(August 3, 2015 at 1:04 am)Psychonaut Wrote: I've seen this discussed before (not sure if it was here), and whilst entirely speculative, I thought it might be a good point of discussion.
Do you think that belief in an afterlife (the heaven and hell stuff), and a law maker god, make humans more willing to impress their god, more willing to die, thereby making them a more cohesive, dangerous force in battle? Or is it entirely circumstantial (training, stratagem, state of the other army, weather) or is it a combination of these things?
I'm of the opinion that it's a complex issue, and likely a combination of all of these things, but I also feel that it's a bit too coincidental that the two largest religions in the world happen to be monotheistic religions, which are expansionist by nature, and play major roles in the political structure of their cultures. These religions both have heaven and hell as their main carrot and stick, and can quite easily be turned in to death cults when required. Where god the loving/merciful becomes god of the armies/the avenger, and said god encourages martyrdom and willingness to die for the faith.
Thoughts?
Morale, weapons, tactics, and doctrine make an army stronger. Faith might affect one of those factors, but it can have a negative effect too -- the Japanese fought stoutly against American forces in the Pacific due in part to their shinto reverence for ancestors and a desire to ascend into the pantehon, but at the same time, it drove suicidal attacks of little military value.
