Honors Seminar in the Social Sciences III: Application
PSY 3010 – 3 credits
Dr. Neil Kressel
Spring 2013
Understanding Religion and Religious Extremism:
A MultidisciplinaryApproach
Course Description
Social Sciences Honors Seminar III examines a selected topic from a variety of social science
perspectives. An effort is made to develop interdisciplinary approaches as well as to show how
psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and anthropologists might study the subject
within their own disciplines.
The Spring 2013 seminar explores various social scientific perspectives on religion. The course
starts from the assumption that religion -- as an immensely complex and diverse phenomenon -has had, in its various manifestations, positive and negative consequences for individuals,
cultures, and societies. However, this term we especially strive to understand the psychological,
historical, social, cultural, political, and theological origins of religious extremism in
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other faiths.
Though religion is possibly the most controversial of all topics, we should not allow fear of
controversy to block the study of a phenomenon that is, by many measures, extremely
consequential for our world today. In this spirit, the course aims to create an environment where
people who hold very different views can learn together, discovering common ground as well as
illuminating points of disagreement.
Contact Information:
My campus phone number is 720-3389 and my email address is kresseln@wpunj.edu. I
generally hold office hours on Mondays (11-12), Wednesdays (11-12), and by appointment. My
office is located in SCIENCE EAST 2039. It is always best to schedule a time in advance. I
prefer to be contacted by email and usually respond quickly to email messages. Ms. Liz SidersBrown, the psychology department secretary, can be reached at 720-2148; her email address is
browne@wpunj.edu.
Readings:
Students will probably want to purchase the following books:

Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. Touchstone, 1984 (originally written in 1946).
ISBN 0-671-24422-1 (Any fairly recent edition is fine.)
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
Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion. Norton. ISBN 0-393-00831-2

Marci A, Hamilton, God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law. Cambridge, 2005.
ISBN-13: 978-0521853040

Neil J. Kressel, Bad Faith: The Danger of Religious Extremism. Prometheus, 2007. ISBN
978 1 59102 503 0

Neil J. Kressel, “The Sons of Pigs and Apes”: Muslim Antisemitism and the Conspiracy of
Silence. Potomac, 2012. ISBN 978-1-59797-702-9

Raymond F. Paloutzian, Invitation to the Psychology of Religion. Third edition. Allyn
Bacon, 2010. The second edition, 1996, is also fine. ISBN 978-0205549085

Phil Zuckerman, Invitation to the Sociology of Religion. Routledge. ISBN o-415-94126-6.
Check online for used copies in order to save money.
Students will need to select one of the books listed below in order to complete the book review
assignment. If you wish, you may propose another recent and relevant book for review. The
books listed are also useful as references.

Mustafa Akyol, Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty. New York: Norton,
2011.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel. New York: Free Press, 2008.

Hadassa Ben-Itto, The Lie That Wouldn’t Die: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Portland, OR: Valentine Mitchell, 2005.

Nick Cohen, What’s Left? How the Left Lost Its Way. New York: Harper, 2007.

Lorne L. Dawson, Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements. New
York: Oxford, 2006.

James Forsyth, Psychological Theories of Religion. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
2003.

Andrew M. Greeley, Unsecular Man: The Persistence of Religion. New York: Schocken,
1985.

Marvin Harris, Cows Pigs Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York: Vintage,
1989, orig. published in 1974. (This book cannot be used for the book review by students
who have taken SSH 2010).
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
Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. New York:
Norton, 2005.

Ralph W. Hood, Jr., Peter C. Hill, and W. Paul Williamson, The Psychology of Religious
Fundamentalism. New York: Guilford, 2005.

William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience. (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1997, originally published in 1902) (Students may review a chapter or two of this book
instead of the entire volume.)

Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence.
Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000.

Sudhir Kakar, The Colors of Violence: Cultural Identities, Religion, and Conflict. Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1996.

Efraim Karsh, Islamic Imperialism: A History. New Haven, Yale, 2007.

Charles Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2002.

Neil J. Kressel, Mass Hate: The Global Rise of Genocide and Terror. Revised and updated
edition. (New York: Westview/ Perseus/ Basic Books, 2002.

Tim LaHaye, Finding the Will of God in a Crazy Mixed-Up World. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 1989.

Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam. New York: Random House, 2004.

Denis MacShane, Globalising Hatred: The New Antisemitism. London: Weidenfeld and
Nicolson, 2009.

Irshad Manji, The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith. New
York: St. Martin’s, 2005.

William Nicholls, Christian Antisemitism: A History of Hate. New York: Jason Aronson,
1993.

Yoram Peri, The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Palo Alto: Stanford, 2000.

