WHAT ROLE DOES RELIGION PLAY IN WAR?

Realistically, there has never been a war where the cause was solely and specifically because of a religion. At the same time, almost every significant war or conflict has had a religious aspect to it, or some sort of link to a religious issue. It has played a strong role in numerous minor and major conflicts, in the World and Civil Wars, and in most of today’s wars.

As of late, there has been a number of minor conflicts that were linked with religion. The types of conflicts vary, but the number of conflicts is still growing rapidly. Scientology caused an outrage and many protests, riots, mobs throughout North America with its sudden growth at the beginning of the millennium. Certain people who claimed to be scientologists had said certain things and acted certain ways, which affected this particular religion’s reputation as a whole (note: not everyone agrees that Scientology is a religion but that is how I will refer to it for this article). It caused large numbers of people to make assumptions about the religion and decide what they thought of it without even looking into its set of beliefs. Tom Cruise, for example, confirmed his interest and belief on national television, which was all it took to convert some of his fans. In the same timeframe, there were implied terrorist threats made through YouTube videos and protests with individuals that wore masks and used voice translators to hide their identities. This turned many people against Scientology and automatically caused Tom Cruise and his converted fans to look bad.

Religion is one of the most discussed and disputed topics in the world. To take part in a discussion or a dispute, it is obvious there is a minimum of two sides that will either agree or disagree with each other. Much like any other argument in the world, disagreement can escalate and eventually lead to aggression. In other words, someone will take action. This can be especially dangerous depending on what kind of status and power the person holds. Although World War II was started because of a list of events and bad relationships between Nazi Germany and others countries, the entire event would have been avoidable if it wasn’t for one man’s ideologies. Adolf Hitler strongly believed not only that Germans and the Arian race were dominant, but he also believed that Jews and Gypsies should literally be killed and tortured. His sense of superiority and way of thinking literally started a war against a religion.

In comparison to the Holocaust, a country will normally declare war or initiate a conflict based on a strong desire or need of another country’s resources, a dispute over land, or to adjust a balance in power. In many cases, there will often be one of the countries involved that is remarkably weaker than the other and that will need to fight the war with a more unusual method. Iraq, for instance, who is fighting their war with an insurgency instead of with their army, need to resort to religious reasoning to recruit civilians to fight and maintain a large enough force to withstand the American troops and their supporting allies. This is an effective method because Islam can eliminate the fear of dying (if interpreted a certain way), which is often why a person would avoid joining an active fighting force. The Iraqi insurgency is divided into two main groups, the Shi’a and the Sunni people, who are either fighting to keep the opposing forces away or simply for survival. These two groups have many sub-factions, but they all have an Islamic background. The war in Afghanistan was originally to capture the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden. Today, this is still one of the focuses of the mission, but with the war’s recent progressions, religion has become a serious underlying factor.

Although no major wars or conflicts have been caused directly by religion, it is not uncommon for both sides to be grouped into one religion each. It is always easier to fight for something when you are surrounded by people like you. For example, the North Ireland issue between Roman Catholics and Protestants, the Rwanda genocide issue between Hutu people and Tutsi people, and even the Bosnian war which was between three religious groups: Muslims, Roman Catholics and Serbian Orthodox.

To sum up, arguing that religion is a cause of war is a lazy excuse to avoid looking deeper into the issue. It is a false justification for those who do not understand or who ignore underlying issues like those named throughout this article. It is true that wars often cross the lines that separate two religions, but that does not mean that the religions are the causes. Religion is often present during times of war, but its role is always different. Sometimes it has nothing to do with the war, and sometimes it can determine the outcome.

SOURCES:

1. Peterson, Anna Lisa. Martyrdom and the politics of religion: progressive Catholicism in El Salvador’s civil war. Albany, NY: University of New York Press, 1997.

2. Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/curr_war.htm

3. Religious Cause of War: http://wais.stanford.edu/Conference/conference_religioncausewar20401.html

4. Religious Cause of Violence: http://www.catholicanarchy.org/cavanaugh/Cavanaugh%20-%20Does%20Religion%20Cause%20Violence.pdf

5. Fast Facts on Religion: http://didyouknow.org/fastfacts/religion/

6. Exactly Who Are We Fighting in Iraq?: http://www.infowars.com/articles/iraq/exactly_who_are_we_fighting_in_iraq.htm

7. Picture Link: http://singlemindedwomen.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/tug-o-war.jpg