Holy War: The History of an Idea

Though the wise know that history will inevitably repeat itself, mankind keeps on making the same mistakes. It is never an easy task to write about war and religion, and Dr. Jacques G. Ruelland has managed to do so clearly and without prejudice. Through his exposé of the holy wars, this philosopher-historian traces a not-so-holy picture of civilization by analyzing the semantics of "sacredness" inherent to monotheistic religions. With the compassionate eye of the humanist, he helps us understand the origins of the justifications of wars waged in the name of the Almighty. Will we ever learn to eradicate this ancient practice? Not really, the historian believes, unless humanity can succeed in redefining the very notion of peace by assigning a new mission to science which would, ultimately, be dedicated to its real and ever-lasting pursuit.

Dr. Jacques G. Ruelland currently teaches philosophy at the College Edouard-Montpetit (Longueuil, Quebec) and history of science, medicine, and museology at the Department of History at the Universite de Montreal. Ms. Cornelia Fuykschot, a native of Amsterdam, is a retired language and history teacher who currently resides in Ontario, Canada, where she translates various works from Dutch and French for English publication. Ms. Jeanne Poulin is a bilingual writer who specializes in socio-political and cultural issues and has written pieces for publications based in Montreal, Toronto, and New York.