James A. Haught

From the Catholic-Protestant killings in Northern Ireland to the Hindu-Sikh-Muslim massacres in India, from the Orthodox-Catholic-Muslim horror in former Yugoslavia to the Branch Davidian cult tragedy in Waco, Texas, religion is still a powerful force that pits people against one another.

Award-winning journalist James A. Haught has chronicled the many recent surges of religious hostility in this important new volume. Many people tend to believe that religious killing peaked with the Crusades, the Inquisition, and Reformation, but as Haught shows, the age-old pattern is still alive in the 1990s and can be seen in news headlines from around the world. He traces the origins of various conflicts, their significant developments, and current status.

Among the "hot spots'' of religious conflict discussed are: Bosnia, india, Jerusalem, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, as well as two incidents in the United States: Waco and the bombing of the World Trade Center, plus the attacks by fundamentalist Christians on doctors who perform legal abortions.

Haught addresses the irony of these conflicts: That religion -- supposedly a source of kindness and brotherhood -- has become one of the chief causes of hatred and war. With Soviet communism and the Cold War no longer spurring conflicts, the world spotlight has shifted to ethnic strife, the vast majority of which involves fractious faiths. Holy Hatred demonstrates how religion often divides people and breeds hostility.

James A. Haught (Charleston, WV) is editor of The Charleston Gazette. His previous books include Holy Horrors and Science in a Nanosecond. His work as a journalist has earned him numerous awards, including the 1989 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for investigative reporting.

237 pages (photos throughout)
ISBN 0-87975-922-4 -- Cloth $21.95 (6x9)

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