Does religion make armies stronger?

[Psychonaut]

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?

[Silver]

Positive thinking makes people stronger. If they happen to be focusing on something irrational and illogical that also makes them feel positive, then they are going to become stronger individuals in their lives.

It does not diminish the fact that their strong lives are a result of fiction, however.

[KevinM1]

Would you want to meet this on the battlefield?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3mDLsyn6ns

[robvalue]

Interesting question!

In some ways I can see it being a motivation, that you're fighting for something "greater". (How anyone can believe in God while fighting in a war is beyond me though. Their God is either pathetic or sadistic to allow wars to happen at all.)

Not being scared to die could work both ways, it could provide extra confidence but also makes you undervalue your life and your importance in the fight. This is me being an armchair quarterback though, I've never been involved in any conflict and I'm just speculating.

One very real problem I've heard about before is people stopping to pray when situations get dire.

[Longhorn]

I think it's mostly that if they believe in afterlife they're not afraid to die. Just look at the terrorist suicide bombers. They go out deeply convinced they're just transitioning to a much better place in paradise. Not fearing and even desiring death makes them more dangerous.

[robvalue]

That's true. There isn't very much you can use as a deterrent against someone who is so willing to die for their cause.

[BrokenQuill92]

Would you want to meet this on the battlefield?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3mDLsyn6ns

Honestly I'd piss myself and surrender

[Aoi Magi]

They get stronger as an individual because the reason/belief varies with the individual, so they do get stronger in guerilla warfare. But as an army they are actually weaker. As you can see in any large organized religion, it soon fragments into multiple factions, and such a fragmented army is a bad idea.

[robvalue]

Also, if the desire to die in combat is greater than the desire for your side to actually win...

[abaris]

I don't know, you be the judge of that







The Austro Hungarian army had all the angles covered in WWI. Priest, Rabbi, Imam. And so had all the other armies.