(To stay up to date on the podcast, subscribe here on Substack or find us over on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube. Please subscribe and leave a review!)
“A lot of counterterrorism studies now will say, very few people are actually committing acts based on alignment with some kind of ideology alone. That is not the primary driver. It’d be really bad strategy to try to prevent violent extremism just based off of that. And so it’s a lot of other social factors as well.” - Ray Kim
It is hard to make sense of the continuous onslaught of bad news filling our media feeds. Escalating violence, political assassinations, genocidal conflicts, and religious and political extremism are inescapable parts of our daily news. Within this chaos, perspective and wisdom are difficult to come by. In this conversation, I speak with Dr. Ray Kim, from the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, about the rise of political and religious violence, the ways we construct and shape truth, the power of dialogue, and what it looks like to foster inclusive communities that counter extremism.
Dr. Ray Kim’s Bio - As the Director of US Programs & Partnerships at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD), Ray Kim leads efforts to counteract toxic polarization and rebuild social cohesion by working with faith leaders and communities across the United States. Ray brings extensive expertise in conflict transformation, mediation, and depolarization, designing and facilitating workshops, trainings, and resources that empower communities to prevent violent extremism and promote inclusive dialogue. Ray earned his Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies from Georgetown University, specializing in the sociology of religion. His academic and professional pursuits have included research on Islamophobia in Korea, religious soft-power influences in global contexts, and the experiences of religious minorities in the Levant.
