Conventional wisdom in the west suggests that religion is to blame for many of the world’s violent conflicts. Religious Violence: Myth or Global Reality?, was the third event in 2011 for the Center for Faith and Vocation Seminar on Religion and World Civilization, that examined this assumption by exploring western

ideas about religion, secularism and power.

The speaker was William Cavanaugh, senior research professor at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University. He is the author of “The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict” (2009).

Respondents were Margaretha Geertsema, professor of journalism at Butler University, whose research draws on studies of globalization, sociology and gender, and Lawrence Gerstein, professor of psychology at Ball State University and director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Ball State.

The event took place from 7-9 p.m. Jan. 26 in the Krannert Room.