Does Religion really cause wars?

[Krenshaw]

Ofcourse it does, religion causes racism, racism causes war

 

Ofcourse it does, religion causes racism, racism causes war

Basically.

Religion causes a really, really strong group identity. When you have a group identity you see the world as "them and us". This mindset is what causes prejudiced thoughts and actions as well as stereotypes.

It's not so much religion on it's own, perhaps - but definitely due to the sort of systems that religions are set up to be. Granted, I'm being hypocritical, because not all religious people are prejudiced or hold stereotypes, but those who do start the chain reaction.

When your religious leader says something about a particular group whether it be through preaching or propoganda, take the middle-eastern countries who rule under a religion like the sharia (Islamic) law, who will usually be a charismatic leader due to your strong affiliation with said religion - then you (generally speaking), without thinking too much about it, will agree to what they're preaching and in return end up oppressing those who do not follow that religion because the law is now ruled by another.

There is always this unneeded "competition" with religious groups, who's right who's wrong, yada yada. Religions should be private affairs with no influence over anyone else's life. Look at shit that happens today, people can't even marry the person they love in a lot of places in the world just because religion doesn't accept it. The state and religion should be completely separate.

 

[Rsaccounttrader]

Yes, religion creates an us versus them mentality. So does the nationalism that is a part of system of nation states we live in. So does race (observable race, the color of your skin, most obviously).
@Roary, the reason religion is not just a private affair is because one of the main reasons people turn to religion is to seek a sense of community. That's the #1 reason why people go to church, join a mosque, etc., imho

 

[CoinKing]

Unfortunately yes... And the statistic show radical islam as most dangerous nowdays.
We have seen a lot religion dictators with broken minds,(Hitler,Saadam,Abdul Aziz and many more)
Most of them cleverly bend the meaning of faith itself and so brainwashed most people.
I personally believe GOD.
He is always around us and we can't find him in any church.
For me GOD is the earth,water,air,nature and everything natural around us.
I don't agree with anyone who claim we need to pray at special place for this and i believe all religions are based on few important things: Humanity,Faith,Good nature and many many more!
For me God was always around us,and we're the only ones who do bad things around us.
*I don't support peoples who pay for material things!
All we need is health,love,friends ! Everything else is unimportant.

Also in topic: Even world war 2 is based on religion conficts. Don't forget how Hitler claim his race "Aryan" is the most pure, and it must be the only race which should be around.

 

@Roary, the reason religion is not just a private affair is because one of the main reasons people turn to religion is to seek a sense of community. That's the #1 reason why people go to church, join a mosque, etc., imho

There is community at the local knitting club too

I mean, yea sure go to church and associate with others in said religion.. but I feel as though there's this.. need for everyone to agree with them. They're also all, very rich organisations. In some parts of the world, like India, religious people are asked to shave their heads as a sacrifice or some sort I'd imagine, and the hair is actually sold by the leaders of the religion for the western world's hair extensions. A lot of the time religious persons are exploited by their systems because we allow these charismatic leaders to do as they will for what we believe is our own good.

 

[funbox]

Well in historically speaking it did cause wars, but only since the church(religion) was considered part of the government.
Nowadays the main reasons of war are simply "Politics" and "Greed" by country.

Ofcourse it does, religion causes racism, racism causes war

This, isn't even remotely close to a valid statement. This is like stating Politics = Riots, Riots = Injury thus Politics = Injury.

It isn't a valid argument and i can't comprehend how people even agreed with that post.

 

[idontknowww]

I would contend that neither religion nor politics truly cause wars. The idealism behind religion and politics does not support wars - at least how they play out in the real world.

That said, warlike agendas are often pushed under religious and political pretenses, which tends to fool the public and works as a strong rallying cry for military support.

LoLSmurfin hit the nail on the coffin. All religions (major religions at least) are all very peaceful, however, for example, you see groups like al Qaeda using religion as an excuse to kill many people. But Islam isn't the first religion used to kill. Does anyone recall the Christian crusades or even the Holocaust? Religion was used in both cases. In regards to politics, governments may sabotage their own assets to spark a war due to resources that some other country (or group) may have. An example of this would be the questionable explosion of U.S.S. Maine, who allegedly was attacked by Spain to start the Spanish-American war.

So in essence, like LoLSmurfin said, it's people manipulating others using the idealism of religion/politics to cause wars.

 

[Deluxe 247]

After finishing a course on post communist eastern Europe it was interesting to note that prior to the communist collapse Yugoslavia was considered very tolerant of their diverse people and it was after the fall of their organized political regime that civil war and ethnic cleansing occurred.

 

Religion isn't the sole cause for wars, it's just involved in a lot of them.
In the past people were killed because of their beliefs, but now a days, religion is more of a cover in my opinion.

