Does Religion Cause War

Religion is tied to war in many ways. The bible has depicted many wars in its scriptures, but is it telling us to fight for religion, or warning us to steer away from war? The wars that we see fought for religion could've been fought for land, money, or concurring of both. George Carlin once said to his audience, " more people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason," and most people think this to be true. From a list of 1,763 wars, only 123 have been classified as to involve religious cause, less than seven percent of all wars and less than two percent of all people killed in warfare. religion does not cause war. war is fought for secular reasons.

The Hebrew Bible has stories about many wars. for example, Moses' conflicts in the desert and Joshua's conquest to the nations of Cannon. to many, these can be seen as religiously sanctioned violence. however, Archeological evidence indicates that these conquests never occurred. the ancient rabbis also understood that these stories were not celebrated victories, but warnings about the dangers of warfare. Judaism teaches that war may only be considered if there is a legitimate threat, and after every other option has been exhausted. avoiding war is obviously the goal. the ancient rabbis took this teaching far enough to state, "In God's eyes the man stands high who makes peace between men, but he stands highest who …show more content…
100 million were killed by the Communists states of the USSR and China. some claim that Communism in itself is a "state religion" because it has an absolute dictator whose word is law and a "holy book" of unchallenged rules. such a claim can equate "religion" with the human desire for power, conformance, and control, thus making any distinctions with other human institutions