Worship and Sin : An Exploration of Religion-Related Crime in the United States

Worship and Sin: Religion-Related Crime in the United States raises provocative questions about the role of religion in crime and criminal behavior. Arguing that religion-related crime should be classified as a distinct subset of crime worthy of continued investigation by scholars, this book brings together for the first time the disparate scholarly research related to various types of religion-related crime, presents numerous examples, and considers the practical and legal issues facing practitioners of various disciplines. This ground-breaking work takes great care to present a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon and illustrates the complex and multidimensional nature of this crime category. A three-pronged typology is presented as a conceptual framework to distinguish the unique features of different types of religion-related crime and to highlight the dynamic historical, psychological, social, and cultural forces involved in each. The author opens the text with several introductory chapters which serve to define religion-related crime, explore the role of religion in society, and to provide an overview of legal and policy issues. The remaining chapters provide detailed examples of three different types of religion-related crime: theologically-based crimes, which are those which are a result of a particular religious custom, practice, or belief; while reactive/defensive crimes are those which come about more as a result of social or political tensions between the religious member or group and the broader secular community. The third type of religion-related crime identified is the abuse of religious authority. This category explores crimes committed by clergy who have taken advantage of their social, political, and religious status. To further broaden an understanding of religion-related crime, the author provides chapters which explore crimes against women and children, the use of illicit drugs in religious practice or to reach desired states of spiritual awareness, the nature and function of destructive religious groups, violence against reproductive health providers, hate crime, and crimes committed by clergy.