"The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion as a Source of Violent and Nonviolent Militance"

Watch video of R. Scott Appleby, a historian who studies modern religions and their capacity for both violence and peace building, delivering the 2011 Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt University.
Appleby, a professor of history and the John M. Regan Jr. Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, spoke Oct. 20 on "The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion as a Source of Violent and Nonviolent Militance."
Appleby explores whether religion is a unique or even distinctive source of violence in the world. Also, if "militance" is a religious norm, why do some militant religions kill and others heal?
The Cole Lectures were established in 1892 by Col. E.W. Cole for "the defense and advocacy of the Christian religion." Previous speakers have included Paul Tillich, George Buttrick, Don Beisswenger, James Lawson and Jim Wallis.