Why are wars fought in the name of god?

Answer 1

In The Bible, God commands his people to kill in his name pretty frequently. The same is true for the Koran and a few other holy books. Adherents to the corresponding religions sometimes believe them to be true so strongly that they're willing to kill for a god that only exists in ancient fables.

This is because people are generally afraid and ignorant of each other. Humans tend to factionalize and split into groups, and cast blame for their failures or misfortune on some outside entity or group. Religion is the perfect way to justify this kind of action.

The different peoples of the world created their God in their personal image and likeness. They created a God that authenticated their various rites and rituals. Religion was developed mainly around social cultures and traditions. It was mainly a way to influence social behaviors through the use of moral suasion. They created a God that would bring psychological comfort in times of hardship. They created a God that would protect them from natural disasters, disease and extinction.

Greedy opportunistic people who crave absolute power and authority are the cause of religious wars. Religion, politics and wealth have always been closely intertwined. Religion gave politicians and the rich individuals the tools to control their workers and servants it has also been used as a tool to maintain political dominance of the world order. Most of the laws in these countries are based on religious fanaticism.

When a competing religion threatens the economic control of another then terrorism, persecution and war is used to destroy the competition. Religious wars have more to do with wealth, power and greed, than it has to do with righteousness and piety.

Answer 2

When people go to war for religion is it usually in support of monotheistic, proselytising religions, specifically Judaism, Christianity and Islam. While the pagan Romans went to war for glory, adventure and reward, they never went to war to spread their beliefs. In much the same way, China has been a multi-faith nation for thousands of years, with quite rare instances of religious conflict.

Followers of monotheistic believe quite strongly that their God is the only true god and that all others are false. The most pious among them have held that it is an insult to their God for others not to believe as they do, and have been willing to fight wars to eliminate all other forms of belief. On the other hand, polytheistic religions already accept the existence of more than one god, and it is no great challenge to accept a few more gods, an issue usually not worth fighting for.

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was prepared to go to war to prevent people following the Christian belief outside the Catholic Church. In this case, there was an element of holding on to power and influence involved.

Answer 3

AnswerTo understand why there are wars over religion, it is first necessary to understand the context of those wars. The leaders of polytheistic religions rarely start wars for the advancement of the religious purposes. The ancient polytheistic people of the Near East, Greece and Rome may have fought for economic reasons, territorial gain or personal aggrandisement, but they did not fight to impose their religion on others. Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism have coexisted in China for thousands of years and fighting between the faiths has been quite rare.

Religious wars are largely associated with the monotheistic faiths. It is the absolute claim of each monotheistic faith to be the one true faith, representing the one true God, that can give reason for war. The belief that each follower is expected to do whatever he can to advance the cause of his religion, can then take society from having a reason for war to having a desire for war.