Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization

by Reza Aslan

were part of a long and steady process of Christian militarization that had begun with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine around 313 C.E. Almost overnight, the provincial religion inspired by an itinerent Jew from the Galilee became an imperial religion, and the cross of Christ was turned into a banner of war. This sudden transformation radically altered the perception of Christians when it came to the notion of war and violence. The early followers of Jesus, living in a state of constant persecution and political weakness, had focused their ideas of war on the apocalyptic plane—Christ would one day return as “a warrior on a white horse,” his eyes “like a flame of fire,” his vestments “dripping with blood,” his tongue “a sharp-edged sword” with which he would “strike down the nations” with vengeance (Revelation 19:11–15). But with the merging of Rome and Christianity, the Church’s spiritual enemies became indistinguishable from Rome’s political enemies. By the time the first Crusaders