Lately it feels like the news is full of what I call the “smite” stories — the “vanquishing our enemies” or “God is on our side” kind of headlines and quotes. Doesn’t it seem as if our world is becoming more violent, more divisive, more distrustful of the other? The constant stream of graphic images and minute-by-minute updates can make it feel as if the storm is raging everywhere. Yet the evidence tells a somewhat different story. The most violent time in human history, based on the examination of 3,500 human skeletons, appears to have been between 1200 and 400 BCE. While violence certainly still exists today, research shows that it tends to wax and [...]