort to shed light on religiously motivated acts of violence in British America as well as their religious justifications, Juster explores the deep cultural roots of the sixteenth century which would ultimately structure the social and political narratives of life in the subsequent years, decades and centuries of the settlement period. Via the utilization of helpful quotations from scripture and literary works, Juster illustrates how Europe's wars of religion went on to influence the ideological and rhetorical trends in early American practices of sacred violence. As children of the Reformation, the inhabitants of early America had witnessed the demolition of previous religious doctrine, texts and traditions and the subsequent establishment of the new. Consequently, to say religion was important in colonial American culture would be a tremendous understatement. Religion was ubiquitous, and its impact on the daily lives and associations of early Americans was immense.

From the countless colonial endeavors of extermination to the prosecution of heresy and blasphemy to the destruction of places worship and religious relics, the spectacle of sacred violence became normalized in British America. Whether sacred violence was executed with the intention of making a lasting impression upon potential dissenters, as a result of ritualized radicalism, or purely due to a literal adherence to a specific doctrine, both religious ambition and outright aversion fueled the narrative of early American society and culture. As Juster elaborates, because scripture was so profoundly woven into the routines of everyday life in the New World, the mere employment of religious sentiment does not automatically warrant the labeling of a violent act as "sacred." Instead, Juster argues, incidents of friction and heretical epidemics in seventeenth-century America should be evaluated through the lens of subjectivity, with regard to specific ideologies, aims and objectives, a concept that is argued across contemporary literature on radical behavior.

Perhaps in an attempt to understand and explain radical events in recent politics, historical scholarship has witnessed a proliferation of interest and theories on religious extremism and its employment throughout history. Sacred Violence in Early America is no exception, as throughout its entirety, Juster grapples with the contradictory nature of religious customs in the New World. In analyzing the manners in which self-ascribed "good" citizens were, at times, reduced to pure savagery, this work expands upon a variety of themes that were prevalent in the settlement of the New World. Supported by illustrations, examples and theological interpretations, Juster clarifies the colonial perceptions surrounding Christ's crucifixion, conceptions and practices of cannibalism, the dual phenomena of demonization and martyrdom, and legislation on sacrilegious speech.

Though occasionally encumbered by extravagant word choices and sentences of excessive length, Sacred Violence in Early America provides a fresh and thoroughly-researched account of many themes that have often been overlooked in the recounting of America's historical foundations. In this work, Juster expertly demonstrates the fact that a multitude of preconceived notions about the inherent evils of North America and its Native population were transported to the colonies from the homelands of America's earliest settlers. Consequently, these perceptions would go on to possess many societal implications, as they became acted upon, rationalized and institutionalized as a result of ideological differences. These factors, including the friendships and social networks enabled by sacred violence, would not only influence the lives of those involved in its...