Can conflicts between religion be found at the roots of most wars, perhaps even every war to some extent?

Answer 1

I think you pretty much nailed the truth in your perceptive question. the answer, is YES. Every one of them. Just to differing extents.

Answer 2

Poverty and sexual deprivation is a greater cause. When you have a bunch of young men with no chance of advancement and no chance of getting a wife, it usually explodes into a war or crime waves. The men want what you got and they can usually find someone, especially someone religious, who tells them it's ok to take it.

Since every bit of land on Earth is owned by someone and there is no place else to go, the only way these people can advance is by taking it from someone else.

Look at what's happening in Dhafor. The government has singled out an ethnic minority which has land and they are killing them so their supporters can have the land.

In Rwanda, the same thing happened. In Germany, the Hitler regime wiped out Jews because (1) it gave a focus of hatred for their young Nazis and (2) the Jews were rich.

In Iraq, the Sunnis see the Shia as trespassers from Iran. The Shia might be, but there's a heck of a lot more Shia than Sunnis. When you get down to it, it's not a religious war, but one over land.

Answer 3

Not really. Plenty of wars didn't have any religious element adding to the causes of aggression, especially before the rise of the monotheistic religions. It was in fact common practice in the ancient world for an invading army to make sacrifices to the gods of the country they were attacking, so that the gods wouldn't be offended.

Some examples:

Greco-Persian wars
Roman Civil War
100 Years War
War of the Spanish Succession
American War of Independence
War of 1812
American Civil War
World War I
Spanish Civil War
World War II
Vietnam War

Answer 4

Yes ... religion has been the root of almost all wars. Power and wealth have been a big part of wars as well, but religion or strong belief in a way of life.

Man created Gods because he did not want to die. He then goes out to kill everyone who worships the same God in a different way. The church has been the government and a way to control the masses of people. We broke away from England for religious freedom and freedom from religion.

Answer 5

NO, Politics is at the roots of all wars. Religion is about making peace with others and our selves, being generous, helping one another, giving grace when an unintentional affront happens. As soon as people with political ambition decide they want something (like another country's real estate, resources, etc) politics has taken over.
The Old Testament wars were about a scattered group of tribes who had all of their property taken away, and were living in slavery. They (like Quebec, Palestine, the Kurds, etc), wanted a patch of land for themselves. Even that is a political movement!
The times in history when there was no organized government, and religion took over that position, it encouraged people with political ambition to do the nasty stuff politics enables people to do. (ie. not get along with their neighbours very well).

Answer 6

Unlike my compadre above even the civil war was rooted in the rights and humanity of religion, the moral rights and wrongs of exploiting other human beings.
It was not a simple issue of state's rights, folks.
Do your homework even back to the days of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon,
Take the recent exploitations of third world countries in the name of civilized and christian beliefs.
What makes the fanatical christian right in the U.S. any differnt than the same fanatical Islamic right in the rest of the world.

Answer 7

Absolutely! It must come to a religious context for the ignorant to give there lives for for what??? Always has been a rich man's war fought with a poor man's blood.

Answer 8

no. it might be used as a good reason or a good stimulus to make people move, but it`s never the origin of conflicts.
in case you mean religion=ideology (and can be without god), it`s more "explosive"
if religion=belief, then, i believe (hoho), it`s not dangerous at all

Answer 9

Yes! every conflict is driven by religious groups (who is the bigger and more powerful) as is the biggest one currently Christian/Zionist vs Muslim.

Answer 10

I think relegion has a big part to play in most wars.