Why do people keep saying that religion is the cause of all war?

Question

I mean, honestly, give it up. I'll give you the Crusades, I'll give you the Muslim expansion, the reclaimation of Spain...heck, I'll even give you Israel's march into Canaan, the English Civil War and the Wars of Reformation. But let's see...what else is there?
The Peloponesian Wars
The Greco-Persian War
The conquests of Alexander the Great
The conquests of Julius Caesar
The expansion of the Roman Empire
The Ruso-Japanese war
The Sino-Japanese wars
The conquests of Genghis Khan
The conquests of Attila the Hun
The conquests of Napoleon
The Boer War
The War for American Independence
The War of 1812
The Civil War
The Mexican-American War
The Spanish-American War
World War I
World War II
The Korean War
The Vietnam War
Not to mention the numerous wars from cultures I haven't studied in depth.
And they want religious people to get their facts straight...geez...

Indecent Exposure: Which of the ones did I list were in God's name?

OLD DRAGONS GUARDIAN: People involved in wars may have different religions, but very rarely is that difference the actual cause. I'm sure the Persians didn't go after the Greeks because they worshipped Zeus instead of Mithras.

Answer 1

People fight wars because of their beliefs, and if you do the research and dig deep enough I guarantee that you will find a religious connection in every single war that has been fought.

Answer 2

Religion is an excuse for war.

We want that excuse taken away. Look at the vitriole spewed between believers and their detractors right here on YA.

Do you think these people would automatically dislike each other, right from the start, if not for their religion?

I'm a pretty nice guy. There are very few people in this world that would call themselves my enemy. However, I'm widely despised here on YA by people of "faith".

Do you not see how that can start a downward spiral, forming divisions, dividing people into different camps, which eventually will go to war with one another over resources, because they refuse to respect each other's beliefs, and work together?

I can.

Just think about it some time.

Answer 3

There is rarely any single cause for a war. Take the current War in Iraq. People are still arguing over the cause and rationale for that war, and we're not likely to answer the question anytime soon.

People who say all wars were caused by religion are grossly oversimplifying the problem. Religion is certainly a factor in many conflicts and will continue to be, but it is not the only cause by any means.

Answer 4

Well the current situation of today makes it seem different but I see your point. What causes wars are misunderstanding and a bunch of other factors that normally wouldn't be such a hubbub if people would actually maybe listen to one another and find a foothold and maybe also maybe if people be comfortable with what land they have.( Sry for extra long run-on sentence!) I mean really there was a lot of war caused because of someone else wanting that land and was willing to kill for it.

Answer 5

Aww, but if you truly studied these wars you know that Religion was not the ultimate cause. That is usually the need for resources or an expansion of power. Religion is used as a call to arms. It's easy to get men to die for their God. Not so easy to convince them to die because the King/Government needed more land or gold. Religion is easily abused and used by those in power. And often perversed by those same individuals.
So what "They" see as the cause of all wars, I just see as a tool.

Answer 6

Nobody ever said that religion is the cause of ALL war. However, it does make up a huge portion of the causes of war. Consider the fact that most conflicts occurring today have some religious aspect to them: Darfur, Israel-Palestine, Ethiopia-Somalia, Iraq, etc.

Answer 7

Take out WW1 and WW2 and all of those combined do not equal the amount of death caused by the many wars in Asia that are not listed in most text books.
Religion is not a major killer through out time.
B

Answer 8

alot of wars are based in the name of a higher being whichever one of many higher beings that are worshipped although politics plays a part in it as well but religion is a big part of it

Answer 9

thank you, someone finally has bought it up. when i tried asking the same, i was reported.

please....religion is not the cause for war. people like to blame and what better to blame but the most despised GOD!!!!!

Answer 10

A good majority of those wars were deeply rooted in religion, as you would know if you studied any of them.