Islam, Violence and the Religious Mind
Islam, Violence and the Religious Mind
John Teehan
ABSTRACT
The terrible events in Paris brought, once again, the threat of Islamic radicalism to the foreground of public consciousness. Such attacks, of course, raise vital questions of public safety and the costs we are willing to pay for that safety. They also raise questions of how to understand the complex conditions that give rise to such events and the conditions for such events are always complex, even when facile “explanations” are readily available, i.e. the violent nature of Islam, their hatred of Western freedom, etc. A consistent element in many such explanations is a pronouncement on the nature of religion, in general, with some, predictably, placing the blame for such hate-filled acts squarely on religion.
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