The pursuit of spirituality is often seen as a peaceful endeavour, inward-looking and slow to anger. However, the same groups of people that advocate for such a more spiritual life share their platform with those who have become known for violence, brashness and abuse. The book club decided to venture into the murky waters of the relationship between faith and violence, to understand why some religions have never been able to shake away their more violent constituents.

Here are the resources we referred to:

• Why Religions Facilitate War and How Religions Facilitate Peace – Swarthmore
• Do Religions really Cause Violence – Science Plus
• Is religion the cause of most wars? – SolasCPC
• Why Muslims See the Crusades So Differently from Christians – History.com
• European Antisemitism from Its Origins to the Holocaust – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Ugly History: The Spanish Inquisition – Kayla Wolf – TedEd
• Explainer: What causes extremism – University of Sydney
• Researchers reveal patterns of sexual abuse in religious settings – University of Alberta

The Power of Narratives

Broadly speaking, all humans love a good narrative. Tell a man that his fight will save thousands, and he will be ready to die by the bullet. The sense of purpose, painted on a canvas that is larger than life, inspires the individual to take action for the “greater good”. This is regardless of religion – you can see this same psychology in wartime soldiers, cult followers, and even members of incel culture. A well-written narrative conveys the mission in a profound way, and with religions, the narrative is emboldened by a cosmic and supernatural intent. Logic no longer needs to exist as faith reigns supreme.

Almost every major religion has been victim to detractors within each community who spin narratives from the religion’s core texts to substantiate their violent pursuits. Even in Buddhism, monks have convinced kings that their battles were congruent with teachings of nonviolence as long as they were to protect and benefit the monks. Therefore, the existence of violence that stems from religion is strong evidence that religious narratives are powerful tools to compel followers to abandon logic and reasoning, in favour of the faithful pursuit of the narrative’s mission.

Power, not Religion

Most religions tend to be focused on the spiritual realm. Even laws that govern social conduct in daily life tend to only apply to adherents of the particular religion, not society at large. Therefore, it is always worth questioning when people use religion as a backdrop to reach beyond the spiritual and personal realm, to influence and attack others. Often, these are not because of religious intents in themselves, but because of power and politics. Popular examples such as the Crusades or Islamic terrorism all point to specific centres of power that influence those around them to help gather or defend power. Understanding the point above, that religious narratives are especially compelling, it is unfortunate that bad actors can abuse their influence to cause violence and abuse in this world.

Does this mean that religions are a main source of violence? The data seems to indicate that while some religions are associated with notable episodes of violence, a lot more violence is caused because of political interest and self-defence. We could strip away religion and replace it with another disgusting but compelling logic-absent narrative (e.g. ethnic purity), and as long as power and politics are in play, we are likely to see similar results.

Faith and spirituality have much to offer in the realm of peace and reconciliation as well, but these do not get spotlighted on as much. It is about developing an acceptance for the world around us, and committing to individual action to make one’s self and those around us better. If we were to focus on keeping power in check, and drawing from the positive lessons that religions have to offer, maybe we can mitigate some of the pain caused in this world.