In this section I suggest that all three monotheistic faiths have similar patterns of development that create political entities prone to conflict, regardless of the faith's theology regarding violence. This is true because of the nature and stages of the formation of the faith communities, as shown in this table.

Analysis of identity formation of monotheistic faiths:

	Judaism	Christianity	Islam
1--Genesis through visionary leader	Moses	Jesus	Mohammed
strong faith identity of leader focused in religio-political terms	leads people to Yahweh, law & land	saves people for Kingdom of God	leads people from idolatry to form a nation submitted to Allah
2--Community formed around leader through	family	family & disciples	family & disciples
group identity develops via core of persons & beliefs expressed in	ethnic unity	ethnic diversity	ethnic diversity
3--period of persecution for community refines identity of community in fire of persecution	Exile in Egypt, Babylon & Diaspora	persecution phase 30-313 A.D.	early Mecca phase
4--victorious military expansion phase	occupy Promised Land	adoption by imperial Roman powers	"Fatah" expansion phase
we/they religious identity based on subjugation or assimilation of others	'militant Zionist'	'Crusader' 'Conquistador'	'Mujahid' (holy warrior- struggler)

5--In the fifth phase, that is still current, there is a chronic boundary and power vacillation between these faiths and their host nations, or between the coalitions of nations associated with these faiths. These power vacillations flow with the corporate memory of both persecution and victory that feeds religious identity and a sense of the need to protect, preserve and expand.

All three faiths were initiated by visionary leaders who formed religio/political faith communities. Each of these communities has a deep and unchangeable sense of holy history that transcends national boundaries and defines the vision and ethos of the people. Each of these communities was also initially formed in opposition to other religio/political communities: Moses led an exodus from Egypt that set Yahweh and himself against the gods of Egypt and the pharaoh. Jesus was killed by Roman imperial forces in collusion with religious leaders in Jerusalem, and his title Lord was in opposition to Caesar's position. And, Mohammed and his Muslim followers saw their religious and political efforts bringing into submission to Allah all idolatry and political structures not in accordance with Allah's way. Therefore, the core identity of each of these communities was formed in a context of contention with other religio/political communities. This orientation to opposition can negatively create religious conflict or positively be the source of prophetic encounter.

Commentators on emerging conflicts often deny that a given conflict is religious, without considering the basic religio-political identity of faith communities. Very few conflicts are about beliefs, but they may be the result of the encounter of religio-political aspects of these communities and their association with national governments. The pattern of identity formation leads to seven patterns of thought that make religious conflict difficult to control:

1. There is a tendency to telescope history by seeing current conflicts as similar to, or an extension of, a given "holy history's" past struggles.

2. Descriptions of conflicts often use types or contexts from scriptures to describe current conflicts.

3. Resentment of the other group's political or religious gains generates fears connected to the primal persecution phase of the "weaker" faith.

4. Because of the singular focus of monotheistic faiths there is a difficulty in coexisting without one faith community asserting or assuming superiority.

5. Aggression and atrocities against the religious "other" are easier to carry out because the initial phase of each faith included contention with other faiths.

6. For each group, survival and witness centers on sacrifice and suffering (Exile/Holocaust, persecution/crossbearing, lesser Jihad/greater Jihad). This faith struggle easily translates into conflict when the struggle is corporate. Members of these groups experience and interpret their survival as repetitions of phases three and four in the above table. The crudest example of this translation is that the Crusaders were literally "crossbearers" in both name and practice, as a symbol of redemptive suffering (the cross) was turned into a symbol of redemptive violence.

7. Finally, each religion's faith is based on an alternative allegiance to whatever political structure they may be living under. This alternative allegiance periodically comes to the fore in attempts to form a religious state: a Jewish Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran, a Christian America, an Orthodox Slavonic-Eurasian Union.