Stupid Things You Here All the Time #81

"More people are killed in wars over religion than for any other reason."

Why this is a stupid thing to say:

Every major war in the 20th Century was brought about by ideologies that were distinctly, eagerly, and intentionally opposed to any traditional religion: Communist China, the USSR, North Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge, Italy under Mussolini. Nazi Germany made it illegal for traditional Christianity to be practiced in the German churches.

What people really mean when they say this: “On occasion, I may feel the need to cover my bets in the religion gamble. I will do this by means of some shallow rhetorical babble that's intended to make me sound tolerant and wise and above it all: ‘Whose god are we supposed to believe in?’ or ‘I have my own religion’ or ‘I'm a very spiritual person’ or ‘I try to live my religion instead of talking about it’ or ‘All religions are basically the same’ or ‘I find God in nature’ or ‘God is in all of us’ or ‘I try to keep an open mind about religion’ or ‘More people are killed in wars over religion than for any other reason.’ But the fact is, I simply can not or will not open my mind enough to consider the arguments of countless intelligent people who have done wise, courageous and profoundly good things in the name of the God they believe in. Therefore, endlessly repeated cliches that justify my prejudices, no matter how faulty, are sometimes useful in conversation.”

But what about wars before the 20th Century? What about the Crusades?

Response: What about the wars that have been fought endlessly over land? Nationalism? Governments jockeying for superiority? Starvation? Wealth? Slaves? Fleeing an enemy coming from another direction? What about the Vikings? The French Revolution? The Mongols? The Goths? Tribal wars in Africa?

Worth considering:

Is it possible that religious rhetoric, along with nationalistic rhetoric, is just the easiest way for leaders to stir up emotional support among the people?

Why is that, at all other times but not in this case, we so easily see the hypocrisy of religious people? At all other times, we are certain that the religious stuff is just a smokescreen for other motives: wealth, perversion, prestige, etc. And we are usually right. Why do we, when it comes to war, suddenly become completely blind to the possibility of hypocrisy?

It's not so much that religion becomes one's justification for unjust violence. Rather, it is that whatever causes us to become unjustly violent is the thing that fulfills the role of religion in our lives. And in the 20th Century, what causes us to become unjustly violent is more likely to be political, psychological or economic rather than genuinely religious. Political ideology has become the religion of our age. We can not afford the destructive stupidity of "More people are killed in wars over religion than for any other reason."