 

[Uncle Sam Enterprises]

Many wars and skirmishes has been proof of religious tensions but I firmly believe they are the direct cause of them.

 

[Hubba Bubba]

Basically.

Religion causes a really, really strong group identity. When you have a group identity you see the world as "them and us". This mindset is what causes prejudiced thoughts and actions as well as stereotypes.

It's not so much religion on it's own, perhaps - but definitely due to the sort of systems that religions are set up to be. Granted, I'm being hypocritical, because not all religious people are prejudiced or hold stereotypes, but those who do start the chain reaction.

When your religious leader says something about a particular group whether it be through preaching or propoganda, take the middle-eastern countries who rule under a religion like the sharia (Islamic) law, who will usually be a charismatic leader due to your strong affiliation with said religion - then you (generally speaking), without thinking too much about it, will agree to what they're preaching and in return end up oppressing those who do not follow that religion because the law is now ruled by another.

There is always this unneeded "competition" with religious groups, who's right who's wrong, yada yada. Religions should be private affairs with no influence over anyone else's life. Look at shit that happens today, people can't even marry the person they love in a lot of places in the world just because religion doesn't accept it. The state and religion should be completely separate.

Religion dont cause a group identity people do , there will always them and us thats in humanitys nature. It just some people seem to be to stupid to understand the truth meaning of religion

 

[reddogwwa]

Anything that divides the people causes war. If we were all the same religion, there would be no racism, & no wars.

Im not entirely sure how true that is! I feel like humans as a collective group are essentially criminal by nature. If its not religion that divides us it would be something else. Pre 1865 people were imprisoned, treated poorly and forced to work based on their skin color. It wasn't until I think 1965 that black people were granted civil liberties across the "entire" United States. To this day people still separate themselves and rage at best a silent war based on pigment.

Everyone will not get along, and they will always find petty reasons to validate why they don't. Then they will indoctrinate their offspring into their beliefs farther and farther down the line until it becomes fact.

Just my 2cents!

 

[Shadowruner]

History is there to remind us of mistakes in the past. Terrorists worship alah and kill many people because somewhere in there book it sais to kill non believers. Another example back in the 1600-1700s many people were burned at the stake for translating a bible into english because that was considered herasy(sp)?. But ya many lives have been lost through the centuries over religion.

 

[A7U]

Anything that divides the people causes war. If we were all the same religion, there would be no racism, & no wars.

I strongly disagree,
Religion is a factor that causes war, yes.. however it is not the only cause
You think the war against US and Iraq has anything to do with religion?

 

[Corey]

Watch the spam guys.

 

[HotColdRush]

Watch the spam guys.

Isn't this spam right here?

But from the religious wars I've learned about in high school , I get the idea that religions build tensions between groups, and then the religions are used as a "cover" for a war that really has deeper roots.

 

[MohtasaUnique]

Religion does not cause wars. Religion is simply man's greatest excuse to kill other men and to get what they want. For thousands of years, men have rationalized and authorized war in the name of god.

The first crusades used Christianity to eliminate the Byzantine empire in order to reclaim lost territories for the empire.

Manifest Destiny gave colonizing Americans the authority to kill indigenous populations because it was "A sense of mission to redeem the Old World by high example generated by the potentialities of a new earth for building a new heaven". Essentially an order from God to redeem the uncivilized Native Americans, or kill them trying.

Ancient Aztecs sacrificed war prisoners to appease their gods, or MORE LIKELY to strike fear into neighboring natives, and to expand with impunity.

Egyptians took slaves to build their monuments to the gods, or MORE LIKELY to satisfy their vanity and greed.

Israelites trekked across the middle east to their "promised land", as given by god, killing indiscriminately and in horrific ways to get the land they wanted. And here they are still, today, killing Palestinians and anyone else who tries to move in on Israel.

Hitler's genocide was rationalized in Mein Kampf through religious allusions to satisfy his xenophobism and efforts for world domination

The list goes on and on. So in summary, though religion is the excuse of many, the ultimate cause is usually selfish ambition.

 

[EliteTurk]

It starts a lot of wars (the government creates civil wars in other countries so they kill each other off), that's why I don't believe in something that has no proof of existence. You could call me an atheist, but I believe the books were man made so people don't keep asking what's the meaning of life and get out of line (e.g, stealing, killing, etc.) and this is coming from a Muslim.

 

[Care]

Forgive me if I'm wrong since not only am I not American but I've also never really learned about religion, but isn't religion partially why 9/11 happened? I know it's not war but I think religion can still cause serious problems.
Sorry for the tad bit of grave digging, I just thought this was an interesting topic.

 

[Sxrenity]

My opinion, in simple terms is that:

Religion is the biggest cause of death, suffering and hate the world has ever known.

I apologize if that comes across as insensitive or offensive.