Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood and the (Un)making of Terrorists

In this review of Scott Atran's book, Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood and the (Un)making of Terrorists (HarperCollins, 2010), Michael Bond examines Atran's field research on the social dynamics of terrorism, and points out that despite popular understanding, many of the so-called "Islamic" terrorists were not educated in religous schools.  This and other work points to the fact that the more a person knows about their religion, the less likely they are to turn to violence.