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October 16, 2007
WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR EXPLORES DANGERS OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM IN NEW BOOK
—In Bad Faith, Neil Kressel, professor of psychology, provides detailed analysis of when and how religions become capable of inspiring evil
The roots of religious extremism---and what, if anything, can be done to address the 21st century’s most serious challenge—are explored in depth in Bad Faith: The Danger of Religious Extremism, a new book by Dr. Neil Kressel, a William Paterson University professor of psychology.
Kressel, a social psychologist whose previous books include Mass Hate: The Global Rise of Genocide and Terror, an investigation into why people participate in mass atrocities, has spent decades researching genocide, terrorism, and anti-Semitism. “Religious extremists who practice terrorism sometimes have similar habits of mind to those who choose to participate in genocide,” he explains. “They are still following an ideology of hatred…one that draws on religion.”
In his new book, published by Prometheus Books, Kressel provides a detailed analysis of when and how religions become capable of inspiring evil. He examines extremism in the world of Islam, as well as Christianity and Judaism, and deals with causes of militant faith, including how holy books might be implicated in extremist behavior. Kressel also looks to modern psychology for insight into the extremist mindset, and seeks to identify which societies are most likely to experience the worst manifestations of religious extremism.
“The stakes are very high. The freedom to follow the religion of one’s choice, or no religion at all, is one of Western civilization’s greatest accomplishments and greatest treasures,” Kressel says. “Yet throughout history, many pious individuals have pondered their relationship with God only to end up with a program of murder, misogyny, bigotry or child abuse.”
Kressel says he was particularly interested in exploring how Muslim religious beliefs interact with politics, life circumstances, personal psychology, and a variety of social forces to create militant and terrorist tendencies. “A century ago, there were no Muslim extremists,” Kressel says. “Since then, America and Europe modernized, but other parts of the world lagged behind, including many Muslim countries.” He provides a variety of reasons for the prominence of religious extremism in the Muslim world, including Muslim countries that permit and even sponsor extremist education and socialization, lack of meaningful constitutional protections for religious diversity, and a strong religious tradition of battle in the name of faith.
“All religions East and West, or nearly all, can provide fertile ground for the growth of close-mindedness, hatred, bigotry and violence. All of the major creeds possess the potential to impede social, psychological, political and intellectual development,” he adds. “What is needed is not the abandonment of religion but rather a social, psychological, theological and political system of checks and balances. As I see it, the responsibility for implementing those checks and balances lies first with believers of every faith.”
He does not expect that Islamic extremism will weaken in the near future. “If people in America and around the world do not find a way to control religious extremism while maintaining religious tolerance, the end of the 21st century may look less like the worldwide liberal democracy envisioned at the end of the Cold War, and more like a global version of the era of religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries,” Kressel says.
Kressel has written frequently on psychology and public policy issues. In addition to Mass Hate, which was selected by Choice magazine as an outstanding book of 1996, he is the author of Stack and Sway: The New Science of Jury Consulting. His work has been printed or cited in the New York Post, the New York Daily News, the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, the Washington Post, Readers Digest, the Economist, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and dozens of newspapers, magazines, and Web sites around the country. He has been interviewed on National Public Radio, the History Channel, MSNBC, Fox News, and other radio and television outlets.
A professor of psychology at William Paterson University, where he also directs the social sciences track of the University’s Honors Program, Kressel holds a doctorate in social psychology from Harvard University. He has taught at Harvard, New York University and Stevens Institute of Technology.
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www.wpunj.edu
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