Author Description

This Book Offers A Novel Explanation For Religious Violence In The Modern World, One Which Challenges Conventional Understandings. One Of The Most Important Scholarly Assumptions About Contemporary Religious Violence Is That It Is Stems Primarily From Embattled, Oppressed, And Marginalized Religious Minority Groups Who Seek To Assert Their Rights Vis-à-vis Majorities. The Author Argues Otherwise. Religious Violence Does Not Stem From Centrally From Aggrieved Religious Minorities But From Dominant And Privileged Religious Majorities. When Said Majorities Receive Special Treatment From The State In The Form Of Social And Legal Privileges And Rhetorical Support From Politicians, Extremists From These Majoritarian Communities Are Emboldened To Target Minorities. The More States Favor Dominant Religious Communities And Discriminate Against Minority Ones, The More Majoritarian Violence They Produce. The Author Contends That This Paradox Of Privilege Results From A Global Crisis Of Political Secularism Afflicting Much Of The World Today. This Book Applies This Theory To The World's Major Religious Traditions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, And Judaism. The Structural Theory Of Religious Violence Presented In These Pages Suggests That The Doctrinal Or Ethical Content Of A Religion Matters Less In Producing Faith-based Violence Than The Linking Of Historically And Culturally Dominant Religions And The State. The Book Carries Important Policy Consequences For Both Religious And Political Leaders Around The World-- Provided By Publisher.