Is religion responsible for our wars?

[Cirque du So-What]

42. Ah, the partition...

It's important to keep in mind that the very first war after the partition was fought over control of Kashmir - and that had more to do with killing people and running out others in order to take their shit than with religious differences. Power and possessions - not religion.

I really hate to open the can of worms that goes along with any discussion of Zionism, so I'll only refer to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which was written by a representative of the government of Great Britain in an attempt to tip the balance of power in favor of the allied powers. In fact, Balfour admits in the Palestine Papers that his advocacy for Zionist aspirations was primarily a tool for propaganda that would curry favor with both Russia and the United States. When it comes down to the nut-cutting, it was the British Empire's self-interest - economics - that provided the impetus for establishing a Jewish homeland. After World War II, when large-scale Jewish immigration ran up against British interests and armed conflict broke out between the British army and the Haganah, was religion the cause? No. Before this large-scale immigration to Palestine began, was there open conflict between Jews and Arabs? No. After Haganah convinced Great Britain that maybe it wasn't so worthwhile to keep fighting and they withdrew, and *then* conflict began between the Arabs and Jews, resulting in tens of thousands of Palestinians getting run off their property. Was that religious-based? Don't think so.

As for the Tutsi/Hutu conflict in Rwanda, it's my understanding that the primary reason for the conflict that culminated in genocide was over power - not religion - and it began many years earlier, from 1959-62, when the Hutu toppled the Tutsi monarchy that had ruled for centuries. With Uganda backing Tutsi refugees and France & their remnants of colonies in Africa backing the Tutsi, another conflict - this one much bloodier - was inevitable. Do you think France gave a flying fuck about religious differences between the Hutu and Tutsi? Again, it boils down to power and economics. Religion may have been used to inflame passions among the people, but those pulling the strings were after power and control.

Next example?