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Religion does not cause wars.
18 Answers
How often do you hear more wars are fought over religion than anything else, but is it true? The last two world wars were not conducted by one religion against another; both sides were told they had God with them, if they prayed it was to the same God. The Germans were determined to liquidate Jews in the Second world war but this was economic and blame not because they were of a different faith, the Korean and Vietnam wars were political, Northern Ireland was allegedly a backlash by Nationalists (Catholic) against Loyalist (Protestant) but neither side was trying to impose their religion on the other.
The Iraq war was surely about democracy and oil not religion, Afghanistan is more about imposing the rights and treatment of Women and Girls and stopping the supply of drugs and the introduction of democracy than it is about religion.
The closest thing to religious wars would probably be the Crusades and the attacks on the USA & UK but I think these were more political than religious.
Cruel acts are carried out by one religion against another but surely the fact is that religion is just an excuse it is political views and ideology that causes wars.
The Iraq war was surely about democracy and oil not religion, Afghanistan is more about imposing the rights and treatment of Women and Girls and stopping the supply of drugs and the introduction of democracy than it is about religion.
The closest thing to religious wars would probably be the Crusades and the attacks on the USA & UK but I think these were more political than religious.
Cruel acts are carried out by one religion against another but surely the fact is that religion is just an excuse it is political views and ideology that causes wars.
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The reason given for being in Afghanistan was to remove Al-Qaeda training camps
Wars are rarely fought on a single issue but I think it clear religion is a catalyse for hostility. A religion is part of a society's culture and part of what makes one group different from another. If one side is the compulsory evangelising type then it make hostility all the more likely.
Wars are rarely fought on a single issue but I think it clear religion is a catalyse for hostility. A religion is part of a society's culture and part of what makes one group different from another. If one side is the compulsory evangelising type then it make hostility all the more likely.
There have always been wars og and probably always will be but I think religion just gets the blame. Most, perhaps not all, religions have peaceful attitudes and if all people complied with this most of the aggression would be removed. Even if your beliefs are wrong and there is no God, as many believe, to have religious beliefs does no harm and probably some good.
It is probably an oversimplification to say that any war has ever been on purely religious grounds as there are invariably other factors. Historically, some wars have carried on when the original causes were forgotten. The Hundred Years War was a case in point.
What seems to be the case is that other causes have come to the fore as Western Religions have declined.
What seems to be the case is that other causes have come to the fore as Western Religions have declined.
Sorry Tony but...
the first Iraq war was to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait following their invasion. The second Iraq war occurred after the US convinced everyone that Saddam Hussein had arsenals of WMDs that could be launched against neighbouring countries within 15 minutes. The 2003 attack was to disarm Iraq of WMDs - we then found out there weren't any!
The 'Afghanistan war' followed the attacks on September 11th 2001. The Taliban government was allowing al-Qaeda to use Afghanistan as a training and operating base from which to conduct global attacks. It was nothing to do with women or drugs.
Most wars and conflicts throughout history have not had a base in religion. The common factor has invariably been the inability of different peoples to respect each others' cultures or to live together, either within a nation or internationally. Iraq and Afghanistan are good examples where the US has tried to force their culture of supposed 'Freedom' on the cultures of those regions. They are still at it now and it causes hatred, distrust and death. If nations respected each others cultures and traditions there would be much less hate and war.
the first Iraq war was to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait following their invasion. The second Iraq war occurred after the US convinced everyone that Saddam Hussein had arsenals of WMDs that could be launched against neighbouring countries within 15 minutes. The 2003 attack was to disarm Iraq of WMDs - we then found out there weren't any!
The 'Afghanistan war' followed the attacks on September 11th 2001. The Taliban government was allowing al-Qaeda to use Afghanistan as a training and operating base from which to conduct global attacks. It was nothing to do with women or drugs.
Most wars and conflicts throughout history have not had a base in religion. The common factor has invariably been the inability of different peoples to respect each others' cultures or to live together, either within a nation or internationally. Iraq and Afghanistan are good examples where the US has tried to force their culture of supposed 'Freedom' on the cultures of those regions. They are still at it now and it causes hatred, distrust and death. If nations respected each others cultures and traditions there would be much less hate and war.
