"First of all, my persuasion is: what really breeds violence is political differences. But because religion serves as the soul of community, it gets drawn into the fracas and turns up the heat"
About this Quote
That framing matters. Smith’s intent is diagnostic, almost mediating: if you misidentify the engine of conflict, you’ll prescribe the wrong cure. His subtext is also defensive, but strategically so. He’s conceding religion’s visibility in conflict (“gets drawn into the fracas”) while insisting it’s often recruited, not original. The phrase “turns up the heat” is doing quiet rhetorical work: it admits religion intensifies, sanctifies, hardens - without granting it authorship of the brawl.
The context is late-20th and early-21st century discourse where “religion causes war” became a secular shorthand, especially after televised sectarian violence and post-9/11 polemics. Smith offers a more sociological picture: religion functions as a badge of belonging, so political combatants weaponize it for mass mobilization and moral certainty. He’s warning that modern conflicts are rarely pure theology; they’re identity politics with a halo - and that halo makes compromise feel like betrayal.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Smith, Huston. (2026, February 20). First of all, my persuasion is: what really breeds violence is political differences. But because religion serves as the soul of community, it gets drawn into the fracas and turns up the heat. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/first-of-all-my-persuasion-is-what-really-breeds-9464/
Chicago Style
Smith, Huston. "First of all, my persuasion is: what really breeds violence is political differences. But because religion serves as the soul of community, it gets drawn into the fracas and turns up the heat." FixQuotes. February 20, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/first-of-all-my-persuasion-is-what-really-breeds-9464/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"First of all, my persuasion is: what really breeds violence is political differences. But because religion serves as the soul of community, it gets drawn into the fracas and turns up the heat." FixQuotes, 20 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/first-of-all-my-persuasion-is-what-really-breeds-9464/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
