(November 14, 2018 at 9:17 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote:Quote:Wars have always arisen, and arise today, from territorial disputes, military rivalries, conflicts of ethnicity, and strivings for commercial and economic advantage, and they have always depended on, and depend on today, pride, prejudice, coercion, envy, cupidity, competitiveness, and a sense of injustice. But for much of the world before the 17th century, these “reasons” for war were explained and justified, at least for the participants, by religion. Then, around the middle of the 17th century, Europeans began to conceive of war as a legitimate means of furthering the interests of individual sovereigns. (Emphasis mine).
~ Axelrod, Alan & Phillips, Charles. Encyclopedia of Wars, quoted in Fact Check: Religious Wars: Only 123 of 1763?
Well if Mr. Axelrod wrote it, it must be true.
I already wrote that religion has served as a motivator and rallying point for wars that were not religious in origin. Powerful people want power, and tell lies to get it.
I disagree with Mr. Axelrod that the practice stopped in the 17th century. It continues to this day. Peter Hitchens has described how the Christian leadership of Britain lost its moral authority by urging people to fight in WWI. Evil American politicians motivate stupid Americans by scaring us with the threat of Islam. Religion has always been a useful tool. But it has almost never been the cause.
We can ponder a counterfactual: would wars be so common if evil leaders didn't have religion as a tool? It's impossible to say. Religion is far from being the only irrational factor in the world. Nationalism, patriotism, political ideologies, etc. seem to serve as well.
Nor does the obvious failure of one of these serve to turn people against it, despite Minimalist's claims. America tends to lose its wars, in the last decades, but Americans still think they have the bestest army ever. Nazis lost rather badly, but they're making a comeback, and they think this time they'll get it right.
