Religions cause war?

Question

How absurd is the claim by atheists that religions cause war?If I want to worship a blue cow,I don't see why that should offend people,
The Soviet Union banned religion and they were the biggest war mongers in history.They didn't have food but they had plenty of guns;too bad their people couldn't eat guns when they were hungry or they might've still been around.

My history book also tells me that John Lennon and Kennedys were killed ;should we ban celebs?

Eds thank you for your response,but the Crusades were provoked (unless you believe Bill Clinton) Yours is a decent answer ,but many of the respondents here are biggots .If they are right then turning the other cheek provokes violence.

Abel ,that's a thoughtful answer.

Sarge have you heard of Islma -fascism?

Clever, the Pope doesn't seek power and my religion does not mention about punishing non'believers.You got that wrong ,as for the cans of milk nutritionist don't hold it in esteem any longer.

Roo ,If two people are in conflict does it mean both are agressors?Good religion doesn't cause problems but man's arrogrance does.Do you honestly believe that if you banned all religion it would be the end of wars?Well some people seem to think so.

Fiery ,soccer matches have also caused wars ;we shouldn't ban them.

Answer 1

There is nothing wrong with religion. It is people who make religion seem wrong.

What's really wrong with many "religious" wars is ethnicity, money and national distinctions; factors that would exist regardless of whether anyone had ever heard the word "God." The fighting in Iraq today is not about religious differences; it is more of desire for political power. The same thing is true in Northern Ireland. The tension between Protestant and Catholics there has a religious component but in essence the conflict there is class based and nationalist.

Killing in the name of God or belief, which shames every religion, ought to give the person of faith pause. But should it cause us to abandon faith? Would the world be better off if religion disappeared? Some people would say yes, but we can't be sure. But when we observe the horror of religiously motivated violence or hatred, maybe the correct question is: Without religion would it be even worse?

Men and women of all faiths must feel deeply chastened about the continuing violence in the name of religion. But this does not mean we should give up those religious beliefs. Rather, we must practice our individual beliefs with sincere hearts and sober heads. Only then will there be a chance for the violence to stop.

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 2

No, Atheists and secular humanists consistently make the claim that religion is the #1 cause of violence and war throughout the history of mankind. One of hatetheism's key cheerleaders, Sam Harris, says in his book The End of Faith that faith and religion are “the most prolific source of violence in our history.”1

While there’s no denying that campaigns such as the Crusades and the Thirty Years’ War foundationally rested on religious ideology, it is simply incorrect to assert that religion has been the primary cause of war. Moreover, although there’s also no disagreement that radical Islam was the spirit behind 9/11, it is a fallacy to say that all faiths contribute equally where religiously-motivated violence and warfare are concerned.

An interesting source of truth on the matter is Philip and Axelrod’s three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars, which chronicles some 1,763 wars that have been waged over the course of human history. Of those wars, the authors categorize 123 as being religious in nature,2 which is an astonishingly low 6.98% of all wars. However, when one subtracts out those waged in the name of Islam (66), the percentage is cut by more than half to 3.23%.

That means that all faiths combined – minus Islam – have caused less than 4% of all of humanity’s wars and violent conflicts. Further, they played no motivating role in the major wars that have resulted in the most loss of life.

Kind of puts a serious dent into Harris’ argument, doesn’t it?

The truth is, non-religious motivations and naturalistic philosophies bear the blame for nearly all of humankind’s wars. Lives lost during religious conflict pales in comparison to those experienced during the regimes who wanted nothing to do with the idea of God – something showcased in R. J. Rummel’s work Lethal Politics and Death by Government:

Non-Religious Dictator Lives Lost

Joseph Stalin - 42,672,000
Mao Zedong - 37,828,000
Adolf Hitler - 20,946,000
Chiang Kai-shek - 10,214,000
Vladimir Lenin - 4,017,000
Hideki Tojo - 3,990,000
Pol Pot - 2,397,0003
Rummel says: “Almost 170 million men, women and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed or worked to death; buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed or killed in any other of a myriad of ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners. The dead could conceivably be nearly 360 million people. It is though our species has been devastated by a modern Black Plague. And indeed it has, but a plague of Power, not germs.”4

The historical evidence is quite clear: Religion is not the #1 cause of war.

