Why am I passionate about this?
Between us, we’ve been in the interreligious relations business for a combined 50 years. We started working together when Jerry was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under President Barack Obama. In 2015, we were both invited by Prince Ghazi of Jordan to join other interreligious leaders to advance a UN resolution defining and taking a stand against religicide. That resolution never made it to the Security Council. But we joined forces to sound the alarm about religicide. We wrote our book in the hope of inspiring an international campaign to end this killing in the name of God – or being killed because of your God.
Georgette's book list on human rights that focus on religion
Why did Georgette love this book?
Ever since I’ve been engaged in interreligious and peacebuilding work, I’ve struggled with the question of whether religion is the cause of violence or its solution. This book on proceedings of an Auschwitz conference in Poland does a deep dive into religion being both a cause and victim of violence. It examines where religious violence fits into other forms of violence as well as the roots of peace in various religious traditions. Its nuanced and revealing essays were an enormous help to me in formulating my own thinking and helped educate me in the roots of international human rights law. Not being a historian myself, the essays gave me a grounding in events about which I had only superficial knowledge. I personally know and have worked with a number of the contributors. As such, I can vouch for their authority and the esteem in which they are held.
1 author picked Religion and Violence, Religion and Peace as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Based on papers presented at a 1998 conference held in Auschwitz and sponsored by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding at Sacred Heart University, this volume focuses on the role that religion plays in cultivating peace or promoting violence. Contributors include Amira Shamma Abdin, Anthony J. Cernera, David L. Coppola, Georges Cottier, OP, Cahal B. Cardinal Daly, Rabbi Joseph H. Ehrenkranz, Archbishop Jeremiasz, William H. Cardinal Keeler, Franciszek Cardinal Macharski, Martin Marty, Elisabeth Maxwell, Samuel Pisar, David Rosen, and Rene-Samuel Sirat.
- Coming soon!