How many incidents from history can you name when man has killed in the name of religion ?

Answer 1

You don't have enough time, space, or patience to have them all listed....

Answer 2

There are many, many times more incidents in history where people have killed in the name of something else -- especially The State.

It's a myth that there's been all this killing and violence in the name of religion. It's a myth that's pushed by secularists who feel the need to discredit religion in order to feel better or to advance an agenda.

But the truth is, the vast majority of violence in the world has absolutely nothing to do with religion -- in many cases, it's due to an absence of religion.

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Answer 3

Well, let's start with the Crusades. I've seen people deny that these were fought in the name of religion, but they were indeed fought for just that reason. Sanctioned by the Pope of their time, the Crusades were a holy war of Christians against Muslims to get Jerusalem back from them.

There wasn't just one or two, there were several, ending only when the Renaissance came about. Most were to the Middle East, but some were also against pagans and those who were, essentially, not Christian.

If I want to separate out the Crusades, there were nine that were given numbers, but there were other smaller Crusades that went on during that time, including one known as the Children's Crusade, in which a group of children attempted to reach the Middle East to peacefully convert people to Christianity.

Moving on, we have the Inquisition. Most people think of the Spanish Inquisition(as did I, until I looked it up just now to answer this question), but there were others, including a Portuguese and Roman inquisition.

What these various inquisitions were for were to combat heresy within the church. People who questioned the church, defied the church, among other things, were often deemed heretics and would be excommunicated(unless they recanted, only then could they return) and people were indeed executed.

Witch trials in Europe and the Colonies, including Salem. What were these if not executions and killings in the name of religion? The mere accusation of being a witch or cavorting with Satan could land one on the gallows. If you were lucky, you lost your reputation. If not, you lost your life. Inbetween, you could face long imprisonment, loss of property, torture, all sorts of fun "Christian" behavior.

Some people died in prison. And many who were executed were actually innocent. I always loved how they did the dunking chair test and similar things. Toss the accused in. If they sank and drowned(which they obviously would if they were bound), they were innocent. Oops. If they floated, they were witches and would be burned. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

One of my favorite documentaries on the subject(which was mostly about Salem) involves a fellow who was being tortured by having stones put on him. The crushing weight would either be so excruciating he'd confess(and then end up hung or burned anyways) or it would kill him. According to the story, he knew what would happen if he confessed, so the result would be the same if he did or didn't. Reportedly he said "More weight", which they did and he ended up crushed to death.

Let's see...the Conquistadors. Went looking for gold in the New World. Considered the natives, as they had no Christian beliefs(how could they?), were less than people. Conquistadors considered the gold theirs by religious "right", killed the natives. Might note that there was little gold to be had to begin with, but, apparently these guys didn't care.

Taking more modern events, 9-11. We've got Osama bin Laden(who, I might add, is still at large, last I heard, would be big news if he was caught), warps the hell out of Islamic principles, brainwashes anyone who listens, and flies two planes into the World Trade Center. Frequently quoted as calling a "holy war" against the West, primarily America.

Another more modern event, pipebombing of abortion clinics. I don't know of any religion that officially sanctions this(unless I missed something), but take a few nutballs who take their beliefs too far, see abortion as a sin and people murdering innocent unborn babies. Why people think they can cure "murder" with more murder is beyond me, but it's happened.

Can't say I'm fond of Wikipedia as it's too easily altered, but the following link is a good place to start for finding incidents of religious persecution and people being killed over religion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_persecution

Answer 4

I'm certain there were plenty. But the largest genocides that have ever occured were in the name of no religion.
Stalins purge of religion in the former Soviet Union sent 40 million people to their deaths in the gulags.
Of course the absolute and undeniably largest genocide in the name of no religion is abortion 45 million dead in the US alone. Countless millions world wide.

Answer 5

Countless....how many more incidents of love and kindness in the name of religion can you count. Mother Theresa, the Salvation Army, most homeless shelters, soup kitiches, orphanages to name but a few.

Answer 6

One special man Jesus.

Religion has been a source of political pursuasion since the beginning of conflict and has been the source of unspeakable acts of man against man.

Faith has been something given without the price of life.

Answer 7

Many, but the only one that is formost is the killing of Gods Son by the Jews and pagan Rome.

Answer 8

Wars have been started for all sorts of reasons. Not a single one was started by God though. Men start Wars.

Merry Christmas.

Answer 9

that would be every single war that has existed .... i think they may put other reasons to it , but they all boil down to the same thing ...
who has it right

from the crusades , to war against the Nazis
to the present day
however ... money and power are there also along side the religious reasons ...
quite hypocritical really

Answer 10

alot
answer
how many innocent have died , due to playing with swords and evil
trying to own a country

in the name of government

Answer 11

So many that it makes counting futile. Add up also the criminal acts like those performed by pedophile priest with the excuse that "god told me to do it" and you will have a feeling of infinity.

Ramen !