ABSTRACT
YES: Religious extremism as a major cause of terrorism
Amanda Munroe and Fathali M. Moghaddam
The section of the chapter argues that religious extremism is a major cause of terrorism. However, it is not as an efficient predictor, but rather in the framework of a more complex causation process, starting with initial conditions of grievance. Starting with the assumption that particular situations can lead normal individuals to engage in violence, the authors emphasise that ideologies can help to normalise offensive violence; in other words, while the causes might be outside of religion, the latter helps rationalise and, in this sense, justify terrorism.
NO: ‘Religious terrorism’ as ideology
Jeff Goodwin
This section of the chapter argues that religion is not a major cause of terrorism, suggesting instead that the notion of religious terrorism rests on a series of conceptual errors and a lack of empirical evidence. While accepting that religion can contribute to the formulation of political aims, it is, however, not the cause of their using violence to these ends. A central point in the argument is the longevity of ideology versus the punctuality of terrorist attacks, so that one cannot, in fact, explain a variable with a constant. The author also finds that an exaggerated focus on religion deflects attention away from the material causes of conflict.
