ABSTRACT
With the turmoil and confl ict based in the Middle East and attacks against the United States at home and abroad, religious inspired terrorism has become more prevalent since the 1980s (Perliger et al. 2010 : 151). Religious justifi cations for violence, however, are among the oldest in the world. Religion has been an important source of group identity or community (Juergensmeyer 1996: 5). Religious violence, including terrorism, was frequent before the nineteenth century (Rapoport 1984: 659). Religious justifi cations for terrorism, of course, are not only ancient but also contemporary. Sacred wars and crusades have been among the most devastating and costly confl icts in history in part because those believing in a different religion would be killed whereas members adhering to the same beliefs would often be more humanely treated. In some sacred wars the clear intent was to eliminate the other spiritual group. Conquest or conversion were not seen as real options in these cases.
