From Demonic Faith to Redemptive Faith: The Ambiguity of Faith in the Intersection of Religion and State Violence

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the ambiguity of faith in the intersection of religion and state violence. I pay attention to the state-operated system of apartheid in South Africa and critically analyze the Afrikaner community’s faith that motivated and justified vicious state violence against people of color. I name this faith demonic faith and present two key features of demonic faith in the South African case: idolatrous absolutization and destructive dehumanization. I also examine how the Afrikaners’ demonic faith came to its existence through the complex dynamics of their existential anxieties, desires, and distorted ways to fulfill the desires. I then argue for the ineffaceable possibility of redemptive faith, and theoretically construct how two features of redemptive faith, consisting of courage and empathy, could have empowered the Afrikaners to break the shackles of demonic idolatry and destruction. Redemptive faith is tragically paired with demonic faith, but truth serves as a key criterion to guide us in this tragic ambiguity of faith.

Keywords

• faith
• state violence
• the demonic
• idolatry
• destruction
• redemption