Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

states the goods of life are not absolutes, but are subject to moral analysis because they too encourage
human beings how to live. By using this list, Steffen explains that religion can express goodness as long as
human beings, in their religious practice, commit to moral, life affirming values, not justified by religion,
but by a vision of goodness.
Religion traditions can be life affirming or destructive and Steffen explores the potential for both by
looking at human actions such as a holy war and a crusade. Steffen acknowledges a crusade is a form of
violence but does not blend crusade and holy war together as he writes religion opens up the possibilities
for “organized missions of terrorism, murder, war, crusade, genocide, and even omnicide” (92). Steffen
does explore the potential for „holy war‟ to be life affirming. He uses Biblical examples of a holy war being
used not to destroy and kill, but directed towards life and moving away from oppression. On the other
hand, after discussing the historic Crusades, he argues that a „crusade‟ itself signifies a religious tradition,
and explicitly states within the Christian faith, has moved to the destructive side of the moral spectrum.
Steffen writes,
Appeals to crusades are a clear case in point. As the historical crusades of medieval Europe
demonstrated, “crusades” refer to divinely authorized wars of aggression; an appeal to divine
sanction and authorization hovers over “crusade” even when today political figures employ the term
to rally support for use of force against enemies … the idea of an aggressive war of crusade is
simply warfare that appeals for authorization to the divine and ought to be analyzed within the
Christian tradition as an exemplification of religion in the demonic turn. (193)
Steffen explores the potential for a holy war to be possibly life affirming, a term complicated and sensitive
itself. However, he does not apply the same standard of analysis to a crusade. I question if a crusade can
be a clear case in point, as Steffen argues, especially considering its more ambiguous, modern definition.
Kimball links the terms holy war and crusade together expressing them as a single religious action
that only signifies corruption in a religion. Steffen argues a holy war could possibly be life affirming, but
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