The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict

The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict

Abstract

Journal of Church and State conceptions of the relationship between faith and reason differ. Attending to these differences may well be enlightening when considering the role of theological arguments in the debate surrounding civil society. Lorraine Krall Georgetown University Washington, DC doi:10.1093/jcs/csq038 Advance Access publication May 24, 2010 The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict. By William Cavanaugh. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 296 pp. $49.95. As the world approaches the tenth anniversary of 9/11 (September 11, 2001), there is a need for pause about the kind and quality of scholarship that has emerged from not simply the events of that day but also the subsequent and so-called Global War on Terror. Much of the scholarship over the last decade has been timely. Much more of it has been alarmist. Written in the style of an intervention, with a robust appreciation for the power of myth on human action and comprehension, William Cavanaugh’s The Myth of Religious Violence represents a long awaited voice of reason. Cavanaugh’s book centers on the tendency for scholars to understand religion as violent—as promoting violence, as having the means to incite violence, as being comprised of