Scottben: I do not think the trouble in the Middle East has a basis in religion, if both sides were the same religion they would still be at each other’s throats. It was the imposition of the Jewish state on land that the Arab nations considered their own.
Andyvon: Surely the situation you describe is political religion is just an excuse?
Andyvon: Surely the situation you describe is political religion is just an excuse?
Rather than bring about a return to genuine Christianity, the Reformation brought forth a host of national or territorial churches that have curried favor with the political states and actively supported them in their wars. In fact, both the Catholic and the Protestant churches have fomented religious wars. In his book An Historian’s Approach to Religion, Arnold Toynbee wrote concerning such wars: “They exhibited Catholics and Protestants in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Ireland, and rival sects of Protestants in England and Scotland, in the brutal act of trying to suppress one another by force of arms.” The present-day conflicts that are dividing Ireland and the former Yugoslavia show that the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches are still deeply involved in the affairs of this world.
Some examples:
1. C Hinduism, Islam
India (Bhiwandi and Bombay): “Tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India exploded into some of the worst communal riots since independence. Riots in Bhiwandi and Bombay in May and June [1984] left more than 300 people dead.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985 Book of the Year.
2. D Hinduism, Sikhism
India (Punjab): In 1984 India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, a Hindu, authorized a “punitive raid on the most sacred shrine of the Sikh religion, the Golden Temple at Amritsar” in the Punjab, “where Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale [a militant Sikh leader] . . . was martyred by government troops.” In quick retaliation Gandhi’s own Sikh bodyguards assassinated her. “Tension and violence between Hindu and Sikh communities in India continued into 1985.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985 and 1986 Book of the Year.
3. A Catholicism, Protestantism
Ireland: “Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister, agreed to consult the Irish Republic in addressing the grievances of Ulster’s 600,000 Roman Catholics. But leaders of the North’s million Protestants have vehemently rejected the . . . accord. . . . If they prevail, . . . a savage conflict is likely to rage into another century.”—The New York Times, November 15, 1986.
4. E Shiite Muslim, Christendom, Druze
Lebanon: “[Nominal] Christians killed Muslims without quarter. Muslims killed Christians with a ferocity unknown since the Crusades. Druze [members of a Syro-Lebanese religious sect originating among Muslims] and Palestinians entered the dark fray, until at any one time there were as many as 53 ‘irregular’ armies fighting in Lebanon. Indeed the ‘Lebanon syndrome’ became the metaphor for irregular warfare and purposeless killing in our times.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985 Book of the Year.
5. B Hinduism, Buddhism
Sri Lanka: “Among the traditional Buddhist nations, Sri Lanka had become the bloody scene of renewed violent conflict between the Hindu Tamil minority in the north and the Buddhist Sinhalese majority.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1986 Book of the Year.
History is full of wars where Catholics took up arms and killed Catholics in other countries. Same for Protestants.
So yes, the religions of Christendom and others have caused wars....
Some examples:
1. C Hinduism, Islam
India (Bhiwandi and Bombay): “Tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India exploded into some of the worst communal riots since independence. Riots in Bhiwandi and Bombay in May and June [1984] left more than 300 people dead.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985 Book of the Year.
2. D Hinduism, Sikhism
India (Punjab): In 1984 India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, a Hindu, authorized a “punitive raid on the most sacred shrine of the Sikh religion, the Golden Temple at Amritsar” in the Punjab, “where Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale [a militant Sikh leader] . . . was martyred by government troops.” In quick retaliation Gandhi’s own Sikh bodyguards assassinated her. “Tension and violence between Hindu and Sikh communities in India continued into 1985.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985 and 1986 Book of the Year.
3. A Catholicism, Protestantism
Ireland: “Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister, agreed to consult the Irish Republic in addressing the grievances of Ulster’s 600,000 Roman Catholics. But leaders of the North’s million Protestants have vehemently rejected the . . . accord. . . . If they prevail, . . . a savage conflict is likely to rage into another century.”—The New York Times, November 15, 1986.
