Religion: A Missing Component of Professional Military Education PKSOI Paper | Page 9

Religion: A Missing Component
of Professional Military Education
Thomas G. Matyók, Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow
Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
Introduction.
There is little reason to romanticize religion and
the potential roles it can play in peacebuilding. The
historic record is clear. Religion has often been animated to justify the worst kinds of horrors. In the
United States alone, Jim Crow preachers employed
religious rhetoric to keep segregation in place. Osama
Bin Laden used religion to justify mass murder, and
preachers such as Jerry Falwell routinely suggested
the link between terrorism waged against Americans
and God’s wrath for a society wandering away from
Christian values.1
A tendency exists to view religion as primarily
divisive2 leaving little space for the accommodation
of competing narratives. Religion is neither good nor
evil. Religious actors are complex human beings with
competing interests. Binary thinking rarely results in
a deep analysis3 of the issues at hand.
An emphasis on the divisive and violent aspects
of religion provides only part of the story. Missed are
the ongoing peacebuilding activities of religious organizations and individuals occurring at multiple tracks
of engagement; interpersonal, community, national,
and regional.4 As professionals engaged in the many
activities of peacebuilding, it is essential that military
authorities arrive at a nuanced understanding of the

1