Friendship and Soccer

According to Scott Atran, these may be just as important as religion in what goes to forge a terrorist. He puts forward his thesis in this session from Beyond Belief: Enlightment 2.0. His presentation starts at about 1 hour and 21 minutes in.

 

I have to say that I found it extremely persuasive. Yes, he comes across to some as being smug, and perhaps he downplays the role of religion in terrorism; but to counter that I would say that he does seem to have the data on his side. His analysis of the data behind the Madrid bombings was very powerful, I thought.

 

Excellent stuff and very thought-provoking.