In God’s Name: Stories Of Faith and Vigilante Justice

In God’s Name: Stories Of Faith and Vigilante Justice

From Religion Unplugged by The Media Project

April 14, 2026 · 1h 2m

About this episode

This episode explores the complex relationship between religion and vigilantism, examining how individuals justify taking the law into their own hands in the name of faith.

Categorizing those who do violence is a messy business. What one writer might call the actions of a terrorist, another might refer to as the work of a freedom fighter. The very individuals who are called heroes, warriors and revolutionaries by some, can be categorized as villains, murderers, and radicals by another. But when the morality of a violent person is highly controversial or just ambiguous, we have a separate, more fuzzy term–we call them a vigilante. The earliest uses of vigilante seem to be taken from the Spanish word for watchmen, vigilante. Various dictionaries state that a vigilante is somebody who seeks to act outside of the law to enact justice. For religious people, the idea that what is right and wrong is bigger than just was is legal or illegal, is extremely familiar. While much of the legal system may coincide with a religious person’s worldview, it is virtually unthinkable that the two would be fully aligned outside of a theocracy. And, most religious people are content to keep away from legal, but spiritually impermissible wrongdoing by means of their own community and self control. But for some, this hasn’t been enough. The wrongdoing of fellow citizens and…

Topics covered

  • vigilantism
  • religion
  • morality
  • justice
  • violence
  • freedom fighters
  • terrorism

Keywords

  • vigilante justice
  • religious violence
  • morality
  • freedom fighters
  • terrorism
  • legal system
  • spirituality

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Religion Unplugged, The Media Project

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