Is religion to be blamed for wars, violence - does it do any good?

Question

Religion has been blamed to be the cause of wars, violence. For those who take this position, have you considered the GOOD that people with a religion has done?

eg Mother Theresa, a Christian - if not for her, so many thousands would not have been comforted in their dying/living days. Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu - if not for his NON VIOLENCE approach, so many millions could have died in the liberation of India from the British.

I will bet my bottom dollar that without religion, more wars, more violence, would have occurred throughout the ages, and more people would have died, more violently.

Thank God for religion.

Do you agree?

For those who quote the 'religious' wars as examples - yes, these occurred, but isn't this a biased view? Have you considered -
- more wars could have happened without religion?
- how many more 'non- religious' wars are there vs these 'religious' wars?

Elizabeth W - Mother Theresa DID NOT set out to convert anyone to Christianity - she had said 'We should try and make a Hindu a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian'. If she had set out to convert people to Christianity in a Hindu majority country like India, she would not be the second person to be honoured with a STATE FUNERAL by the Indian govt.

"Although maybe we would still have wars at least we wouldn't be justify our acts with religion and saying our position was validated by the ultimate authority of God or some religious texts."

--aha, that's the crux of it, isn't it? Objections to religion is mainly because it assaults one's senses that religion shouldn't be used as an excuse for war, right? Well, people will use any excuse for war, friend. For example, ideologies, MORALITIES, ETHICS, as well - so, ban moralities, ethics, ideologies?
I submit that the fact that anyone who righteously feel that religion is bad because it causes war, is subconsciously actually 'for' the values contained in religion. Thanks!

"but the horrors certainly outweigh the joys it's offered humanity"

As I said, there is biase in quoting religion as the cause of war - how come NO ONE mentions an atheist ideology - communism - and the millions who died because of it - in China under Mao, in Russia under Stalin, in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and so on?

"PEOPLE created religion"

That's your belief, fine. Christians believe theirs is a 'revealed' faith ie a faith as revealed by God.

Answer 1

I beleive that ...

Jesse Ventura's Playboy interview has provoked impassioned debate on the role of organized faith in American life. In describing religion as a "sham and a crutch for weak-minded people," the governor of Minnesota has drawn criticism. But he has also attracted enthusiastic defenders who turn the attention to faith's checkered history. "Religion has started most of the wars in history!" they declared. The only trouble is that the idea that organized faith provokes most of humanity's wars is utterly untrue. The twentieth century provides little or no evidence to support the contention that religion causes most human conflict. The greatest and costliest struggles of the uniquely blood-soaked hundred year epic which just concluded-World War I, World War II, the many "hot" conflicts of the Cold War-could scarcely be defined as religious disputes. Even Hitler's targeting of the Jews for annihilation bore little connection to faith-based concerns or hatreds. The Nazis killed according to ethnicity; they spared neither Jewish atheists nor Jewish converts to Christianity. Relatively minor wars of the last hundred years (the Arab-Israeli conflicts, the struggle in Northern Ireland, the fighting in the Balkans) may contain unmistakable religious elements. But these struggles claimed only a fraction of the victims of horrific battles between co-religionists (the unspeakably bloody Iran-Iraq war), or genocidal tribal conflicts (in Rwanda and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa). Is there any evidence that before the advent of the world's great and enduring religions, human beings behaved in a less warlike or murderous manner? Looking at the warring empires of the ancient world, where did religious imperatives play a key role in their struggles? Egyptians and Babylonians, Assyrians and Persians, Athenians and Spartans, made little effort to force their rival powers to accept their distinctive gods-but this didn't keep them from slaughtering one another over the course of thousands of years. Of course, it's easy to find disgusting examples of brutal butchery committed in the name of a loving God. The Crusaders, for instance, massacred Moslems and Jews (and, in fact, other Christians when they sacked Constantinople) all in the name of some holy purpose. Following the Protestant Reformation, The Thirty Years War brought about a bloodbath in the heart of Europe-with an estimated one-third of the German population slaughtered by the contending armies. But even such struggles conducted in the name of faith contained elements of power politics and greed-with Catholic France, for instance, incongruously allied with the Protestant side in the Thirty Years War. Describing wars in simplistic terms as "religious conflicts" inevitably leads to confusion and misstatements. If some clergyman tried to convince the public that religion through the ages has been a force solely for good, with no history of cruelty or hypocrisy, thoughtful people would rightly dismiss his arguments. The statement that "religion causes most wars in history" is similarly one-sided, ludicrous, extreme and ignorant.

