The Meaning and End of Religion (1962) — declared “a modern classic” by John Hick — is probably the most important of the many writings by the Canadian historian and theologian Wilfred Cantwell Smith. In this book, Smith presents a complex… Read More
I have a serious problem with those who, while identifying religion as a causal factor, fail to mention the role of social and historical context, the role of concrete needs, the role of ideal and material interests, and the role of life conditions as equally important, if not more important, factors involved in the genesis of violence.
If terrorism is defined from the viewpoint of its victims, in terms of the intense fear that it creates in those who are targeted, then it could hardly be disputed that a typical modern state enjoys a power and a capacity to terrorize that is thousands of times greater than the power and the capacity for doing the same that is possessed by all terrorist groups combined.
