Compulsion in Religion

Download or read book Compulsion in Religion written by Samuel Helfont and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compulsion in Religion investigates religion and politics in Saddam Hussein's Iraq as well as the roots of the religious insurgencies that erupted in Iraq following the American-led invasion in 2003. In looking at Saddam Hussein's policies in the 1990s, many have interpreted his support for state religion as evidence of a dramatic shift away from Arab nationalism toward political Islam. While Islam did play a greater role in the regime's symbols and Saddam's statements in the 1990s than it had in earlier decades, the archival records and the regime's internal documents challenge this theory.