At its root, it’s strongly about religion! Or is it? For this lecture we go to the Middle East, birthplace and cauldron of major religions, to help determine if they assuage, or fuel, the fires of terrorism. Do religion’s ambiguities feed prejudice, violence and jihads, as much as they intend to salve these very passions? Our expert guide is University of Pennsylvania’s Heather Sharkey, with whom we examine both secular and religious societies, rising fundamentalism, the first signs of ‘Islamophobia,’ doctrinal abuse in the service of political agendas, as well as the roles of Israel and the perceived ‘great Satan,’ America.
