RELIGION AND WORLD PEACE

It can be argued that religions promote war, particularly the monotheistic ones such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Part of the Old Testament describes David returning from the slaughter of the Philistine.

The women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with songs of joy… "Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands". Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him; he said "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands..." And Saul eyed David from that day on.

Does religion cause wars?

Is religion simply a justification for the armed pursuit of land, political autonomy or resources? Crucial to fighting a war is polarizing people into “us” and “them”. Religion can be used to fuel hatred, create divisions and demonize others. In the past, many wars have been largely motivated by religion. The Thirty Years War was fought in Europe between catholics and protestants and left a trail of 7 million dead and chaos for decades in the seventeenth century. At the most primitive level religions tend to completely centered on the tribe and this was certainly the case in Europe at that time.

what about the crusades?

However, cases such as the Crusades are not so simple to analyze. They are often held as perfect examples of religion as a cause of war. But a deeper look shows that muslims and christians had been co-existing peacefully for ages. It was only as a particular group, the Saracens, sort to conquer Europe that the Crusades were initiated. Religion is often introduced to justify actions and motivate the masses. Most times, it can be argued that religion may play a key and significant role in the conduct of warfare on a psychological and cultural level.

Interestingly, war from nations against all forms of religion, such as the Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Russia, is never framed as attributable to the devil or atheism.

Fundamentalism and world peace

Fundamentalists are convinced of the rightness of their own faith and strongly condemn all other faiths. Curiously this dedication often ignores the basic precepts of their faith, such as love, humility, charity and justice. In its place they observe a rigid code of behavior and beliefs that may have little in common with the core values of their chosen faith.

Fundamentalism has been the source of most of the intractable religious quarrels that have led to, or sustained, wars – Catholic vs Protestant, Christianity vs Islam, Hindu vs Muslim, etc. Fundamentalism in religion has its counterpart in secular politics as extremism, whether of the left or of the right. Today, both attitudes consist in an unwillingness to acknowledge any need for change in the tenets of the faith or of the political system espoused, despite the enormous changes that have taken place in the past few decades, let alone centuries, in our knowledge of the physical world and of human relationships.

The commitment of the energy and idealism of young men and young women today to such fundamentalist causes is the saddest and most intractable aspect of the problem. Many are willing to die (as well as to kill) for the cause they espouse, sometimes encouraged by their religious belief that voluntary martyrdom will ensure certain and immediate entry into heaven.

A religion that encourages or simply fails to disavow such archaic beliefs must be held responsible for the hostilities they provoke and the lives thus lost. Even a small minority of fundamentalists using violent methods can destroy peace and tranquility within a country or between neighboring states.