Global Religious Forces and Conflict Resolution

Authors : Rana M Nelson

Pages : 67-80

Doi:10.20991/allazimuth.167328

View : 9 | Download : 6

Publication Date : 2014-08-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict, author Ara Norenzayan tracks the rise of religion in human communities, from the small deities of hunter-gatherer tribes to the big gods of more-modern societies. He argues that while the development of moral supernatural agents was a large contributor to our cooperative, mainly anonymous way of living, their influence is now waning in the face of secular institutions. In God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, authors Monica Duffy Toft, Daniel Philpott, and Timothy Samuel Shah maintain that religion is alive and well, especially in politics, where it has enjoyed a resurgence in the last 40 years. This review compares and contrasts these two books, presenting a discussion of their main points as well as what we should know about religion when formulating conflict resolution strategies and developing international policy
Keywords : Big Gods, Gods Century, cooperation, religious resurgence, conflict resolution