Why have there been so many religious wars? Do religious people advocate violence?

Answer 1

No, idiots in charge advocate violence. They use religion as an excuse to start wars.

Answer 2

War is a product of man not God...of man's sinful/evil/dominating desires not of God's love. At the individual level, people engage in "wars" all the time with other individuals...they lie, cheat, steal, kill and do all manner of things to protect themselves from real and imagined threats. To elevate all these private wars into a "real war" (large scale "us against them" instead of "me against the world"), men need a method of convincing other people that they share the same enemy and that the enemy is a threat to their way of life...they need a rallying cry.

In my study of history, most wars don't have a religious basis. Instead, most started over greed and/or fear...the desire to claim the resources of another group of people and/or the fear that those people will lay claim to our resources or worse. Land and property are common causes for war...freedom from real or perceived oppression (often caused by greed too) is another common reason for the wars of the past (and the present).

Unfortunately, religion is a tool that men can use to rally other men to their particular cause when they want to start a large-scale war. If a king told his subjects that they needed to support his effort to make war with a neighboring country, he would have a really hard time getting any support if he gave them the real reason (he wants to increase his power and wealth!). So he promotes the idea that the war has a "higher purpose" that the "common man" can accept.

Religion isn't the only tool men can use to generate support for their private war, but it can be an effective one. Not because religion advocates violence (though some do) and not because religions people are any more violent than any other people. Instead, religion is man's way of understanding and following the will of God and many people are too lazy or just plain too ignorant to study and examine God's instructions and instead choose to believe whatever their designated religious leader tells them to believe.

If you look at many of the wars (and war-like campaigns) in history, religion wasn't the root cause of the war...religion only entered the picture as a way to encourage the support of the common man...to encourage them to give their resources (including their lives) for the "noble" purpose of serving God. Religion isn't the only rallying cry leaders can use, but it can be especially effective when the people whose support the leader needs are uneducated and/or illiterate (e.g., most of the people that were mislead into thinking the crusades were a religious campaign!)...these people have no way of reading and learning about God's will...they only know what they are taught. This makes them particularly vunerable to being deceived into supporting war/killing and other evil actions they have been told are "the work of God".

Answer 3

False Religion . . .
MEDDLES IN WAR AND POLITICS: “Across Asia and beyond,” says the journal Asiaweek, “power-hungry leaders are cynically manipulating people’s religious sentiments for their own needs.” As a result, the journal warns: “The world threatens to sink into madness.” A prominent religious leader in the United States declared: “You’ve got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops.” His solution? “Blow them all away in the name of the Lord.” By contrast, the Bible says: “If anyone makes the statement: ‘I love God,’ and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar.” (1 John 4:20) Jesus even said: “Continue to love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44) How many religions can you think of whose members engage in war?

SPREADS FALSE DOCTRINE: Most religions teach that the soul or spirit is some invisible part of a human that survives the death of the physical body. By means of this teaching, many of these religions exploit their members, charging money to pray for departed souls. However, the Bible teaches a different doctrine. “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4) “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Jesus taught that the dead will be resurrected—an unnecessary action if humans had an immortal soul. (John 11:11-25) Does your religion teach that the soul does not die?

TOLERATES IMMORAL SEX: In Western lands, church groups ordain gay and lesbian members of the clergy and urge governments to recognize same-sex marriages. Even churches that condemn immorality have tolerated religious leaders who have sexually abused children. What, though, does the Bible teach? It plainly states: “Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men . . . will inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10) Do you know of religions that condone immoral sex?

What does the future hold for religions that produce rotten fruit? Jesus warned: “Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:19) Yes, false religion will be chopped down and destroyed! But how and when will this happen? A prophetic vision recorded in the Bible book of Revelation, chapters 17 and 18, provides the answer.

Answer 4

Religion doesn't cause war, people just use religion to justify war. Wars really fought over land and resources because the human race never truly learned sharing.

Answer 5

Well, in a sense, but it's not just religion.
It's the tribal mentality that advocates violence.

Answer 6

I don't think it is the people but the institution of religion. If that makes sense.
The church has manipulated it's position into convincing people to carry out it's wishes. We have used "god" as the justification for every atrocity in the book.

Answer 7

Religions cannot exist without the force of violence to keep them going ... every time you invite someone to practice religion you invite hatred and war to rule the earth.

Answer 8

Religions aren't very good at teaching tolerance for those who believe differently.

Answer 9

name them...then name the 'secular' wars...now total up the lives lost...

Answer 10

Varying history suggests that neither Jew nor Christian can find comfort without warmongering.