Sacred violence?

Religions between war and reconciliation

Religions as the cause of wars or only as an alibi? This old dilemma has been voiced frequently over the last few months, most particularly in relation to a Middle East set ablaze by ISIS. To try to provide an answer one can examine, on the one hand, how Christianity has definitively taken its leave of violence and, on the other, the Sunni and Shi‘ite conceptions of jihad and their conflicting visions ranging from the most irenical to the most bloodthirsty. Whilst the Caliphate’s appearance confirms that extremism in God’s name is a global virus that is contagious for young people in search of glory, the forms of persecution suffered by Christians prove that the value of their testimony lies precisely in their vulnerability.