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6 Articles in: Causes & Sources of Religious Violence: Why Are Religions Violent? Can Religions Be More Peaceful?

Religious Terrorism as Symbol, Ritual & Performance Violence
The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize, right? Terrorism is designed to frighten people into submitting to some group's desires which have not been achieved through the normal political process, right? Those are the most common assumptions about terrorism, but when it comes to religious terrorism there can be far more involved. For religious terrorists, one of the goals isn't so much to terrorize people but to create symbols of a larger, grander, even cosmic struggle of God against Evil.

Sanctified Religious Violence as a Form of Religious Devotion, Holy Obligation
Many religions proclaim that they are peaceful and opposed to violence, but these same religions generally have traditions in which violence, war, and aggression not only exist and are not only permitted, but are in fact sanctified. To be "sanctified" means 'to be made holy' - thus violence becomes a form of religious devotion like prayer or reading sacred scripture. So long as violence is treated in such a manner, it's unlikely that it will be eliminated.

Violence & Justice: Religious Violence as a Means for Achieving Justice
It's often said that violence doesn't achieve anything, but if that's true why do so many people use violence in order to achieve various goals? To be more specific, it appears that even when violence is being employed senselessly, more often than not that those employing it are doing so because they think it is as justified means for achieving some specific goal: justice. If we understand why people engage in violence, we have a better chance of preventing it.

Loving God & Hating Humanity: Can Loving God Lead to Hating Humanity?
Traditional theistic religions are often defended on the basis that they teach believers to love. It's true that they typically include ideals about loving both God and humanity, but it shouldn't be assumed that the two are always and necessarily compatible. On the contrary, other teachings common to religions around the world can in fact set the two at odds with one another such that the more one loves God, the more difficult it can be for them to also love humanity.

Totalitarian Religion and Violence
Why are so many religions often associated with totalitarian impulses - a tendency to force themselves on non-adherents as if no other beliefs were legitimate? It's arguable that such a tendency is inherent, at least in some religions, which means that religion itself needs to be reformed on a basic level.

Christianity and Violence: Filling Heaven, Not Earth
If getting to heaven is more important for Christians than any good that they might do here on earth, violence and killing can be easier to justify.