Confronting Religious Violence

"In this important book, some of the most distinguished scholars and activists working today to foster peace and defuse conflict engage Rabbi Sacks’ urgent and timely challenge: how do we rethink and retell the stories that inform our identities in an age of religious conflict? The resulting essays produce a host of compelling visions for how the inheritors of the ‘Abrahamic’ traditions can develop a new understanding of themselves, their histories, and their relationships to one another. This book is a fitting tribute to the work of Rabbi Sacks in its authors’ efforts to rise to his challenge and articulate a vision of societies free from histories of animosity and suspicion." -- Brian K. Pennington, Director of the Elon University Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society and author of Teaching Religion and Violence
"Once again, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and The Reverend Canon Richard Burridge have brought together some of the leading voices in interfaith dialogue today and have presented us with a spiritually uplifting and ultimately hopeful picture of our world. If the news around you is getting you down, picking up this book will inspire and re-energize you. May the voices of wisdom in this volume be heeded by all in this fraught time." -- Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University, Washington, DC
"This volume confronts head-on the major question for religious violence today: Is religion truly relevant? Rather than argue that violence is ‘Not in God’s Name,’ the contributors address religious intolerance through the ages as well as religion’s contemporary link with political and environmental crises and the baffling zeal of some of today’s religious actors. Most chapters of this volume will be of interest to political scientists, sociologists, and religious historians alike." -- Margo Kitts, Professor of Humanities, Hawai'i Pacific University
"Against the presumptions of secular Western analysts and diplomats, humanity remains predominantly religious, and excluding religious discourse from the negotiating table appears more often to inhibit rather than encourage conflict resolution among religious stakeholders to the conflict. The inspired yet sober editors and authors of Confronting Religious Violence illustrate how stakeholders may be encouraged to speak to one another of the religious sources of their values and, in the process, strengthen the sources that encourage speech and dialogue and, one hopes, patience." -- Peter Ochs, Edgar Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia
"As we invest more attention to the subject of religious freedom, it is vital to understand the intersections of religion, culture, and violence. Confronting Religious Violence provides an incredibly important and timely resource for policymakers, scholars, and students. This collection of notable scholars charts political theories and the powers of narratives in order to track the lasting impact religion has on identity politics." -- Michael Jerryson, author of If You Meet the Buddha on the Road: Buddhism, Politics, and Violence