The Bibles of the Far Right by Hannah M. Strmmen;

Author:Hannah M. Strmmen;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
Published: 2024-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Activating a War Bible

In this chapter I have connected the War Bible at work in Breivik’s manifesto to two sources mentioned in the manifesto, the “battle verses” from the Bible-Knowledge webpage, and Joseph Farah’s Tea Party manifesto. The biblical texts concerning violence that Breivik cites come from the Bradley brothers’ web page and resonate with Farah’s Bible as radical document to fight the so-called governing elites. The War Bible that I argue is at work in Breivik’s manifesto could be connected to Bibles throughout history that have been taken up as part of warfare. In particular, two tendencies at work are the encouragement of righteous animosity against a Muslim enemy and the providing of comfort and confidence in alleging that violence is justified and even divinely ordained. The contemporary far-right War Bible that Breivik takes up is particularly effective because it is stuck also to non-biblical components, such as the Middle Ages and masculinity. When the War Bible is at work it can produce important effects and affects: to situate the group who lays claim to a Bible as innocent victims against an evil enemy, to sanctify violence-as-sacrifice, and to situate oneself as the righteous victim with God on one’s side. A Bible is territorialised in Breivik’s manifesto, which reactivates potencies in Bible-use that have previously been activated in very different settings by very different actors. The affects the War Bible play on and produce are nostalgia for an imagined past that is lost. Righteous anger is part of this Bible towards an enemy who is conceived of as brutal and “other”. A sense of honour is tied to the War Bible as images of masculine valour and courage are invoked. The War Bible is effective and affective in its ability to provide a clear-cut enemy and inspire fantasies of masculinity tied to valour and glorified violence. But as I have already made clear, the War Bible assemblage is not the only way Bible-use operates in far-right milieus. The Civilisation Bible operates with another set of interlocutors, milieus, histories, affects, and materials. It is to this less violent—though not non-violent—assemblage that I now turn.

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