In this video I have a go at answering the question “Is Religion the Leading Cause of Violence”? I begin by introducing some complaints and complexities, and then offer three points for consideration:
- The problem of causality
- Religion has played a relatively insignificant role (in the documented history of warfare)
- The cause of violence is (ultimately) seeded in the human heart
- Andrew R. Murphy (ed), The Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence
- William T Cavanaugh, The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict
- Nabeel Qureshi, Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward
- Steve Clarke, The Justification of Religious Violence