If religion can’t be blamed for most wars and violence, then what is the primary cause? The same thing that triggers all crime, cruelty, loss of life, and other such things. Jesus provides the answer very clearly: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:21–23).

James (naturally) agrees with Christ when he says: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel” (James 4:1–2).

In the end, the evidence shows that the atheists are quite wrong about the wars they claim to so desperately despise. Sin is the #1 cause of war and violence, not religion, and certainly not Christianity.

https://carm.org/religion-cause-war

Answer 3

For some reason atheists have a hard time admitting that Russia and communist China banded together and slew millions of their own people. This under the official banner of atheism. Maybe they fear we are calling all atheists communists. No. But the point remains in a relatively short blip in history. They have amassed an impressive murderous record. What people don't want to look at is most wars are mostly about grabbing what belongs to someone else and taking it for yourself.Some wrongly misuse religion in order to try and motivate a war they would otherwise not be interested in fighting.

Answer 4

Religious beliefs were the cause of and/or the justification for:

* The Spanish Inquisition
* The Crusades
* The Divine Rights of Kings
* Witch Trials in Europe and America
* The perpetuation of Slavery
* The Dehumanization of other religion's believers (and non-believers)
* The Subjugation of Women
* The Refusal of some parents to give medical treatment to their children, relying instead on payers and faith-healers
* The decades of violence between Jews and Moslems in the Middle East
* The decades of violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland
* Capital Crimes against Women's Health Centers
* The 9-11 tragedy (a true faith-based act) and the subsequent War on Terror
* The Suppression of Science, and indeed the suppression of reason itself. *

Answer 5

You need to read history properly, the Soviet Union arent the biggest war managers in History, that goes to te English.
As to the war in Iraq didnt Bush listen to God before sending the troops in.
I agree you cant blame all the worlds problems on religion but its power tat some leaders crave and they shouldnt be given power if they crave power.
But that is what most religions preach to turn others to accept your faith, if they dont kill them they will go to hell. And in doing this the leaders of that religion gain power.

I believe in my carton of milk it has never let me down yet.

Answer 6

The Soviet Union was invaded by Hitlers German Army.

The soviets faught and sacrificed 20 million of their own population for freedom from Nazi opression.

If it were not for the Soviets on the eastern front, all of Europe and North America would be speaking German as a first language.

Grow a brain and go back to school.

Answer 7

An overwhelming number of the world's population is religious. It stands to reason that religion would play a part in the wars of history.

Answer 8

Sky,
The ones who claim that religion caused wars were primarily speaking of the Holy Wars and a number of the early wars were a result of religious causes. GOD also told the Israelites to kill several tribes of people for different reasons. Religion did not necessarily cause that many "wars" but it has been a reason for a number of worldly people to commit acts that were taken as wars. Have a great evening and a wonderful week!
Thanks,
Eds, Christian

Answer 9

Of course they do! Consult your history book my friend.... It is not just atheists which say this. In the name of Christ, Crusaders marched to take land back that was previously under Christendom. In 16th and 17th century Europe (1550-1650), wars between Protestant and Catholic rulers brought much bloodshed. There have been czarist pogroms against the Jews--often with religious justification. Mohandas K. Gandhi was killed by a militant Hindu in 1948; Sri Lanka's prime minister was assassinated by a Buddhist monk in 1959.1 In our day, we've seen Catholics and Protestants clashing in Northern Ireland. In India, we've seen Hindus and Muslims fighting one another. Buddhists and Hindus have been fighting in Sri Lanka. We've seen the Ayatollah Khomeini calling for the death of Salman Rushdie because of his Satanic Verses...... must I go on!?

Answer 10

Religions do not cause war only the people who follow them to the extreme, it is beyound arrogance to believe that one person or group of poeple have the answer to everything, no one does.