Certainly there have been wars fought over religion, just like there have been wars fought over land and just about everything else. However wars fought over religion have been blown out of proportion compared to secular or non-religious wars. According to Philip and Axlerod's three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars, of the 1,763 wars that have been waged over human history only 123 (6.98%) have been religious in nature.
The 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history. It's estimated 160 million were killed from wars and despotism. World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, The gulags, the holocaust. The thing all these have in common is they were non-religious conflicts. The truth is governments have killed more people than any religion.
When it comes down to it the source of human conflict is not religion. People go to war for all kinds of reasons. The source of conflict is human nature, or more specifically the fallen sinful nature of man.
The 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history. It's estimated 160 million were killed from wars and despotism. World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, The gulags, the holocaust. The thing all these have in common is they were non-religious conflicts. The truth is governments have killed more people than any religion.
When it comes down to it the source of human conflict is not religion. People go to war for all kinds of reasons. The source of conflict is human nature, or more specifically the fallen sinful nature of man.
