Do you think that without religion the crusades would have never happened?

[Eilonnwy]

And the mighty Eilonnwy restores the peace. I'll never get used to seeing your name in green btw

Same here. I keep accidentally clicking the edit button when I want to reply. >.>

As for the topic at hand, I think it was in a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher where they were talking about Hindus and Buddhists in Sri Lanka fighting and killing and whatnot. As was said in the discussion, most westerners would think of those religions as relatively harmless- their people are associated with such things as yoga classes. But at the end of the day, no matter how harmful or harmless the religion, believers will continue to do terrible things if it is in their best interest (or not).

So to answer the question: yes, I do believe that something like the crusades would have happened regardless of religion.

That's an interesting point. I think us westerners have a "romantic" view of what Buddhism is. That it's all about spirit and "chi" and tranquility, but these religions can and are just as destructive and just as harmful.