How is violence incited?

The world is witnessing an increase in hate speech and acts of violence.  International law supports our rights to free speech, and prohibits any speech that incites violence.  Hate speech that incites violence is always out of bounds.  Governments, like all religions and faiths, have a role in responding to hate speech and incitement to violence.  All people can work together to influence the behavior of those in our own communities.  Don’t ask the world to change; begin in your own heart, family, community and nation.  People of faith have a specific role to play.  Insofar as religion has been misused to justify incitement to violence, it is essential that all people of faith show leadership in responding to any religious justification for violence.

Ways to Learn More

• Watch the Introductory Video above.
• Listen to the Interviews below.
• Consider the Reflection Questions below and engage with their resources using the Conversation Guide.
  

interviews

Questions & Resources

How Do Religions Incite Violence?

VIDEOS

• Confronting War, Violence and Hate with Love and Compassion - Parliament of the World’s Religions
• H.H. the Dalai Lama Exclusive Interview with Malik Mujahid for 2015 Parliament – Parliament of the World’s Religions
• Context of Difficult Religious Texts –Parliament of the World’s Religions
  
• Blasphemy Laws Incite Violence – Ayn Rand Institute
  

---

ARTICLES

• What Does the Bible Say about Violence – Bible Gateway Blog
• How Religion Can Lead to Violence – The New York Times
• Is The Bible More Violent than the Quran? - NPR: All Things Considered
  
• Does Religion Cause Violence? Harvard Divinity Bulletin
• Polish Play Investigated for Blasphemy, Inciting Violence – usnews.com
• Pakistan: How the blasphemy laws enable abuse – amnesty.org
• Anti-blasphemy in the digital age: When hardliners take over – brookings.edu
• Blasphemy Laws Encouraging Violence: onenewsnow.com
  
  

---

BOOKS

Mitchell, Jolyon. Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media. (New York,
Routledge: 2013).

Does Religion Cause Violence? Multidisciplinary Perspectives  on Violence and Religion in the
Modern World. Eds. Joel Hodge et al. (Bloomsbury eBook)

Kirk-Duggan, Cheryl A., Refiner’s Fire: A Religious Engagement with Violence, (Minneapolis MN:
Fortress Press, 2000)

Does Believing you are right incite violence?

VIDEOS

• “Because I love you” : anti-domestic violence campaign, One Love Foundation
  
  

---

ARTICLES

• How could they? Some people are ruthless. Some lose control. Yet most violence remains unfathomable. A new theory lights up the darkness – Aeon.co
  

---

BOOKS

Fiske, Alan Page & Rai, Tage Shahkti, Virtuous Violence: Hurting and Killing to Create, Sustain,
End, and Honor Social Relationships, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 2015)

How does climate change incite violence?

VIDEOS

• Study: Link Between Climate Change and Violence – MSNBC
• Living Planet: Violence and Climate Change – Deutsche Welle
  
• More Violence Linked to Climate Change – GoBeats News via YouTube
  
• “Climate change is the engine of violence in the world," says historian Simon Schama
• How Climate Change Creates a Perfect Storm of Terrorosim and Violence – International Business Times

---

ARTICLES

• Weather and Violence – New York Times
• Global Security Brief #3: Climate Change Poses Greater Security Threat Than Terrororism –
  Worldwatch Institute
• Climate Change and the Syrian Civil War – Political Violence at a Glance
• The Five Ways Global Warming Fuels Violence – Inverse Science
• Climate Change Intensifies Conflict, John Kerry Says: Nigeria and Syria violence exacerbated by
  climate change effects such as severe drought, US Secretary of State warns – AlJazeera
• Could Climate Change Have Caused Violence in the Middle East and Africa – Newsweek
• Climate Change and Conflict: Making the link between climate change & international security –
  Environmental Justice Foundation
  

---

BOOKS

Parenti, Christian. Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. New
York NY: Nation Books, 2012

Do Governments and/or Public Figures Incite Violence?

ARTICLES

• Does Propaganda Incite Violence? Understanding the Effects of Hate Speech – Institute for Advanced Study
  
• The Media as a Tool of War: Propaganda in the Rwandan Genocide – Human Security Centre
  
• Can Posters and Statues Incite Violence? – The Boston Globe
  

---

BOOKS

Shabo, Magedah, E., Techniques of Propaganda and Persuasion, (Smyrna DE,Prestwick House:
2008)

---

INFOGRAPHIC

• What is violent extremism?  - fbi.gov
  

Does Violence Incite Violence?

VIDEOS

• "Let’s treat violence like it’s a contagious disease" – TED
  
  

---

ARTICLES

• Is Gun Violence in the US Infectious? When an epidemiologist studied maps studied maps of shootings in Chicago, the pattern resembled the spread of disease. – AlJazeera
  
• Berkeley Researchers Find Police Often Incite Violence at Protests – UC Berkeley
• Does Indiscriminate Violence Incite Insurgent Attacks? Evidence from Chechnya – JSTOR
• Emotional and Evolutionary Acts of Contagious Violence: Overlapping Factors in the Genesis of Diverse Types of Non-Sanctioned Human Aggression – National Center for Biotechnology Information
  

---

BOOKS

Spatz Widom, Cathy, Trauma, Psychopathology, and Violence: Causes, Consquences, or
Correlates?  (Oxford, Oxford University Press: 2012)

Does Watching On-Screen Violence Incite Violence?

ARTICLES

• Does Media Violence Lead to the Real Thing? – The New York Times
  
• Top 10 Films to have driven people to murder – top10films.co.uk
• Watching violent films does make people more aggressive, study shows – Daily Telegraph
• Desensitization to Media Violence: Links with Habitual Media Violence Exposure, Aggressive Cognitions, and Aggressive Behavior – National Center for Biotechnology Information
  
• Kids Exposed to Gun Violence in Movies are More Likely to Pull the Trigger Themselves – romper.com
  

Explore

Click on the questions above to access resources that might support your group or situation.

Engage

Use the Conversation Guide to work through this material with your group or community.

Open Conversation Guide

Share

We would love to hear how you used these resources and if you have suggestions for others.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE