Is religion the major cause of all the wars we have had in this world from the beginning?

Question

For something that is supposed to be so "peaceful", I can't believe how many people have been killed because of differing religions. Sigh.....

Hey Tom Cruise-
Sure, Islam has gotten a bad rap lately (wonder why.....????) but I am well aware of the Crusades, WWII and trying to get rid of all the Jews, etc. So don't call me out on something you are assuming about my question. Damn.

Hey Bad Budhist!!!!!

Hitler, are you freaking serious? If I remember correctly, he wanted some kind of Aryian (sp?) nation and wanted to exterminate all the JEWS. Did you forget that LITTLE part of history?????

Answer 1

Wow, tough question. There are so many good views. I agree with many of them. Yes, many wars were started because of religion. Consider many of the wars mentioned in the bible, Jihad, and the Crusades. Of course, one only has to think about how many lives were lost in wars because of land; Israel (mostly between Palestinians and Jews), Kashmir (between Pakistan and India), and our own Civil War (about 630,000 lives were lost), money; Cortes with the Aztec people, and freedom; such as our Revolutionary War, or any revolution for that matter.

As far as WWI is concerned, I am not convinced that it was fought in the name of religion. Hitler tried to killed off the Jews for the same reason he tried to kill off Polish people and disable people, because he considered them to be inferior people.

I agree with you, though, that something considered to be peaceful can be so violent. What we need to remember is that it is humans who starts wars in the name of "something", not the "something" starting the war.

Answer 2

Uhh, did you forget Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao...

100 million people killed right there and all non-religious.

*That* is pretty impressive considering the realatively young age of organized atheism..

-- Answer to your later addition: --

So, it is the *religions* (in your example Judaism) fault when a non-religious group decides to exterminate them?

Should we also blame the Buddhists because Mao wanted to exterminate them too?

Look, the real issue you are struggling with is more universal. We *all* have the ability to become ideologues. And that is a much more important thing to remember since it tells us something about ourselves and our humanity. You, as an atheist (which I am too, technically) could just as easily been herding people into a gas chamber, as burning them at the stake for being a witch.

We *all* have the potential for such brutality and blaming religions misses that very important point.

Answer 3

No religion is not the cause. According to Websters the definition of religion is:"Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power accepted as the creator and governor of the universe." That means we recognize there is a higher power than ourselves. War is a "state of armed ...conflict...between nations." War is how human beings resolve conflicts on a global scale. In my opinion, it is but one reason why people have gone to war in the past. But to say it is the cause of war in general is oversimplification and also an insult to what religion is supposed to be all about. War exists because human nature is flawed and not because I believe in God and someone else doesn't. In World War 2, for example, the war led to a positive outcome. We could all be candles if it were not for their sacrifices. Is war a good thing, no, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that a belief in a higher power, or religion, semantics, does not cause wars. An egotistical, maniacal, belief in your own supremacy, or a belief in a superhuman race of people, as with Sadame Hussein, or Hitler for example might be a better place to start.

Answer 4

I think its unfair to blame the religion itself. People are individuals and not all religious people would go to war over their beliefs. In all forms of belief system there are extremists who will fight and kill for their own purposes and then use what ever belief system they claim to follow as the reason for what they do. The danger comes when miss-guided individuals start believing in what they say and join their fight!

Religion is a belief system, some would say that football is also a belief system. Do people go to war over their football teams? You could answer yes to this question but do you blame the game or the brainless monkeys just looking for an excuse to have a fight?

We are all responsible for our own actions!

Answer 5

Sadly yes they use that as their reasons for going to war. But you will find that the real reason behind it is they want the land and resources that the other country has. The leaders use their people and tell them this is a holy war and then send them out on suicide missions while the leader sits back in his/her palace in relative safety and watches his own people he is supposed to be protecting throw their lives away over his/her greed. It makes no sense but that is just how it is. Peace

Answer 6

Actually, one atheist, Josef Stalin, is responsible for more deaths in this world (over 20 million of his own people) than all religious wars combined throughout history (a little over 3 million).

Wars are usually not fought in the name of religion...it's usually been the excuse that insane men have used to perpetrate their philosophies, their own form of evangelism...

Answer 7

Religions usually consume the battles but Power is always the Major Cause. no one wants to be in bondage to some other belief system, and the balance of power lies in the substance of the land , be it Oil, Population, Religion, wealth . every one wants Independence, some just want power.
Religion is to often used to supply the force. and this takes some political maneuvering.

Answer 8

Im agnostic and believe that religion, in general, sucks. However, its important...very important, to have the guts to be specific about the acute issues.

Be honest.

Your speaking of Islam...almost all armed conflicts today, worldwide, are Islamic.

If we blame "all religions" this changes nothing, only stops a unified front against Islamist horrors.

Answer 9

It is not religions, It is us, humans that interpret religions in the way that we want or to our own benefit!
My dear friend, I strongly believe that it is not religion that has made all those wars, it is politics, and religion was only a tool! What do you think?

Answer 10

I agree, religion is the cause of so much hatred and violence. That doesn't mean that no religion can be right though. If everybody actually followed what the bible says and what jesus taught then there would be no war, violence and hatred, people would be peaceful.