War: Was religion the only cause? (Disclaimer: No im not having a rant.)?

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Joe In Jeans

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In our RE lesson today there was a discussion about war and peace and how different faiths interpret it. Then, one boy put his hand up and said that religion was the only cause of war and without it we would be at peace. At first i thought it was irrational but then again many wars have been religion against religion. I guess some civil wars might not be religious. It just made me think.

Can you think of any wars that werent caused by religion (Or to stop religion like with the Holocaust)? Even though im an Atheist id quite like to show this boy up and remind him that religion isnt always the cause of war.
 
It really depends on how you're looking at it. Usually the -real- cause for war is not religion, religion is used as a justification. For instance, the war we're having now in Iraq was promoted among Christians as a battle between Christianity (good) and Islam (evil) but it really isn't about that at all. Even the Crusades were not really about spreading Christianity or protecting the Holy Land from the Saracens.

Religion and politics have been so tightly twisted together forever that it's often hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. Over much of history some of the biggest religious ideas were really political and vice versa. Wars are risky and cost money so political leaders usually had a very practical reason for waging wars, but religion was very useful to justify them and get people to support them.
 
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