Politics and the Pulpit: Political Rhetoric and Religious Violence

• In Event: Religion and Right-Wing Populism

Abstract

Why are some states more prone to religious violence? What types of political rhetoric influences the likelihood for religiously motivated violence to breakout? This study focuses on using religious violence event-data generated by the examination of media reports through natural language processing. We are interested in determining whether there are unique dynamics that influence the level of religious violence in context of political competition. In particular, we argue that outbreaks of religiously inspired violence coincide with utilization of specific types of political rhetoric. Our examination of English and non-English language media reports and rhetoric used by politicians indicate that nationalistic appeals to mobilize political support heightened the risks of religiously motivated violence to be reported. We examine the relationship between religious violence and political rhetoric looking at national elections in Germany from 2000-2015 to identify what type of political rhetoric influences the propensity for religious violence.

Authors

• Robert Thuan Brathwaite, Michigan State University

• Baekkwan Park