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Why We Kill: Searching for the Roots of Human Violence
In Memory of Jane Goodall
In 2014, when I began my master’s degree, ISIS was at the height of its brutal campaign of killings. Between 2014 and 2016, I was often confronted by my Indian and Nepali classmates with the same unsettling question: “Why are Muslims so violent?” Some posed it mockingly, others with genuine curiosity, trying to understand. I would give brief answers, but the heavy demands of my coursework left me little time to think deeply about the issue.
Later, I found the opportunity to study more closely the prevalence of violence among Muslims and the forces that drive groups like ISIS and the Taliban to such extremes. One day, I came across a video of the Taliban playing football with severed heads. That image lodged itself in my mind, and I began struggling with a troubling question: Does religion make people violent?
At first, I thought perhaps it did. Yet the more I reflected, the more I ran into contradictions. I knew many deeply devout people who, among my family and friends, even if they considered someone an enemy of God, would never take another person’s life. Despite being religious, they are the kindest and gentili-issimo (Italian language style emphasis) people.
