Pilgrims and Crusaders: Religion as a Political Double-edged Sword

joint work with Tommaso Colussi, Andrea Tesei and Felipe Valencia

Can religion be a double-edge sword? 

On the one hand, religious scriptures often stress the need for compassion, altruism, solidarity and forgiveness, while on the other religious affiliation can be misused as a marker for divisive politics that may spur religious hatred and sectarian violence. 

This paper explores the links between religion and support for right-wing populist parties in Europe. Using unique granular data on electoral results at the municipality level over the 2006-2017 period, we investigate the historical influence of both inclusive and divisive interpretations of the same religion (Christianism). We gauge latent support for conflicting views of religion by the distance of each European municipality to historical crusade or pilgrimage routes. We show that following an overseas Jihadist terrorist attack involving at least one national European citizen, there is an average increase in support for parties emphasizing religious principles that advocate a tougher / more skeptical stance on migration, multiculturalism and ethnic diversity, in particular close to historical Crusade routes. This is consistent with the view that such exogenous shocks re-activate historical Crusade-related social norms. In contrast, we document that shocks linked to pilgrimage-related traditions of compassion (we draw on fatalities on migration routes) lead to a surge in tolerance near pilgrimage routes, as opposed to places near historical Crusade routes. We document underlying mechanisms and channels of transmission. 

Our findings are consistent with the view that religion can entail opposite views and generate conflicting political responses.