4. E Shiite Muslim, Christendom, Druze
Lebanon: “[Nominal] Christians killed Muslims without quarter. Muslims killed Christians with a ferocity unknown since the Crusades. Druze [members of a Syro-Lebanese religious sect originating among Muslims] and Palestinians entered the dark fray, until at any one time there were as many as 53 ‘irregular’ armies fighting in Lebanon. Indeed the ‘Lebanon syndrome’ became the metaphor for irregular warfare and purposeless killing in our times.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1985 Book of the Year.
5. B Hinduism, Buddhism
Sri Lanka: “Among the traditional Buddhist nations, Sri Lanka had become the bloody scene of renewed violent conflict between the Hindu Tamil minority in the north and the Buddhist Sinhalese majority.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 1986 Book of the Year.
History is full of wars where Catholics took up arms and killed Catholics in other countries. Same for Protestants.
So yes, the religions of Christendom and others have caused wars....
.Jesus said: Every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit . . . Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:16-19) Thus, to determine the true God from false ones, and true worshipers from false ones, we need to examine what they produce. Is their fruitage “fine,” or is it “worthless”?
For example, which of the world’s religions has established genuine peace among its adherents earth wide? Surely, members of the true religion, spiritual brothers, should not be killing one another. But a hundred million people have been killed in the wars of this 20th century, and all those wars have been supported by the religions of this world. As a result, religious people have killed other religious people. Much of the time, they have killed people of their own religion. Catholics have killed Catholics, Protestants have killed Protestants, Muslims have killed Muslims, and those of other religions have followed the same course.
In an editorial entitled “The Violence Done in God’s Name,” Mike Royko, as if addressing God, said of this world’s religions: “They are expressing their devotion to you by killing each other by the hundreds. I guess they figure that if one side can wipe the other side out, it will prove that their way of worshiping you is correct.” He said that while the pope portrays himself as a peaceful man, “his followers have been known to shed a few million gallons of blood when their tempers are up.”
Too, when former United States President Carter observed that “the world has gone mad,” he said: “Deep religious conviction, which should bind people in love, seems often to be part of the madness and murder.”
Such worthless fruitage is the opposite of what must be produced by those who worship the true God. (Galatians 5:19-23) Hence, those who support warring religions and philosophies are part of false worship as surely as were the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and others who looked to “valueless gods that are speechless.” (Habakkuk 2:18) And just as the true God’s prophetic word was fulfilled on ancient false worship, so it will be in our time: “The valueless gods themselves will pass away completely.” (Isaiah 2:18) Trustworthy is his warning: “Do not turn yourselves to valueless gods.”—Leviticus 19:4.
For example, which of the world’s religions has established genuine peace among its adherents earth wide? Surely, members of the true religion, spiritual brothers, should not be killing one another. But a hundred million people have been killed in the wars of this 20th century, and all those wars have been supported by the religions of this world. As a result, religious people have killed other religious people. Much of the time, they have killed people of their own religion. Catholics have killed Catholics, Protestants have killed Protestants, Muslims have killed Muslims, and those of other religions have followed the same course.
In an editorial entitled “The Violence Done in God’s Name,” Mike Royko, as if addressing God, said of this world’s religions: “They are expressing their devotion to you by killing each other by the hundreds. I guess they figure that if one side can wipe the other side out, it will prove that their way of worshiping you is correct.” He said that while the pope portrays himself as a peaceful man, “his followers have been known to shed a few million gallons of blood when their tempers are up.”
Too, when former United States President Carter observed that “the world has gone mad,” he said: “Deep religious conviction, which should bind people in love, seems often to be part of the madness and murder.”
Such worthless fruitage is the opposite of what must be produced by those who worship the true God. (Galatians 5:19-23) Hence, those who support warring religions and philosophies are part of false worship as surely as were the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and others who looked to “valueless gods that are speechless.” (Habakkuk 2:18) And just as the true God’s prophetic word was fulfilled on ancient false worship, so it will be in our time: “The valueless gods themselves will pass away completely.” (Isaiah 2:18) Trustworthy is his warning: “Do not turn yourselves to valueless gods.”—Leviticus 19:4.
List of major wars caused by religion here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_war
There are thousands more 'conflicts' that do not reach the status of a full blown 'war' but still killed millions, many of these continue to this day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_war
There are thousands more 'conflicts' that do not reach the status of a full blown 'war' but still killed millions, many of these continue to this day.
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