Bertrand Russell, Why I am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related
Subjects. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.
Course Objectives
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The course aims to increase the sophistication with which students think about religion and
world affairs by providing them with perspectives from several of social sciences. Students
should be able to offer better-informed opinions about the place of religion in the contemporary
world and, also, to articulate and defend their thoughts about in the role of religion in the origin,
development, and resolution of selected intergroup conflicts. Students should also be able to
speak with sophistication about the psychological consequences of various types of religious
beliefs.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to: a) grasp and explain the implications of social scientific theories and
research for the study of religion, b) demonstrate understanding of the prospects and limitations
of various social scientific approaches to the comprehension of religion and religious extremism,
c) demonstrate sufficient understanding of the historical and political context of religious
conflicts to speak and write intelligently about related matters, d) tolerate opinions with which he
or she disagrees, e) consider differing viewpoints fairly, and f) write thoughtful and clear essays
about the psychology, sociology, and politics of religion and religious extremism.
Topical Outline
(Films will supplement several of the lectures. For many books, I will direct you to the most
relevant sections. Outline may change; I will announce changes in class.)
1/15
1/22
Introduction
Sociology of Religion I: The Social Context of Religious Belief. Film: Science Revises
the Heavens. Read: Zuckerman, Invitation to the Sociology of Religion.
1/29 Sociology of Religion II: Religions Around the World. Film TBA.
2/5
Psychology of Religion I: The Origins of Religion and the Religious Impulse. Freud’s
Approach. Read: Freud, Future of an Illusion.
2/12 Psychology of Religion II: Frankl’s Approach. Read: Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning.
Film TBA. Reaction Paper #1 due.
2/19 Psychology of Religion III: Empirical Research. Read: Paloutzian, Invitation to the
Psychology of Religion. Quiz #1.
2/26 Religion and Government I. The American Constitution, Religious Freedom and the
Limits of Tolerance. Read: Hamilton, God vs. the Gavel
3/5
Religion and Government II: Religion and the Law. Film TBA
3/12 Religious Extremism I: Impact of Religious Extremism on Contemporary Political
Affairs. Definitions. Read Kressel, Bad Faith. Reaction Paper #2 due.
3/19 Spring Break
3/26 Religious Extremism II: General Characteristics, Manifestations in Judaism,
Christianity, Hinduism, and other faiths.
4/2 Religious Extremism III: Liberal. Moderate, and Extremist Islam. Film: TBA.
4/9 Religious Extremism IV: The Origins of Extremist Islam. Film: TBA. Quiz #2. Read:
Kressel, “The Sons of Pigs and Apes.”
4/16 Religious Extremism V: Terrorist Manifestations of Extremist Islam, Counterterrorism.
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Film: “Inside the Mind of a Suicide Bomber.”
4/23 Antisemitism, the Longest Hatred I: The Christian World. Film: “The Longest Hatred:
Parts I and II”
4/30 Antisemitism, the Longest Hatred II: The Islamic World. Film: “The Longest Hatred:
Part III.” Reaction Paper #3 due. Quiz #3.
5/7 Final Class. Presentations.
5/10 Book review/Final Project due.
Teaching Methods
Lectures, readings, classroom discussions, student presentations, occasional videos and debates.
Course Expectations and Grading
Students must participate in class discussions, take 3 quizzes, write 3 (1-2 page) reaction papers,
make one in-class presentation, and complete one (5-10 page) take-home, book review project.
(The final exam will be a book review of an approved book.) The key to a good grade is
successful performance on the quizzes, papers, book review, and presentation. Class
participation also counts a bit. The course grade will be calculated roughly as follows: quizzes
(30%), reaction papers (30%), exam (30%), class presentation (5%), and class participation
(5%).
Support Services
A variety of support services are available on campus. If needed, students should consider
contacting the Academic Support Center (720-3324), the Counseling Center (720-2257), or the
Career Development Center (720-2282).
A Few Quotations About Religion
Edmund Burke: Man is by his constitution a religious animal.
Edmund Burke: Religious persecution may shield itself under the guise of a
mistaken and over-zealous piety
Jonathan Swift: We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough
to make us love one another.
G. K. Chesterton: It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.
Galileo Galilei: I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has
endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: The god of the cannibals will be a cannibal, of the
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crusaders a crusader, of the merchants a merchant.
Thomas Jefferson: I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming
feature.
William James: “. . . a religion should be judged by its fruits rather than by its
roots.
Andrew M. Greeley: “. . . basic human religious needs and the basic religious
functions have not changed very notably since the late Ice Age; what changes
have occurred make religious questions more critical rather than less critical in
the contemporary world.”
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