Abstract
Is secularism less violent than religion? In my research on this topic I began with a typically academic answer of “yes and no.” But the more research and reading that I’ve done on the topic, the less accurate this answer has seemed, and finally I came to the conclusion that the answer must simply be “no.” The secular is not less violent than the religious; in fact, it is more so. It is a source of greater, more intense, and more intractable violence than are religious practices, communities, or worldviews and commitments. So, given that this conclusion is somewhat counterintuitive in today’s world, with its focus on the religious roots of terrorism, how did I get there?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Works Cited
Asad, Talal. 1993. Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Associated Press. 2001. “Italian Leader Says West Can ‘Conquer’ Islam.” Washington Fost, September 26, A15.
Beck, Linda. 2002. “Beyond Peace Marches: Women and Conflict Resolution (in Senegal).” Public Lecture. Barnard College. New York.
Bromley, David and J. Gordon Melton. 2002. Cults, Religion, and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chaudhuri, Nupur and Margaret Strobel. 1992. Women and Western Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Daniel, E. Valentine. 1996. Charred Lullabies: Chapters in an Anthropography of Violence. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jakobsen, Janet R. and Ann Pellegrini. 2003. Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance. New York: New York University Press.
Jakobsen, Janet R., with Ann Pellegrini. 2000. “Introduction: World Secularisms at the Millennium.” Social Text64: 1–27.
Longman, Timothy. 2002. “State, Society, and Violence.” Responding to Violence Conference. Barnard College. New York. October,http://www.barnard.edu/bcrw/respondingtoviolence/longman.htm
Mamdani, Mahmood. 2001. When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Mastnak, Tomaž. 2002. Crusading Peace: Christendom, the Muslim World, and Western Political Order. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sullivan, Andrew. 2001. “This Is a Religious War.” New York Times Magazine, October 7: 44–53.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2004 Elizabeth A. Castelli and Janet R. Jakobsen
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jakobsen, J.R. (2004). Is Secularism Less Violent than Religion?. In: Castelli, E.A., Jakobsen, J.R. (eds) Interventions. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981561_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981561_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-4039-6582-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-8156-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy CollectionPhilosophy and Religion (R0)