Answer 2

Yes, I do agree with you 100%! The examples you gave are just a few we've heard about! There are many more through the ages who have sacrificed everything for the sake of their faith in God. Especially, their lives!

People who have done great things because of their beliefs and yet, the go unknown because it is not a boastful thing to be a servant. It is humbling, it is as it is meant to be.

Indeed, if more people stepped up like Mother Teresa and other people of peace, this world would be a totally different place.

I agree with this statement:" I will bet my bottom dollar that without religion, more wars, more violence, would have occurred throughout the ages, and more people would have died, more violently." You are exactly correct!!

Answer 3

Yes, I agree. People like to point out the bad in religion and use that as a reason to not believe or follow. However, there's so much more good in it that isn't seen as easily seen.

For example, say there is a church that is active in their community. They make donations to charities, help the homeless, and volunteer everywhere. However, no one notices any of it. One day, a member of the church commits a murder. All of a sudden, the whole church is viewed as a bad church, even though it's only one person that did something wrong. The church continues to do the same good things, but the one bad action makes the church look bad for years.

Does that seem right? Are all of the other people in the church bad because of what one person did? No, they're not bad, they're just viewed as bad because of what one person did.

Answer 4

Mother Theresa was a great woman , no doubt...But, go to your history books and read again! Early Christians were a violent , murdering people. If you had another belief , they either converted you or burned you at the stake...Just over Christianity.. And the foolishness goes on with militant Muslims... They definitely kill over religion.. Even among the other sects of Islam...So yeah, religion can be blamed for many a death! And also, the Jews?

Answer 5

No, I don't. Although maybe we would still have wars at least we wouldn't be justify our acts with religion and saying our position was validated by the ultimate authority of God or some religious texts. This makes it far easier for people to lead others into folly and feel justified by what they do. I think we would still have good people doing good things. I don't have religion and I volunteer regularly in my community and give to charity. Mother Theresa and Gandhi both gave a lot but were also limited by their own characters. Mother Theresa many have pointed out felt it was good that the people should suffer and that it was God's will for them although God also wanted us to show them compassion. Her main goal was to convert them to Christianity so that they could experience justice in heaven rather than on earth. To me it is more useful to focus on eliminating suffering here and let individuals worry about their own afterlives. All the good that comes of religion could in most instances exist without it.

Your quote is correct but I am refering to the fact that she used money donated to her to open convents in many countries rather than instituting economic opportunities. Certainly the convents were pandering to her religious bias more than helping the poor people there. Also, there is much controversy about all the money she was given and where it went as the hospital she ran remained primitive and run down and she refused to comply with audits. In my haste my statement was imprecise to what I was intending to state and I apologize.

Answer 6

No I don't agree and yes, religion can be accountable for a great many atrocities. Sure, there have been some Theists that can be applauded for their humanitarian efforts, but the horrors certainly outweigh the joys it's offered humanity. And PLEASE, don't say, "It's the people not the religion", I've heard that so many times it's boring, btw PEOPLE created religion, so that statement is hollow anyways.

Answer 7

No, not at all. Religion has brought more pain, suffering and death into this world than any other one reason. It should be outlawed. I don't have freedom of speech, why should irrational, superstitious, sanctimonious morons be allowed to say and do almost anything in the name of some imaginary god... dam.

Answer 8

These are the good things religion does:

* Religious art and music.
* Religious charities and good works.
* Much religious wisdom and scripture.
* Human fellowship and togetherness.

Answer 9

It is mankind who created those wars. It is mankind who choose how he wanted to interpret those holy words. Be if for good or bad.

Answer 10

Religion is not the cause of wars but some people will us it to fight wars in its name