There is a belief among people that declares religion as the main cause of wars worldwide, and it has been the main cause of violence throughout the history of humanity. "Lebensraum" was an explicit aim of Germany in WWII. The issue for this lecture is simply: was Americas use of religious images to justify our military response different in kind from Al Qaedas invoking of jihad? It can be what we would call religious obedience to or a right relationship to God or a blessing from God. By the 11 th century, Peace of God documents list categories of people - priests, merchants, serfs - who are not to be preyed upon. Does the center, or the tip, of the OpenStreetMap website teardrop icon, represent the coordinate point? During the Persian and Greek empires, holy war evolved into apocalyptic war in the books of Ezra and Daniel evolved into apocalyptic war and was utilized and was reinvigorated or reinterpreted again in the struggles of the Maccabees. A third form of peace is a stable peace, when war becomes so remote as to become unthinkable. The social ethics of all religions proscribing murder and stealing and advocating helping the poor and caring for ones neighbor are useful to a state in keeping order. An ideal king in this imperfect world should exemplify the dharma and by his charisma can bring order out of chaos and do violence to obtain justice. 2023 Swarthmore College. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions With what seems like disturbing regularity, the media reports horrendous acts of violence. Is Religion a Primary Cause of War?: An Essay in Understanding - JSTOR We cant hang their deaths on Communism. Like you, when I look at recent American foreign policy and elections, I despair. To conclude, here is my list of factors predicting when religions will facilitate wars: St. Augustine, writing at the time of the decline of the Roman Empire, insisted that built into humanity was a desire for peace. All three said that an obligation to ones neighbor translated into political terms allowed fighting to preserve a peaceful society. Unchecked violence for its own sake is universally condemned. It was a peaceful religion. Yet the outcry over Abu Ghraib shows that there is widespread resistance to using torture even against alleged terrorists. The Jehovahs Witnesses who see all governments of this world as corrupt and unchristian and refuse to take the pledge of allegiance or salute the flag or vote exemplify a sectarian attempt to live in America without embracing any duties of citizenship. Well, what made it truly long and bloody was the involvement of Catholic France. While this is a caricature, we should recognize that there is a strong emphasis in Hinduism and Buddhism in a devotees escaping from or making irrelevant this world of attachment and impermanence. All Rights Reserved. Hence, there are other ways that religion could be a factor than just theology. Peace and conflict - Forgiveness - GCSE Religious Studies - BBC (The analogy is similar to the distinction between violence and non-violence.) Building institutions that can contain the worst impulses of humanity has been done in many societies; there is a great deal of middle ground between perfection and genocide and our task is to find it. When I hear someone state that religion has caused most wars, though, I will often and ask the person to name these wars. Finally, religion has played a major role in inspiring individuals and groups working for peace. Pius XII insisted that biological, chemical, and nuclear war are morally unacceptable under any circumstances because they do not protect civilians and do disproportionate damage, but during the Reagan administration the American bishops allowed the possession of nuclear weapons if done on a interim basis and with no intent to use. Jesus in his teaching, suffering, and resurrection is the bringer of peace. 4 Pages. If there are a variety of wars, should we not also talk about a variety of peaces? True peace will come only after submission to God and this is accomplished through personal struggle or jihad. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. @Hosch250 Depends on the participants. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Some were probably making political calculations, but it's dubious you can wholly discount genuine religious motivations for everyone. The break up of the USSR which still had its military intact shows the limitations in calculating power based upon armies. The evangelical churches that often seek to avoid direct political contact in missionary work can have a social impact. Instead, they have to do with political controleither allowing certain political leaders to gain or remain in power (e.g., who is the rightful heir to the throne) or they have to do with gaining political control of resources (e.g., land, money, food supplies, transportation and trade routes) or they have to do with a particular leaders ambitions (i.e., being remembered as a great man, or not being remembered as a weak man). Rather than utilizing careful training or social science, the great successes of non-violence have come from peoples applying Gandhis insight that withdrawing consent makes governments fall as witnessed in the Velvet and recent Orange revolutions in Eastern Europe. In his research on Christian churches and genocide in that country, Timothy Longman notes the extensive criticism faced by that countrys Christian churches, not only for failing to oppose the genocide, but for complicity in the violence. Certainly the U.S. in the post cold war has shown a limited ability to impose peace either by cultural or military might. If its said often enough it must be trueright? We have declared war on terrorism, but in Afghanistan treated both the Taliban and foreign fighters as not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention and recently seems to have treated some Iraqis the same way. Since the 16 th century, according to Christian and later international law theories, civilians were not targets. Religion is one factor, without doubt. And those gods never made any promises, and never demanded the followers to find new followers). While there are other ambiguous statements in early Muslim documents, Averroes (Ibn Rushd) in the 12th century insisted that all Muslims agreed that war was not against civilians. It was an attempt by humans to build the City of God on earth and was doomed to failure. Equally important, the personal of all organized religions are drawn from the society they serve and will share most of its values, both the good and bad ones. After the crusades ended and certainly by 1648, religious differences alone were no longer