What are some statistics that show religion caused war?

Answer 1

Since history is almost never recorded accurately, accurate statistics are not really available. For example, the crusades were ostensibly about religion versus religion, but political intrigue, greed, poverty, adventure-seeking and power-seeking were contributing factors. The military conquests of Latin America were ostensibly about the extension of Spanish power, but religion played an important role, since the missionaries were required to accompany the conquistadores and convert the 'heathens'.

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is ostensibly about religion, but it is also about land. I watched a documentary in which an Israeli settler in the Palestinian territories was interviewed about her reasons for living in the occupied territories. In a flat monotone, she explained how she believed the Palestinian territories 'belong' to Jews, but her eyes lit up and she became animated when she went on to say how good the life is in the settlement and how green the grass is. Without saying so, she told the audience that, for her, the occupation was about land.

Much of the strife in the former Republic of Yuoslavia was ethnic-based, with Serbs fighting Croatians and Bosnian Muslims. But it was centuries-old divisions among Orthodox, Catholics and Muslims that maintained the ethnic divisions and the underlying hostilities.

For every conflict that is credited to religious hostility, there will always be property rights, individual ambition or pride that also played a part. And for every conflict that seems not to have a religious dimension, such a dimension can often be found. Wars are complex, and religion is usually only one contributing factor. I do not believe that meaningful statistics about which wars are and are not caused by religion are possible.