ABSTRACT
The foundational tenet of psychodynamic group therapy is that psychological development is socially mediated, that the mind and psyche evolve through contact with other people. Another social psychology experiment is pertinent to author's current discussion and assists us to understand why billions of people subscribe to religion or engage in other conformist behaviour within a group that they would otherwise not perform as an individual. The aim of this chapter is to explore the factors that potentiate participation in violent acts upon individuals, social or cultural groups or countries, first by exploring the particular experiences of individuals and then by showing how specific individual psychologies fit hand-in-glove with groups espousing violent solutions to conflict. The author is concerned with a very particular clash of civilizations that between Christianity and Islam. God chose Abraham to found a nation of the chosen in order to ensure the worship of the one true God until, according to Christians, the coming of Christ.
