I have heard this cliche" so many times, people really seem to think its true. I even heard Sheperd Smith on Fox news say it once. When I try to come up with a list of religious wars, they dont even begin to come close to even one of the World wars,niether of which was fought over religion. I dont mean wars fought by religious people, or wars that are fought by one or both claiming god was on their side. I mean wars that were fought strickly for the spread or domination of one religion over the other.
2007-01-06 09:04:33 · 25 answers · asked by william 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
I hope that those who would make a case for the cliche' being true, would offer a list of wars with their aprox. death tolls. If your #s( as I suspect they wont)Dont even come close to either of the world wars then you should concede that the cliche" is unsupported by the facts.
2007-01-06 09:39:50 · update #1
Not if you consider the hundreds of millions killed by purges by people like Stalin, Pol Pot, and Chairman Mao along with WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and any other life lost due to the Cold War. Add into that Hitler's purging of the Jews (a case of racism not one religion working against the other).
Add into that any conflict over something like territory, control of a throne, along with all deaths due to anything from discovery of an unfaithful loved one to people killed driving drunk.
If those killed by religion equaled or surpassed this number, humanity would have been extinct many times over.
2007-01-07 23:28:37 · answer #1 · answered by flyboymb 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
has religion really caused more deaths from war than anything else?
I have heard this cliche" so many times, people really seem to think its true. I even heard Sheperd Smith on Fox news say it once. When I try to come up with a list of religious wars, they dont even begin to come close to even one of the World wars,niether of which was fought over religion. ...
2015-08-10 09:54:49 · answer #2 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, by far. How about the crusades, millions dead because of an idea. Look at iraq now, we are in the middle of a holy war. All of you can say bush is at fault, but they are fighting a holy way like it or not, ive been there, ive seen it. Israel vs palestine, the trouble in somalia and even before all of this, people killed each other over religion. What a waste.
2007-01-06 10:30:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are right, that is a tired old line. even those who say they are fighting in the name of religion are obviously not following the tenets of the faith. Wars are fought over one thing, greed and money. maybe the crusades but the templar Knights were in it for the fame as well. People have been killed for their religion many times, Christianity has been spread by missionaries a thoughout the world. Not through the gun. But people beleive what they want to and what better thing to do than blame religion
2007-01-13 13:27:34 · answer #4 · answered by Domino 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many wars are religious based, like the sectarian civil war in Iraq now!
Ever heard of the Crusades, and what Catholics used to do to Protestants before Queen Elizabeth I, who started the Church of England to take power away from the Catholics and stop murdering Protestants, which she was. She was almost beheaded by her half-sister!!
Many people escaped to America to get away from religious persecution and kept the church and state separate, though many want to cram their views (not God's as they have never seen him) down peoples throats! Even the Bible is full of half truths and is almost always taken out of context in order to rationalize a point! The bible was written hundreds of years after Christ's death and their were huge fights in Rome among Constantine and others about what was going to be put in the Bible!
2007-01-06 09:15:02 · answer #5 · answered by cantcu 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
" caused more deaths" is the operative part of the question. Religion can cause war/fights/death but so do many things. In certain murders family members are the first suspects so I guess we could say marriage/relationships and love cause murder?
2014-10-14 12:24:50 · answer #6 · answered by Small Business Advisor 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read books. Did you ever heard about Hus and Czech war with catholic church and pope? The Czechs people only wanted to have their own denomination. The price was huge and finally they lost. Try to find a book ' Criminal history of Christianity ' of Karl Hainz Deschner. The man is really great in his work. Read it first and be honest then talk.
2007-01-06 09:16:23 · answer #7 · answered by Matthew 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
War is an instrument, religion is a motivator. The question asks us to compare two things that are not comparable. It is like asking if it is true that love has killed more people than guns.
2007-01-13 21:55:50 · answer #8 · answered by ronjambo 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How I see it, you can completely remove religion from humanity, and there will still be a reason to declare war. It's just part of our nature to fight, be it for defense or offense.
2007-01-06 09:17:55 · answer #9 · answered by ldnester 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Great question--relevant in Iraq more than ever. Look at the constituentcy of our Resident and their fundamental beliefs. They are the only ones still left in regards to supporting Chimpy. The "Bible" is their guide, Israel is their concern, and the belief that Democracy will spread Christianity is their pipe dream.
Throw in the bloodlust for Oil, and Bush's bases are all covered. So to him he's killing two birds with one stone, all the while admitting nether--insanity!!
2007-01-06 09:13:14 · answer #10 · answered by scottyurb 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