The Nexus Between Violence and Religion in Simone Weil

Simone Weil (1909-1943) lived an existence deeply marked by the feeling of sharing in the suffering of others. Above all, this feeling linked her to Christianity as a domain where one can find a horizon of meaning for the heartbreaking experience of suffering, as well as an example that it is possible to perform an act of compassion even in the midst of the extreme rootlessness of life. Motivated by this reference, she has shaped a severe critique of the forms of segregation and oppression that exist in institutionalised religions, which emerges as a rich and thought-provoking theme in her reflections.