Why, if religions are based on peace and understanding, are the majority of wars, based on religion?

Question

Take a look at the vast majority of conflicts in the world. For the most part, they are religiously based. If you look at what is going on in the middle east right now you'll see clearly that this is true.
Heck, look at Northern Ireland, a country with virtually no Blacks or Jews, and the violence there is based on misinterpretations of the SAME bible! Protestants and Catholics are ALL christians!
So why do they say that they promote peace, understanding and forgiveness when the opposite is true?
Personally I cannot imagine belonging to such a hypocritical group.
I'm ever so thankfull that I had the intelligence enough to become an Atheist.

Answer 1

Simple. Religions are not based on peace and understanding. They are a means to manipulate the masses.

Answer 2

Because the majority of the world's wars are not based solely, or even mainly, on religion. Wars are power struggles, who has it, and who doesn't. War is a way to seize land and resources. War is a way to get territories. Religion is used as a justification for war, but has never been the only reason.

In Northern Ireland, for instance, yes, there is considerable hatred and sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants, but that is not the whole picture. If you know the history of the region, it is as much about Irish home rule as it is about any religious disagreements. The Protestants in Ireland supported England, and the Catholics supported an independent Ireland. The root of the struggle is between English and Irish, which began a good 300-400 years before there was any religious overtones to it.

As for the current mess in the Middle East, if you take a closer look there are also politics involved in this one, too. What about the struggle for land, the right to exist, who pushed who out of who's home? It's a great big bitter mess that includes racial and territorial tensions, as well as religious ones.

There are also plenty of wars in which religion clearly did not play a role. What about the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, World Wars I & II, the War of 1812, the Gulf War, the current Iraqi War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the War of the Roses, the Napoleanic Wars, the Hundred Years War, multiple Anglo-French and Anglo-Spanish Wars, the Franco-(insert a country) Wars, etc.

For that matter, what about the Whiskey Rebellion, the Draft Riots of New York City, the West Virginia Mine Wars, the Trail of Tears, and myriad and various riots and massacres that have occured the world over?

Answer 3

If you have intelligence you will not become anything other then what you are, a reflection of truth or God.
Yes wars are built on religion and religion is based on an attempt
to explain God based on a little piece of light. God is Light and you need the whole enchilada to even start to get the concept. The first thing to do is to forget about religion and meet the source. When you are religious, it is in relation to a theory or idea that either someone has established based on a usually very thin interpretation of the truth they experienced, or someone has convinced them is the way. The way to what is the question, since God is not a religion. Atheism is a religion, why
hook yourself into anything that is someone else's theory?
God is not religious, god is truth and truth is reality. You cannot experience reality until you accept the fact that without truth you are only playing with a partial deck.
Please don't get angry if I seemed to attack your religion, but I am only trying to convince you to sweep all religious though or idealism under the bridge and ask Truth to teach you what is true. Then let that teach you within yourself. How do we know what is true and what isn't? It is the only thing that fits in it's place within us. Many things come close and sorta fit, but eventually will fall away. Only Truth will stand up to TRUTH.

Answer 4

Do you realise that only god-believers are the most problematic? Look at those religions that is not based on creator, NEVER have they fought any wars over rites/ interpretation or leadership.

Examples are : Taoism, Buddhism and Jainism. Their belief is base on Ahimsa- Non Violence.

All Abrahamic religions originated from Middle-East need to learn from Eastern Atheistic faith which are more philosophical and less dogmatic.If you bombed a Buddha statue of 1,800 yrs, no Buddhist would take revenge on you.

Answer 5

World War 1, World War 2, Korean War, Viet Nam War. None of them started because of religion.

Answer 6

The majority of wars are NOT based on religion. They are based on the desire for power by corrupt men IN THE NAME of religion. Their reasons are not misinterpretations, but instead are intentional twistings of faith designed to stir up the weak minded and unthinking masses for the benefit of those seeking power.

Answer 7

Ditto.
Well, I do believe in god, just not the old man with a white beard version, and I think organized religions are the root of all evil.

But, like Karl Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses. They have to have some kind of drug so they don't realize how much their lives suck.

Answer 8

The religion maybe based on truths and Godly things but the ambitions of men to seek power is a different issue.

Answer 9

Lucifer. Know that name? It means Morning Star. He was the arch-angel of arch-angels; the most beautiful, the most wise, the one closest to God. He experienced the most intimate and deep things of God. He was created to lead the angels in worship, in adoration of God - he knew God intimately.

What did he become? Satan. That is his name today. How did it happen? Did God create him to be evil? Definitely not. He chose to rebel against God. He took pride in his beauty, wisdom and power and wanted to build is own kingdom. He chose to use the awesome gifts and abilities God created him with, to sweep up a third of heaven's angels in rebellion against God.

It lies in choice. Always. Twin brothers grew up in a broken home. Dad was in jail, mom an alcoholic that didn't care. The one brother became successful and happy, the other followed his father's footsteps into the criminal world. Both born and grown in the exact same environment. You know what they replied to an old friend of both, when he asked them what happened? The successful, happy brother said "...those circumstances... I had to get out of it..." the jailed brother said "... I couldn't get out of the circumstances, its just how things went..."

Both these are true stories, both reveal that no matter whether you're in the best or the worst circumstances, its what you do with what you have that determines your destiny. You can miss your purpose by your choices, or you can realize it through your choices.

Your destiny is by choice, your purpose by creation... e.g. a scalpel was created to heal, but it can also be used to kill.

Answer 10

Religion is your belief, it is the people who make it look bad, On judgement day they will all get what they deserve as it is said in Revalations. you should read it, because if you do not believe in GOD, you will NOT ENTER THE GATES OF HEAVEN!!! well i've done my part, just open the BIBLE and see what GOD has to offer you, its better than anything that you can imagine, I will pray for you