Synopsis
A sweeping history arguing that religion is wrongly blamed for violence, which more often stems from politics, power, and the state.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted workViolence usually attributed to religion is more accurately rooted in political and material conflict that religion merely accompanies.
It challenges the modern assumption that faith is uniquely violent, redistributing blame toward states and power.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Carl Schmitt, Political Theology.
Reading note
Read it as a wide-ranging historical survey making a thesis, weighing its sympathetic reading of religion critically.
Best paired with
Carl Schmitt, Political Theology