When Religion Becomes Evil: Book Review

Looking at the experiments in the American colonies, it became quite clear that religious pluralism equals peace. It was not until nearly 200 years later that sociologists, rather than philosophers, began to study this phenomenon. One duo, Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, shows in part four of their book, Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion, that when religious freedom is allowed, it generates a higher level of religious pluralism and participation. This is just one factor in the equation. Next, Dr. Charles Kimball takes a comparative look between various cults and religions in his first book, When Religion Becomes Evil, to describe five key facets of religion that tend to produce violence (2008). One of those aspects is when a religion makes absolute truth claims. He particularly looks at modern Islamic terrorists. For example, Osama Bin Laden and his religious extremist group, al-Qaeda, take a narrow view of their religion and use it to justify horrendous violence. They believe that they will be going to heaven, and everyone else will go to hell for being wrong. This kind of “us versus them” mentality can lead down a slippery slope of violence. The final ingredient comes from the research of Philip Quinn, Robert Putnam, and David Campbell and builds from the danger of absolute truth claims that Kimball posits. Quinn argues
two main points: religious pluralism will force people to reassess their own notions that their own religion is superior to others and that when this happens, these individuals will have a higher tolerance for other religions that manifests itself in less hostile interactions (2001). Simply put, when individuals interact with others from different religions, they will become more accepting. When combined with Kimball’s idea about absolute truth claims, it is easy to see how religious pluralism can inherently foster a more peaceful society. Sociologists Putnam and Campbell also build off this concept. They argue that when people are forced to interact with those that are different from them and begin love and care about them, it becomes hard to curse them to hell (2010). For example, if a Christian has a family member that they love who is revealed to be an atheist, it puts the Christian into a position where they must reevaluate their preconceived notions of other religions. They become less fundamentalist and, following the line from Kimball, will decrease hostile and violent acts. This could have been the reason why the Christians in Spain lashed out against the “invading” Muslims. Viewing Muslims as the “other” decreased Christians’ empathy for the Muslims and likely was a factor in the Crusades. When all of these views come together, it becomes clear that the freedom of religion sparks a positive feedback cycle.
When the government removes restrictions on religion, religious pluralism thrives. When religious pluralism thrives, religions compete in the marketplace of ideas and people reassess their beliefs. They lessen their absolutist, fundamentalist attitudes which decrease violence. It would then stand to reason that when religious violence decreases, governments will begin to lessen restrictions on religious freedom. Therefore, a loop feeds back into itself creating a hyper-pluralist and incredibly peaceful
society. This overarching concept about religious freedom isn’t purely theoretical, though. It can be demonstrably proven. In 2012, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life released a report entitled Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion which delves into the nitty gritty numbers that demonstrate these sociologists’ findings. In the report, Pew Research mapped the correlation between a nation’s Social Hostilities Index (SHI) and its Government Restrictions Index (GRI). Countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt which have extremely high GRI scores exhibit a high SHI score as well, whereas countries like the Netherlands and Sweden with low GRI scores have low SHI scores. When all the numbers are laid out, it becomes clear that there is a positive correlation on religious free exercise and peace. When combining this data with the the research of sociologists, there is definitely a causal link between the peace and religious freedom, not just correlational.