I had the privilege and pleasure of hearing Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks speak in Modi’in last week. He is promoting his latest book, Not in G-d’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence.

Rabbi Sacks spoke about three main thought processes that occur in the minds of religious zealots who commit acts of evil. He said that although religious violence is most commonly being committed by Islamic extremists today, it can manifest in all religions.

Everyone would do well to examine these thought processes, so we can defend against the extremists in our midst. This examination would produce the side benefit of reducing fear, anguish and suffering on a personal and national level.

The problem of religious violence usually stems from dualism, according to Rabbi Sacks. This occurs when religions move away from the monotheistic concept that one G-d is responsible for both the good and bad elements in our world, and instead decide that they are “the children of light,” while their enemies are “the children of darkness.”

How do religious leaders implement dualism? Rabbi Sacks offered three main techniques:

1. Dehumanization – Rabbi Sacks proffered the example of the Nazis, who frequently labeled Jews “vermin,” “rats” and “parasites.” Hitler could only mobilize huge numbers of people to commit violence after convincing them that Jews were less than human. Hitler wasn’t a religious leader, but many have unfortunately followed his example when it comes to dehumanization.

2. Victimization – another way in which religious leaders inspire followers to commit acts of violence is by training them to always feel like a victim. A victim will naturally want to strike back at his oppressor to allay his feelings of frustration and injustice.

3. “Altruistic Evil” – this is when believers are convinced that horrific acts of violence, such as suicide bombings or rape, are welcomed by G-d. “You can commit evil and say, ‘I am doing this for the highest ideals,'” said Rabbi Sacks.

The purpose of Rabbi Sacks’ talk, as well as his new book, was to help the world combat religious violence. Although he was clear that most of the violence today is coming from Islamic extremists, I think it can be useful for all of us to examine ourselves for traces of the three thought processes above.

Not only can those thought processes eventually lead to violence, but they can also cause unhappiness on a national level. People who regularly dehumanize other groups aren’t happy, they are living in a state of anger and aggression. And people who play the victim card are fearful and anxious, which quite obviously prevents joy.

It goes without saying that acts of violence generally lead to retaliation and more violence, and thus do not increase happiness.

I’m hesitant to reduce a complex report to a single factor, but it’s perhaps unsurprising that Israel’s neighbors scored significantly lower than Israel in the UN’s 2015 World Happiness Report.

Israel, the region’s only real democracy that allows all religions freedom of worship and access to their holy sites, was ranked the 11th happiest country in the entire world.

“Most of Israel’s neighbors ranked low on the index, including the Palestinian territories (108), Egypt (135), Jordan (85), and Lebanon (103). The five unhappiest countries in the 2015 report were Rwanda, Benin, war-torn Syria, Burundi and Togo,” according to Rahel Jaskow of The Times of Israel.

On a personal level, I sometimes find myself slipping into #2 on Rabbi Sacks’ list. Living in Israel, it’s easy to see the mistreatment our country receives in the UN and the press, and to conclude that we are perpetual victims. We are often victimized, unfortunately, but we also possess a great deal of strength and sometimes we are the wrongdoers in certain situations.

I wish Rabbi Sacks all the best in trying to eradicate religious violence, which as a side benefit would make our world a much happier place.