The arguments I have examined can be sorted into three somewhat overlapping types: religion causes violence because it is (1) absolutist, (2) divisive, and (3) insufficiently rational.

At first glance, this may seem like an academic exercise in quibbling over definitions, but much more is at stake. The religious-secular dichotomy in the arguments examined sanctions the condemnation of certain kinds of violence and the overlooking of other kinds of violence

everybody knows what we mean when we say ‘religion.’

However, what is meant by “religion” is by no means clear. The author of the above quote, in a book entitled Revelation, the Religions, and Violence, gives no definition of religion or religions, despite the centrality of the concept to his argument. As in the above quote, “religion” in this text sometimes becomes “religion and culture” with no explanation of what, if anything, distinguishes the two terms from each other.5Close