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How do magical practices affect the violent behavior of rebel groups? Using existing data, we examine the impact of magical practices on rebels’ use of indiscriminate violence in armed conflicts. We argue that magical beliefs and practices increase the expected utility of using indiscriminate violence as a tool of intimidation; facilitate the vilification of civilians, legitimating their status as targets; and socialize recruits in a way that motivates their use of indiscriminate violence. We expand on existing research about religion and political violence by showing how non-traditional spiritual beliefs and practices shape group tactics and amplify violence against civilians.
Soules et al. (Tue,) studied this question.