This book provides insight into the growing phenomenon of religious inspired violence, and an analysis of the political world's failure to understand the problem. Oliver McTernan traces the historical ambivalence of the world's major religious traditions towards violence, arguing that today's religious activists select the past misuse of foundational texts and exemplars to justify their own resort to violence. He challenges both religious and political leaders to rethink their response to the current crisis. A call for tolerance, he argues, is insufficient. Religious leaders need to re examine their attitudes towards pluralism.