How do we make sense of the senseless and tragic violence committed by militants at the headquarters of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, especially when that violence is committed in the name of Allah? Suzanne Ross, my colleague at the Raven Foundation, calls the violence at Charlie Hebdo a sacred tragedy. Now, we generally associate “the sacred” with religions, but Suzanne clarifies that you don’t have to be religious to hold something sacred. In fact, whether we are religious or... Read more

The following book review is by Lindsey Paris-Lopez, Editor in Chief of the Raven Foundation. Introduction:  “Peaceful, law-abiding…” In clichéd phrases, the latter adjective follows after the former automatically, as if the one were equivalent to the other. Any nation will condition its citizens to believe that the law is a benevolent instrument serving the protection and prosperity of the people. But with violence at the root of civilization and so deeply woven into national structures, fundamental aspects of national... Read more

The tragic death of twelve people at the French weekly newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, begs for our understanding. We must avoid, however, the instinctive need to assign blame or to glorify death. To fall into that trap is to remain ignorant of the surprising relationship between violence and the sacred, an ignorance that has fatal consequences. ATTACKING THE SACRED Charlie Hebdo “thrived on breaking taboos”. Like a child holding a rock for whom every window is a potential target, the editors at... Read more