"More people have been killed in the name of God than any other reason"

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." -Joseph Goebbels

The lie in the title has been repeated so many times, and it just fascinates me how quick people are to believe it and repeat it. It's utter horse crap, and I felt it necessary that I do a public service and help correct the misunderstandings. Ya welcome.




Of the Wars, Armed Conflicts, and Genocides which claimed the most lives, only 2 of the top 20 were religious. The Thirty Years War was 10th (and it was far from entirely about religion), and the "French Wars of Religion" was 17th.

 

Well, you're partially right.

Wars are almost always about greed , money, land resources, and imperialism.

Most of them used religion to justify their actions and to motivate the soldiers and the people to follow.

Except for modern day radical Islam like Isis.

For them it's a fanatical religious crusade.

Same for any other Islamic fanatic.

 

That's still plenty bad.

 

Well, ISIS is not much more religious in its source than many others. Religion is not much more than a constructed justification there either, only people far from the area, far from the understanding of the buildup of the conflict will perpetuate simple explanations, just like Indians saw the British invasion and colonisation in a very different light than the British, more religious, more malevolent.

 

Yep... we always glom on to simple explanations.

 

Actually many of those who make up the IS are just psychopathic and drugged - up criminals.

 

Define a religious war. Take for example any war involving Muslims. If my understanding of the Koran is correct, all wars are supposed to be holy wars. Or if you consider things that have been sanctioned by the pope as holy wars as well. But even then, if we're talking about how deadly they were, we also have to take into account how many people were around when they happened. Sure, a million people could die, but there's a difference between out of a population of 2 million, and a population of 1 billion.

 

^_- Nothing close to the claim being made.

Almost all human conflict is competition over limited resources. While it's often said that religion is used to justify even non-religious wars, that's predominantly untrue. It's largely true in regards to the Thirty Years War, but aside from that it's fairly uncommon in human history. Take a look at the top 20. There was no religious element integral to either of the world wars.

 

So then to start with you agree that the claim that "more people have been killed in the name of religion than any other reason" is erroneous, right?

 

I am in agreement. Man will kill man, the reason or title someone wants to hang on it is secondary...

 

Nothing rallies the troops better than 'For God and Country'. That doesn't necessarily mean that God or country had anything to do with anything. Maybe; 'For Real Estate' or 'For Oil' wouldn't tend to be all that inspiring.

 

As are all those minor border skirmishes. Take yourself a little trip through history. Start with American History as it concerns our 'Great War Machine' Let's see, Revolutionary War; religious? no. War of 1812; religious?, no. Civil War, Mexican/American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, VietNam...Desert Storm, Afghanistan/Iraq...nope, nope,nope...So, it would appear that 'The Great War Machine' hasn't been out there fighting God's Wars or 'killing for Christ'.

 

Haha, yeah it's a great phrase for inspiring action, but if i remember right the "For King and Country" has been far more popular.

Btw, I appreciate the humor.

 

Show me the top 20 and then we'll see.

 

dude, it's in the first post. Did you miss the hyperlink?

 

I don't see a link in that post.

Not joking.

 

What makes you think ISIS is any different?

 

They're radical extremists.

 

Ah. Understandable.

Look for the green text in the italic portion of the op.

 

So? The Bolsheviks in Russia were radical extremists in 1914, and they weren't religious. Religion and morality are often the rationalizations people spout when they're ashamed of their true reason for war: acquiring resources that someone else possesses.

 

State religions are still religions. Ideology is more of a factor than anything and there is no more dangerous ideology than a dogmatic one.

 

IMO you are coming close to hitting the nail on the head here. It is fanaticism which is dangerous, not the specific dogma it is attached to. Political, religious, whatever makes no difference. When a belief makes one see other people as obstacles to making the world a perfect place, there are no limits to one's actions.

 

Dogma creates fanaticism, when we say religious fanatics it should actually be read true believer. Moderates lack real conviction. Stalinsim wasn't effective because of a lack of religion, it was because it behaved to closely to one. Out of faith and skepticism which one helps guard people from falling victim to dogmatic ideologies? Credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.

 

Are you trying to say there is no such thing as political dogma? If so, I beg to differ. Stalinists, Maoists, Nazis, and religious fanatics all shared the same dangerous characteristic in that they saw people as objects to be manipulated into a more amenable form. I dispute that this characteristic is exclusive to religion.

 

It is silly to compare (religious killings vs non religious killing) based on number of people. Obviously there were less people on the planet 1000 years ago.

The fact of the matter is that a whole lot of people were killed throughout the centuries (in the name of God) or at least using religion as a basis for killing.

The fact of the matter is that Religion was a common justification for killing throughout most of known history. Of course folks were killed for many other reasons as well but what does that matter. Killing innocents for any reason is not often a good thing.

Claiming - folks killed more people on the basis of greed and power does not excuse the killing done in the name of God.