acceptable as a just cause and reinterpretations of jihad appeared in some but not all Muslim theorists by the nineteenth century. (Answers S3E15), Christianity & Messianic Judaism (Answers S3E13), Can Christians eat pork & shellfish and wear clothing woven from two types of material? Atheist author Sam Harris goes even further by calling religion, the most prolific source of violence in our history[2]. The most extreme, and therefore very popular with my students, variant of the peace/justice theory is by Johann Galtung, who defines a peaceful society as one in which everyone can achieve to the limits of his or her capacity. But he stands highest who establishes peace among the nations.". It can also be pointed out that a number of the clergy gave their lives to protect the Tutsis. War was organized violence fought by soldiers against soldiers. The peace is not political, however. Not only do they misrepresent the powerful benefit for good that flows out of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also much of the positive influence of the family of God throughout history. A group defines itself as a holy or chosen people with special obligations and privileges, particularly involving a right to a land. The last part discusses the societal roles of religion that are conducive to war. Although Arjuna will gain material rewards, he must fight with a right attitude of detachment in which life and death are ultimately meaningless. Christians in politics might have to fight, but priests, monks, and nuns had a higher calling and should not shed blood. The various responses of social ethicists to Vietnam and the two Gulf Wars show how difficult it is to reach consensus on the meaning of justice in the cause of war or of proportionality, that the evil done in war will not be greater than harm done by the original fault. Even when there is a transnational body, like the Roman Catholic Church, most members of the hierarchy were born and live in the nation their churches are in. The code allowed society to treat returned officers as belonging to an honorable calling who protected society while observing with professional standards. As one who reads the Bible for spiritual truths, not historical facts, I am, of course, quite happy that no such slaughters occurred. because it isn't a god-owning religion. Islam means submission to God and doing so brings the believer peace. The extreme violence in these cases is often explicable in terms of the tendency of identification (religious or not) to exclude and discriminate against others; the violent content of some religious texts; or the struggle for power, supremacy, or autonomy among competing religious groups--in addition to human motivations and desires (for example, revenge) that are intelligible independently of anything to do with religion. Between the 11th and 13th century, the Crusades occurred in Europe. While, for example, it is estimated that approximately one to three million people were tragically killed in the Crusades, and perhaps 3,000 in the Inquisition, nearly 35 million soldiers and civilians died in the senseless, and secular, slaughter of World War 1 alone. Need I name more?". Mesoamerican religions are not overly well understood, but given they didn't launch a holy war against the foreign invaders it seems pretty clear that holy war wasn't their thing. The causes of war Political causes Religious causes Social causes Military causes Economic causes ; Political Causes Because of Doctrine of Lapse, the local Indian leaders saw them in decline The Mistreatment with the Mug Hal Emperor and disrespect that Lord Dalhouise made by moving the royal family from Delhi to Qutb Shah In Civil service jobs were . '90s space prison escape movie with freezing trap scene, Rotate elements in a list using a for loop, US citizen, with a clean record, needs license for armored car with 3 inch cannon. Ian Hutson explores the Christian response to religious wars and to the violence we are witnessing around the world in the name of religion. The first holy war was probably in October 312 CE when the Roman emperor Constantine saw a vision of the cross in the sky with this inscription "in hoc signo vinces" (in this sign you will win). +1 but there's actually been some wars with religious characteristics involving Buddhists, for example Ikko-Ikki; also Shintoism isn't inherently more warlike than other paganistic faiths, you're probably thinking of State Shintoism which actually considered itself distinct from "Religious Shintoism". What aspects of religion can be included or excluded in the assessment of whether religion caused something? Augustine at the time of the Vandal siege of Carthage, counseled a Roman commander who desired to enter a monastery to first fulfill his duty as a soldier. A desire for power or wealth or adventure was, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, enough to make a war caused by a sufficient major fault unjust. was how one angry caller responded to a phone-in on Radio 5 Live last week about the proportion of religious and non-religious people in our country. While some claim that Communism 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 simply equates "religion" with the human desire for power, conformance, and control, making any distinctions with other human institutions meaningless. Augustine had insisted that one did not fight for oneself but could for a neighbor. basic . Some atheists certainly claim so. Certainly, there are real issues around the potential risk to innocent people when terrorists carry out their immoral plans. I was informed that karma had no social ethics. For the most part, religious wars, Indeed; in fact I'd be surprised if we could find. War on Religion. Are they right? The Social Gospel advocates were aware that war was not just a product of a rulers moral failures (though having moral leaders was greatly to be desired) but peace could come only by countering racism, colonialism, and economic exploitation. Religion causes war. If you have encountered an issue with the site, including concerns about accessibility due to a disability, please share your feedback with us. Examples include the crusades, sectarian Catholic and Protestant violence in Europe, and support for the Apartheid system in South Africa. History is, after all, not a science. To understand the role of religion in the emergence of American empire, we need to look beyond any simple opposition or interaction between church and state and see instead how the construction and corrosion of power and authority have operated across sectors of society, especially around apparently secular categories in which the displacements of