[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Let's pose the question another way; What about all the thousands of conflicts and wars which have been fought by man which had no religious cause or element at all?

WW 1
WW 2
Vietnam.

In fact, I'll leave it to the experts:

According to the 'Encyclopedia of Wars':

"Of the 1,763 major conflicts in recorded history, only 123 of them can be classified as having been fought over religious differences. That’s less than 7 percent.

The encyclopedia also explains that the number of people killed in these conflicts amounts to only two percent. This means that even when wars have been fought over religious disputes, they tend to be less bloody than when they are fought for other reasons."

More on this from Rabbi Alan Lurie:

"History simply does not support the hypothesis that religion is the major cause of conflict. The wars of the ancient world were rarely, if ever, based on religion. These wars were for territorial conquest, to control borders, secure trade routes, or respond to an internal challenge to political authority. In fact, the ancient conquerors, whether Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, or Roman, openly welcomed the religious beliefs of those they conquered, and often added the new gods to their own pantheon.

Medieval and Renaissance wars were also typically about control and wealth as city-states vied for power, often with the support, but rarely instigation, of the Church. And the Mongol Asian rampage, which is thought to have killed nearly 30 million people, had no religious component whatsoever."

More:

What about all the millions of annual cases worldwide of murders, street crimes, domestic abuse, beatings, robberies, rapes, child abuse etc. etc. --
-- none of which are caused by religion, and all of which are carried out by humans who are not religious?

What about all this?