Why do religious people cause the wars?

Oh Charlotte · #1 May 3, '12, 6:07 pm

Yes, I would like that answer, to tell people who use this as an excuse to avoid religion - since "its the religions that cause the wars".

I have said that greedy power-hungry people who recruit people for their greedy war by telling them its for religion. Its how to recruit people. Its not what the relgion is about (well, hmm, Islam excepted).

I heard something on the Catholic radio while I was driving on this topic in the past week or two and I wish I could hear it again. Or see the text. But I don't remember what show I heard it on.

DavidFilmer · #2 May 3, '12, 6:36 pm

Offhand, I can't think of a single war that has been fought over religion.

Not even the Crusades were fought over religion. The Muslim nations tried to take over Christian lands. They didn't do it to spread religion (though they took the opportunity) - they did it because they were expanding their empire. Religion was no more a motivation for the Muslims than it was for Xerces or Alexander the Great.

Just because one army is Muslim (or whatever) and the other army is Christian (or whatever) doesn't mean the war has anything to do with religion. Religion might be a sub-plot, but not the cause for war.

ManOnFire · #3 May 3, '12, 7:03 pm

The functioning-atheist socialists have killed an estimated 150 million people. Stop the closed-minded cherry-picking.

**JimG** · #4 May 3, '12, 7:15 pm

You mean like Stalin, Mao, Pol-Pot, Ho Chi Minh, the French Revolutionaries?
Not much religion there.

**buffalo** · #5 May 3, '12, 7:19 pm

Read - The Irrational Atheist - the sections on war.

superamazingman · #6 May 3, '12, 7:22 pm

Why do athiest people cause wars?

Iron Donkey · #7 May 3, '12, 7:28 pm

Same reasons why non-religious people cause wars, I suspect. Because we're defending ourselves or someone else, or because we're greedy murderous certain words, or because we're thin skinned and think we were insulted.

Religious people, as a whole, are just people.

That said, the claim that religion itself causes lots of wars is pretty exaggerated.

northernstar · #8 May 3, '12, 7:46 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oh Charlotte

Yes, I would like that answer, to tell people who use this as an excuse to avoid religion - since "its the religions that cause the wars".

I have said that greedy power-hungry people who recruit people for their greedy war by telling them its for religion. Its how to recruit people. Its not what the relgion is about (well, hmm, Islam excepted).

I heard something on the Catholic radio while I was driving on this topic in the past week or two and I wish I could hear it again. Or see the text. But I don't remember what show I heard it on.

Historically it has never been religion but a fight for territory, once the territory is won there always seems to be an intolerance of the original inhabitants, that then quickly turns to distrust and hatred. Looks more like wars are started by ignorance. Ignorance in the form of dulled intelligence, ignorance in the form of base emotions, and ignorance in the form of immaturity and the patience to understand others. How do you fix that?

roveau · #9 May 3, '12, 7:47 pm

People of every religion have been the cause and perpetrators of wars, during all ages. People use war to get at material ends.

So the short answer is that religious people do not cause wars. Those who are truly living the life of Christ our Lord do not cause wars. Just because Protestant or Catholic Kings, or leaders of men, of the past went out to war, for whatever reason, doesn't mean they are truly religious. They may say they are doing such things for the Church or for God but...... Wars are caused by people who want to gain something by force.

That's my thought on this question.

snarflemike · #10 May 4, '12, 9:39 am

Land, power, wealth, ethnic divisions. I think that just about covers them all.

rupertsland · #11 May 6, '12, 12:28 pm

Wars are caused by politicians, who have turned away from God, even if they say they are affiliated with a religion.

To say that wars are the result of differences in political ideology is rather simplistic -- more of a convenient lame excuse used by politicians to lead people to think a certain view. In reality there are other factors at place.

There are evil forces at work (people and organizations) - working daily behind the scenes to provoke disunity and war, all for the purpose of acquiring even more power and riches on earth.

People talk about just wars. As far as I remember, Pope John Paul II said at one time that there is no justice in war.

Our family suffered two world wars and lost everything, and one branch of our family was exterminated by Stalin's forced famine policy in the Ukraine in the 1930's (Holodomor) - a famine that was known to the US and British governments, but those governments were completely silent on the issue, turning a blind eye, letting more than 7 million people die a horrible cruel death. Our family condemns all wars, and believes we must live the way Jesus taught us - to love God, and our neighbour, including all enemies.

superamazingman · #12 May 6, '12, 4:56 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rupertsland

Wars are caused by politicians, who have turned away from God, even if they say they are affiliated with a religion.

To say that wars are the result of differences in political ideology is rather simplistic -- more of a convenient lame excuse used by politicians to lead people to think a certain view. In reality there are other factors at place.

There are evil forces at work (people and organizations) - working daily behind the scenes to provoke disunity and war, all for the purpose of acquiring even more power and riches on earth.

People talk about just wars. As far as I remember, Pope John Paul II said at one time that there is no justice in war.

Our family suffered two world wars and lost everything, and one branch of our family was exterminated by Stalin's forced famine policy in the Ukraine in the 1930's (Holodomor) - a famine that was known to the US and British governments, but those governments were completely silent on the issue, turning a blind eye, letting more than 7 million people die a horrible cruel death. Our family condemns all wars, and believes we must live the way Jesus taught us - to love God, and our neighbour, including all enemies.

Don't forget, not all wars are evil.

EricFilmer · #13 May 8, '12, 8:32 am

As others have stated in this thread (in one way or another), wars are almost always fought for economic reasons. I'm sure there are a few exceptions but they would be rarities. Generally speaking, no country starts a war with the willingness to sacrifice "blood and treasure" unless there is some sort of payoff (usually in terms of acquiring land that has desired resources).

In terms of a country going to war in defense of an invasion (or to assist an invaded country), that, of course, is another situation. A country has the right to defend itself.

If we were to narrow this topic specifically to Catholicism, I would point out that the Catholic Church (and I suspect many non-Catholic Christians) hold to the teachings of the Just War Principle. Therefore, to those who criticize religion because "religion starts wars", I would clarify that the Just War Principle in the manner by which the Catholic Church states that war should be conducted. I then would challenge them to point out what aspects of the Just War Principle they deem to be immoral. More than likely, they would not be able to properly do so.

There is often a big difference between what certain government leaders / nations cite for going to war, and the real reason (which is almost always economical). In a similar manner, I have discovered that there is often a big difference between what certain people cite for not being religious (i.e., things like, "Religious people cause wars") and the real reason (i.e., "I think religion is boring, I want to sleep in on Sunday, I'd rather ignore God and do what I want rather than be concerned about his commandments, and I'm too focuses on materialism to give any attention to spirituality").

Apologista · #14 May 8, '12, 11:00 am

I get this from people with secular humanist leanings fairly frequently. I say "leanings" because I think often the people themselves may still have at least the rudiments of Judeo-Christian belief but they have been swayed by propaganda. Like in John Lennon's song "Imagine" the line about having no religion being presented as a positive development for humanity. That kind of ruins the song for me.