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TRANSCENDENT AND ACTIVITY-BASED ASPECTS OF “SACRED VIOLENCE” IN RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

Abstract
The relationship between the sacred as a characteristic of religious traditions and violence as an act of destruction and destruction causes contradictory and ambiguous positions in modern scientific discourse. There is widespread criticism of the ontological and ethical nature of sacred violence as a practice-oriented part of religious activity. This is due to its excessive identification with religious extremism and political bias. The aim of the article is a phenomenological analysis of sacred violence, which manifests itself in its transcendent and active aspects in religious extremism. The author proves the validity of distinguishing the concept of the “sacred” as emphasizing the transcendent aspect, subjectivity of religious experiences and that of the “holy”—activity aspect, objectified collective representations and joint ritual practices. In the phenomenological interpretation, sacred violence is identical to religious violence and has an intersubjective character. Appeal to sacrifice makes it possible to emphasize the ambivalence of a violent act. Three aspects of victimhood define the specifics of sacred violence in religious extremism. G. Bataillе’s interpretation of the victim and the role of violence reveals the subjective side, the personal motivation of the performer, and the principles of ontological dualism. In the destruction of homegenicity, the victim passes to heterogeneity, sacredness and realizes his or her otherness in relation to homogeneous material existence. The sacrifice separates a portion from the profane world, a cursed portion that becomes sacred, and forms a dichotomy of false and authentic being. M. Jurgensmeyer’s theory of religious violence explains the performative component of the sacrifice, which synthesizes archaic war, the physical death of the victim and political statements, and emphasizes the publicity of the violent act of violence. The victim’s compensatory function developed by R. Girard explains the structure of the intra-group space and the mechanisms for maintaining social solidarity and excluding illegitimate violence on the part of the group’s participants.

Keywords
sacred violence, holy, sacred, victim, religious extremism, phenomenology of religion.

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