Is Religion an Independent or Tangential Variable in Violent Conflicts?
It is unfortunate but painfully true that these days violence is never far from popular understandings of religion. Even conventional academic perspectives regard religion as having a predilection for violence. According to this view, it is religion that is the primary source of contemporary violence. In direct opposition to this perspective, religious leaders often categorically deny that mainstream traditions have anything to do with terrorist violence. In their view, all violence in which individuals or groups who claim a religious affiliation are implicated is a debasement and vile distortion of the noble and peaceful teachings of religion and true spirituality. As with all received understandings, there are elements of truth in both of these assertions. The first one largely understates the contemporary socio-political and economic conditions under which religion is implicated in violence, and the second one ignores the fact that virtually all religions are not pacifist traditions
