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Vict ims Throughout history individuals as well as groups have been victims of religious violence. To understand this complex topic it is important to review historical and contemporary examples of victimization arising from religiously oriented acts of violence. Case studies from fi ve dominant religious groups-Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaismchronicle the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of victimization resulting from exposure to violence. These fi ve case studies represent a fraction of the breadth and diversity available for analysis, but they exemplify the victimization and violent processes that emerge within or as a result of religious frameworks or paradigms. This analysis is not intended as an exhaustive overview of victimization resulting from religiously oriented violence, but rather is meant to illuminate trends within several case studies and provide a method for comprehending, categorizing, and analyzing them. Herein victim shall be defi ned as one who is “adversely affected by a force or agent,” “injured, destroyed, or sacrifi ced,” “subjected to oppression, hardship, or mistreatment,” or “tricked or duped” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 2003); and violence is understood as a “physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging or abusing,” an “abusive or unjust exercise of power,” “abuse or injury to meaning, content or intent,” or “vehemence of feeling or expression” (American Heritage Dictionary 2000).