- [UNTITLED]
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Historical Reflections on Religious Diversity
- A Religious Studies Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Philosophical Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Sociological Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- Pluralism and Relativism
- Religious Exclusivism
- The Diversity of Religious Experience
- Interreligious Dialogue
- The Religious Alien
- Religious Diversity and a Global Ethic
- Theology amid Religious Diversity
- Religious Diversity, Evil, and a Variety of Theodicies
- Religion and Revelation
- Religious Diversity and Globalization
- Religious Demographics and the New Diversity
- New Religious Movements in Global Perspective
- Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
- Religious Diversity, Secularization, and Postmodernity
- Multiple Modernities and Religion
- Religious Violence and Peace
- Religious Diversity in Public Education
- Religious Diversity and Religious Environmentalism
- A Hindu Perspective
- A Buddhist Perspective
- An African Religions Perspective
- A Chinese Religions Perspective
- A Jewish Perspective
- A Christian Perspective
- An Islamic Perspective
- A Feminist Perspective
- A Continental Perspective
- A Naturalistic Perspective
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
Religious faith meets some extremely important psychological needs that have existed since the emergence of humankind: it provides a sense of security, safety, meaning, and comfort in a threatening world in which the only real certainty is that someday we will die. However, ideologically inspired violence—both terrorism and war—is also on the rise. According to research by Monica Toft, religious wars are more common than secular ones, and they are more brutal. They are also more likely to recur. Similarly, terrorists who claim to kill in the name of God are more common than secular ones today. Their numbers are increasing, and they kill more innocent civilians than their secular counterparts. How can it be that the same force—faith—that inspired Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. also inspires religious killers? This question has haunted us for years, leading us to work on interviews, large-scale surveys, and psychological experiments that explore the links among religion, radicalism, and violence. This article comments on religious violence and peace as well as the function of religion.
Keywords: God, religion, radicalism, violence, peace, religious faith, terrorism, religious wars
Dalia Mogahed is Senior Analyst and Executive Director at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies.
Tom Pyszczynski, Psychology Department, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Jessica Stern is Lecturer on Counterterrorism at Harvard University and a member of the Task Force on National Security and Law at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
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- [UNTITLED]
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Historical Reflections on Religious Diversity
- A Religious Studies Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Philosophical Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Sociological Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- Pluralism and Relativism
- Religious Exclusivism
- The Diversity of Religious Experience
- Interreligious Dialogue
- The Religious Alien
- Religious Diversity and a Global Ethic
- Theology amid Religious Diversity
- Religious Diversity, Evil, and a Variety of Theodicies
- Religion and Revelation
- Religious Diversity and Globalization
- Religious Demographics and the New Diversity
- New Religious Movements in Global Perspective
- Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
- Religious Diversity, Secularization, and Postmodernity
- Multiple Modernities and Religion
- Religious Violence and Peace
- Religious Diversity in Public Education
- Religious Diversity and Religious Environmentalism
- A Hindu Perspective
- A Buddhist Perspective
- An African Religions Perspective
- A Chinese Religions Perspective
- A Jewish Perspective
- A Christian Perspective
- An Islamic Perspective
- A Feminist Perspective
- A Continental Perspective
- A Naturalistic Perspective
- Index
