Does Religion Cause War - Essay Example

Does Religion Cause War When dealing with any form of religion, there is always going to be cause for argument. Religion as defined by Random House Dictionary states that religion is, “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, or the practice of religious beliefs”. Beliefs are the key word of the definition. When an individual or group has a set of religious beliefs, these beliefs are their life. Religious beliefs are the main component reflecting decisions that one may make.

This means that religious beliefs do not cause war but may influence decisions made after a war has already begun. This can raise argument but truth has shown that most war has begun as a result of territory and possessions and not solely because of religion. Religion regarding beliefs has been an issue of war since creation. Every individual practices some form of religion like Christianity, Judaism, or Atheism. Each form of religion is similar in the sense that the belief is a religion and a way of life.

Each religion is also quite different. Many like those in the Christian religion are persecuted for their religious beliefs and cannot be caught acting in a Christian manner. The persecution creates a war in the life of the Christian. They must choose between honoring their beliefs and being persecuted. The United States, according to a poll by ABC news consist of 83% Christians. This may be because Christianity is so well tolerated in America and Christians can freely practice Christianity. In other areas of the world Christianity is not accepted and has been known to cause war.

This war is more so between the Christian and Muslim communities. The Islam or Muslim religion is highly popular in the Arab community. Israel My Beloved claims that 90% of Arabs are Muslim. Since most of the Arab community is Muslim and 83% of the American community is Christian. Christian and Muslim have been the most combative religion in history. Although the war may not be huge like a world war, there is smaller wars everyday that Christians and Muslims battle. These small forms of war are expressed in an article by Patrick Poole.

“Constant discrimination, brutality and murder result over religious beliefs between the Christian and Muslim religion”. Even though facts can justify that many wars have taken place over religion, individuals will still argue the difference. This is so because many times wars are fought over territory. Every territory is likely to contain a certain type of culture of people that practice a certain type of religion. When one territory fights with another territory, the two different religious beliefs are challenged.

This then contributes to a war that was once about territory but has developed into a war regarding religion. It is the ignorance of the leaders that want to start a war over possessions like land, gold or oil. Ideally it has nothing to do with religion. Wars throughout history like the present war in Northern Africa are fought over oil. The war is said to be over politics but in general resulted over Americans wanting control over the mass amounts of oil Africa can provide. This want of possessions created the individual wars regarding religion.

The Christians of America and the Muslims of North Africa turned their focus away from the land and focused on the cultures differences. These cultural differences include religious views. To conclude, religion has caused war but is not necessarily the main cause of war. There is usually another issue that has made cause for war and not the individual’s beliefs. Works Cited "religion." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 05 Apr. 2011. . ABC News. "ABCNEWS.com : Poll: Most Americans Say They're Christian." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. 2004. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.

"Islam & the Arabs : History & Prophecy - Israel My Beloved." Israel My Beloved. 2010. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. Poole, Patrick. "Islam's Global War against Christianity." American Thinker. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.