religious logic have most It was a logical pre-emptive strike after the war has already started. The only response to such statements is to order another pint & change the topic. Muhammad taught that an individuals internal striving for submission is the greater jihad. If it is the equilibrium that brings peace, the danger is, as Kant observed, that this house of cards can be destroyed by a slight wind. Since the sharia embodies the teachings of the Quran, then the ruler has an obligation to enforce its norms. In these two cases, not. "Look at Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, ISIS, 911!" they say. The legitimate authority for a holy war is not the government of a state (except in a theocracy) but the Church, or the relevant organisation or person who heads the religious institution concerned. Read more. The use of military force is not to convert a person (this submission must be voluntary) but to create a government of Muslims that will rule in accordance with. Its classic formulation was given by the 4 th century Roman theorist Vegetius: to have peace, prepare for war. Not even close. Religious leaders must have sufficient autonomy so that they are free to speak out in opposition to the state and a war. Priests and people are willing to use the political realm to institutionalize and/or enforce correct worship, doctrine, and ethical practices. Niebuhr insisted that states operated by coercion, that the exercise of power was a continuum and that there was no essential distinction between using coercion within and outside of a state. So, what is there to religion other than theology? Even using this stringent definition, a religious war could also be an ethnic or a nationalistic war and apply to one side but not the other. The question is rather, what is this role. Only the first of these causes is completely outside the scope of the conventional idea of a just cause. This is also false. But neither were chokepoints, you'd have to go into the interior, at least to Palmyra, to get a chokepoint. I mean, while the actual reason for the conflict may not have been religious, religion may have been used to popularise and/or justify the war. Now the Church insisted that pacifism based on love of neighbor was acceptable. Most articles are historical and interpretive essays on ancient, medieval and modern rabbinic thinkers or on topics they addressed in Jewish philosophy, law and ethics, politics, and biblical interpretation. Argumentative Essay On War On Religion. @Bregalad Agreed - the "primarily opinion based" close reason doesn't make sense; its perfectly possible to objectively survey historians for a consensus. BBC 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Gandhi shows that it possible for the right kind of person to transform an ambiguous or pro-military religious Hindu legacy into ahimsa. Even though his forces were outnumbered, he won the battle against an army that was using pagan enchantment. In Pacem in Terris and Vatican II, the church endorsed both just war theory and pacifism. Yeshiva University features academic research and scholarship and provides a dual undergraduate curriculum in religious and secular studies. Some commentators claim that religion as a reason for war has decreased due to the increasing secularization of Western society. Gene Sharp and others have shown that India was one of many examples of people creating non-violent revolution by mobilizing a people against oppressive governments. Age of Nationalism (1789-1917): wars became increasingly linked to identity and national independence - territories were a common cause of war in colonial empires, Latin America as well as the Far East. Plato refuted the Sophist version of this argument as applied to domestic society but realist theorists as diverse as Henry Kissinger and Robert Kaplan continue to apply it to contemporary issues. The founding epic of Hinduism is the Mahabharata, a poem that purports to be the story of the struggle for their rightful throne by the Pandavas against their usurping cousins, the Kurovasa. I know of no such example, though John Adams refusal to declare war on France in 1798 is the closest American example. 3. the clergy justifies the war, vilifies the opponent, and absolves guilt for killing. These norms apply to all peoples, including rulers. So I went to the YMCA and made one out of wood that sufficed when I could not borrow the neighbor boys guns. The great series of western holy wars were the Crusades, which lasted from 1095 until 1291 CE. A group sees its truth as universal and is intolerant of other perspectives either within or outside of its religious tradition. Eighteenth-century British Friends remained loyal to the powers that be, but would not fight. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, let this one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: It is the will of God! This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Simple evaluation of source based on content and/or provenance . Or is there some essence of Christianity as a religion that allows us to ignore its diversity in belief, ritual, and practice? Tes Global Ltd is Killing an opponent was not evil because his death was only a fulfilling of karmic destiny caused by misdeeds in an earlier life. A second element that has been dropped in just war theories was the requirement for purity of motive by rulers and soldiers. The causes of war War is an organised conflict, usually consisting of intense violence carried out by one state or states against another state or states. What should one conclude about the public piety of politicians none of whom rule on a platform of fostering evil and most of whom pay lip service to morality and piety? Rebellions were problematic but became recognized as war after the American and French Revolutions, if the rebels controlled territory. Religious pacifism has also grown more complex, partially by recognizing that there can be many kinds of pacifism and new challenges. This left them open to religious leaders who espoused a more aggressive theology that sometimes emphasised violent Old Testament themes. Eeehm, your reasoning is fallacious, therefor invalid. Argumentative Essay On War On Religion | ipl.org - Internet Public Library 1 Definitions 2 Applicability of religion to war 3 Prevalence 4 Holy war concepts in religious traditions Toggle Holy war concepts in religious traditions subsection 4.1 Ancient warfare and polytheism 4.2 Christianity 4.3 Hinduism 4.4 Islam 4.5 Judaism 4.6 Shinto 4.7 Sikhism 5 Antiquity 6 Middle Ages Toggle Middle Ages subsection if the answer matches the mark scheme.
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