As Robert Hefner points out in his article on East Timor in this issue, only 40 percent of East Timorese were Roman Catholic prior to the 1975 Indonesian invasion, with the balance adhering to one or another indigenous religion. Today the number is over 90 percent. In their 25-year struggle for independence, the East Timorese seized on Roman Catholicism as an expression of their national identity as distinct from largely Muslim Indonesia. Similarly, many southern Sudanese are embracing Christianity in the face of what they perceive as Muslim assaults from the north. Or that where there is a significant religious factor, it is the only factor in the field.
Religion is a moving target, even within a given country.
As circumstances change, it can come to the fore or retreat into the shadows as a political actor. Whether the conflict is taking place in Ireland, Chechnya, Nigeria, Burundi, Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir, or Sri Lanka, we cannot afford to be dogmatic about the role religion plays. Its measure must be taken case by case.