Synopses & Reviews
Religion-based terrorism is perceived as one of the most significant threats to U.S. homeland security in the 21st century.
Sacred Terror: How Faith Becomes Lethal makes the central argument that religion-based violence and terrorism is primarily a result of political, socioeconomic, and psychological forces, thereby demystifying religion-based terrorism and revealing its inherent similarity to other forms of terrorism and war.
Daniel Price examines religious texts and traditions in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; looks at the history of religion-based terrorism; and explores why religion facilitates violence. He builds upon this foundation to explain how religion as an ideological force that motivates violence is not as powerful as commonly believed, and that religious fervor is not unlike other non-religious ideologies such as Marxism, nationalism, and anarchism. The work also presents in-depth analysis of the political, socioeconomic, and psychological forces that are behind religion-based violence, and discusses case studies from multiple religions that illustrate the author's argument.
Synopsis
This book places the current wave of religion-based terrorism in a historical perspective, explaining why religion is associated with terrorism, comparing religion-based terrorism to other forms of terrorism, and documenting how religion-based terrorism is a product of powerful political, socioeconomic, and psychological forces.
Synopsis
• Places the current wave of religion-based terrorism in historical context
• Identifies the non-religious roots of religion-based terrorism
• Provides case studies of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic terrorism that illustrate the true nature of the relationship between religion and terrorism
• Presents information about a topic with tremendous significance in current affairs in a manner that is easily understandable for the non-specialist
• Explains how religious texts and traditions can be used to justify both peace and violence