Description:
This study starts out as a search for a connection, not between religion and violence, as is often superficially claimed, but between secularisation and violence. If secularisation is synonymous with nonviolence and with peace, then, obviously, secularisation holds an ethical appeal and should be radicalised, as it might well be the secular translation of charity itself. This is clearly the position of Gianni Vattimo. If, however, secularisation is a modern option that carries no historical or theological imperative whatsoever, then secularisation is open to evaluation and should, if desirable, at least be suspended. This is the position of René Girard.