Don't Blame Religion
The Bulletin Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Some are saying religion is the main cause of discord and bloodshed in the world. I question this. In the century just passed, Nazism, Stalinism and Maoism - none religious - scored three top places for innocents brought to an untimely death by human hand.
The truth - which I suspect we all know - is that religion, patriotism, justice and ideology are often invoked as justifications for a violence that is already within us. If we hope to understand this urge, we must look deeper into the human heart, beneath the banners.
Philip O'Carroll