Oh, My Pop Culture Jesus: Warrior Priests and Armies of God

Organized religion has a lot in common with the military. They both have a hierarchy of power, snazzy outfits, and ostensibly, a founding interest in protecting others from danger, whether it be physical or spiritual. Sometimes religious folk will make the connection explicit, as with the Jesuit sect within the Catholic Church, which was founded by a military man and whose members are called “Soldiers of God”. Nevertheless, in most cases religion and military forces have very different images and priorities.

Fiction sometimes tends to conflate religion with the military to the extent that they are the same thing. Although many religious leaders have spoken out against the idea that violence is ever necessary, it’s not uncommon to open a book, watch a movie, or read a manga that involves priests or religious folk fighting—for any number of reasons, but in a decidedly physical fashion.

And I find that unsettling. St. Thomas Aquinas and other “just war” theorists may have argued that war can be justified for certain reasons, but it’s difficult to look at a regiment of crusaders or even just one nun with a gun and really believe that their intent is to bring peace to a troubled land or to protect innocents.

Oh, My Pop Culture Zealotry: Religious Fanaticism in Fiction

It’s my opinion that the scariest sort of villain is the kind that believes that what they’re doing is truly good. Hell, a quick Google search tells me that a lot of people have trouble deciding whether Umbridge is more evil than Voldemort himself. This sort of villain is even more frightening when they think they’re doing God’s work, because for them, that’s the ultimate justification for their actions. No human force is gonna convince someone who thinks they have divine purpose to stop what they’re doing.