Is Religion the Cause of Most Wars?

[cbayer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-alan-lurie/is-religion-the-cause-of-_b_1400766.html


Rabbi Alan LurieAuthor, 'Five Minutes on Mondays: Finding Unexpected, Purpose, Peace and Fulfillment at Work'


Posted: 04/10/2012 3:52 pm

There are many common misconceptions about religion that are often taken as unquestioned facts, such as the idea that religious people are inherently anti-science, that a literal reading of holy texts is the "true" religious stance, that faith is incompatible with reason, and that all religions claim to posses sole and absolute truth.

While all these ideas are true for a minority of the population, they do not describe normative religious beliefs and practices for the majority of believers. It is understandable that these misconceptions persist, though, because they come from the loudest voices on the extremes, and like other polarizing positions in politics and culture are simplistic ideas that promote easy "us vs. them" thinking. But there is one common misconception about religion that is voiced often and consistently as an obvious truth -- often by educated, thoughtful people --that is just not factually true: The idea that religion has been the cause of most wars.

In his hilarious analysis of The 10 Commandments, George Carlin said to loud applause, "More people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason," and many take this idea as an historical fact. When I hear someone state that religion has caused most wars, though, I will often and ask the person to name these wars. The response is typically, "Come on! The Crusades, The Inquisition, Northern Ireland, the Middle East, 9/11. Need I name more?"

Well, yes, we do need to name more, because while clearly there were wars that had religion as the prime cause, an objective look at history reveals that those killed in the name of religion have, in fact, been a tiny fraction in the bloody history of human conflict. In their recently published book, "Encyclopedia of Wars," authors Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod document the history of recorded warfare, and from their list of 1763 wars only 123 have been classified to involve a religious cause, accounting for less than 7 percent of all wars and less than 2 percent of all people killed in warfare. While, for example, it is estimated that approximately one to three million people were tragically killed in the Crusades, and perhaps 3,000 in the Inquisition, nearly 35 million soldiers and civilians died in the senseless, and secular, slaughter of World War 1 alone.

more at link

[dimbear]

1. Just as a general rule, would you expect unbiased assessment from a cleric-- or from an historian?

There have been oceans of ink spilled over this question, and somehow the clergy always end up thinking they're pretty innocent.

Can't guess why.

[sarge43]

2. Religion can be the excuse, but

resources are - who has them and who wants them.

[MissMarple]

3. Thank you for the link.

I am happy to have my preconceptions refuted. Believing provably wrong things is a bit like having spinach in your teeth or the tag of your top flipped up. So many of us don't even blink when someone says religion is the cause of most wars. I've only gone so far to think it's not religion per se, but the love of power or influence or need for resources. Although faith can be manipulated to rile people up.

I really must remember to proof read carefully.

[Fresh_Start]

4. don't think so. Its always control of assets (land, natural resources, whatever) but

you can't say I'm fighting because I want copper, aluminum, oil, diamonds, gold...you have to say something to get backers...for example, I'm trying to save their souls or help Christianity/islam ...
but its all lies.
Its always about some type of wealth

[Tomay]

5. Usually religion is not the cause of wars, but

it frequently is the justification for them. That is, they are "sold" to the public as religious wars in some way to stir up support and cannon fodder, when the true motivation in the minds of those in power is usually something very different. Control of resources and the wealth they generate are the true causes of most wars. An example would be the Thirty Years War, which had complicated dynastic and economic causes, but which was presented to the public of the warring nations as a religious war in order to justify the endless sacrifice of blood and treasure on all sides.

[saras]

6. Most of the world, through most of history, it was meaningless to SEPARATE economics from religion