Newspaper headlines are often those of violence, war, and hatred. We hear about events within the United States: Ferguson and other horrible crimes against people of color, and even larger vents across the world: ISIS, uprisings in Hong Kong and Syria, the conflict between Israel and Gaza; the list goes on and on. However, Steven Pinker argues that while it may not be apparent, violence has, in fact, decreased. “Violent deaths of all kinds have declined, from around 500 per 100,000 people per year in pre-state societies to around 50 in the Middle Ages, to around six to eight today worldwide, and fewer than one in most of Europe.” At the same time, however, he and other sociologists note that religious conflicts are on the rise.

The world faces fewer conflicts, and fewer people lose their lives as a result of these conflicts, but it is impossible to eradicate violence from the world. However, what is extremely concerning is that most of these acts of violence are propelled by race and religion. This is 2014; most would think that the world would be over racism and that most conflicts would remain strictly political and territorial, but evidently not. Violence and abuse concerning religious minorities were reported in 47% of countries in 2012- and this number has escalated rapidly given the events occurring in 2013 and 2014.

Not only do these conflicts exist between different religions, however, part of the problem is that these conflicts also exist within the sectors of certain religions. When neighbors remain divided because of their beliefs, how can violence be avoided? As Brian Grim, a researcher at Pew said, “One of the common things we see in that group of countries is sectarian conflict. In Pakistan, even though minority religious groups like Christians face hostility, there’s also inter-Muslim conflict between Sunnis, Shias and Ahmadi Muslims.”

Steven Pinker and Brain Grim both say that most persecution is a result of religious scriptures. Most scriptures preach hatred in one form or another: hatred for another religion, actions and practices, or system of thoughts and beliefs. In Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris says, “Faith inspires violence in two ways. First, people often kill other human beings because they believe the creator of the universe wants them to do it...Second, far greater numbers of people fall into conflict with one another because they define their moral community on the basis of their religious affiliation: Muslims side with Muslims, Protestants with Protestants, Catholics."

While overall, worldwide violence may be at an all-time low, religious violence has barely decreased. Steven Pinker says that the decrease in violence is spurred by the rise of education, but in many countries, religious values overpower educational values, causing for religious violence to remain a prominent problem in our society. In the study done by the Pew Research Center, they conclude by emphasizing the importance in secularism and how religious violence would decrease as well if governments detached themselves from religion in order for these conflicts to occur on a much smaller scale.