Religicide: Confronting the Roots of Anti-Religious Violence

A brave and timely proposal to name, investigate, and ultimately stop a new crime–the mass murder of millions of people for their faith.

Religion-related violence is the fastest spreading type of violence worldwide. Attacks on religious minorities follow a clear pattern and are preceded with early warning signs. Until now, such violence had no name, let alone a set of policies designed to identify and prevent it. A unique attempt to create a new moral and legal category alongside other forms of persecution and mass murder, Religicide explores the roots of atrocities such as the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Bosnian war, and other human rights catastrophes.

The authors tap into their decades of activism, interreligious engagement, and people-to-people diplomacy to delve into a gripping examination of contemporary religicides: the Yazidis in Iraq, the Rohingya in Myanmar, Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists in China, and the centuries-long efforts to wipe out Indigenous Americans. Yet, even in the face of these horrific atrocities, the authors resist despair. They amplify the voices of survivors and offer a blueprint for action, calling on government, business, civil society, and religious leaders to join in a global campaign to protect religious minorities.

“A timely (given the rise of White Christian Nationalism and the increasing acts of anti-Semitism in the United States) contribution to personal, professional, community, and academic library Religious Intolerance/Persecution and Sociology of Religion collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.”

–Midwest Book Review