How many atheists here know that less than 50% of wars have

[Jubilant Sunrise]

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

Yes, but a larger percentage are caused by political disagreement. That's not a point in any government's favor either, but that doesn't mean we should disregard it as evil.

[stealthmongoose]

Jubilant Sunrise

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

Yes, but a larger percentage are caused by political disagreement. That's not a point in any government's favor either, but that doesn't mean we should disregard it as evil.

I'm working on classifying government as a form of religion. And oh yes, the similarities are there.

[Ranga runner]

deadmanjay

Ranga runner

Derek Gibson

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

123 over 5,000 years is a pretty good track record. That's like, in a time we can relate to, getting sick for about 3 minutes out of your entire 70 year life.

Completely awful argument. War does not put a 'pretty good track record' on anything.
War is awful. People die in war. The fact these people died over who had a better imaginary friend just makes it all worse

All religions have imaginary friends now?

Most do. I understand there are some that do not but that is besides the point.
My argument is that the mere fact that people have died in the name of religion is not something to be glanced lightly over. I'm not pulling religion down into this awful thing that causes wars but saying "well only 123 wars have been caused by religion so it's really not that bad" is about as bad as saying "well Hitler only killed 6,000,000 out of the several billion people in the world so why did people whine?".
Point being you cant take a minority and just glance over it. They still contribute to the larger scheme of things. While most minorities can arguably be called a minority you cannot deny the effect religion has had in causing war.

[Jorgunmandr]

Ranga runner

Derek Gibson

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

123 over 5,000 years is a pretty good track record. That's like, in a time we can relate to, getting sick for about 3 minutes out of your entire 70 year life.

Completely awful argument. War does not put a 'pretty good track record' on anything.
War is awful. People die in war. The fact these people died over who had a better imaginary friend just makes it all worse

Whether you like it or not the comparison is valid. I can't help that you don't like it.

[Jorgunmandr]

Lucky~9~Lives

Derek Gibson

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

123 over 5,000 years is a pretty good track record. That's like, in a time we can relate to, getting sick for about 3 minutes out of your entire 70 year life.

Only if each war lasted approximately 2 minutes.

Considering the length of time they could last a few years as all out wars and still not be that long. Mind you 'Secret Wars' wouldn't count since those tend to last for hundreds if not thousands of years in relation to cultural grudges.

[Lucky~9~Lives]

Derek Gibson

Lucky~9~Lives

Derek Gibson

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

123 over 5,000 years is a pretty good track record. That's like, in a time we can relate to, getting sick for about 3 minutes out of your entire 70 year life.

Only if each war lasted approximately 2 minutes.

Considering the length of time they could last a few years as all out wars and still not be that long. Mind you 'Secret Wars' wouldn't count since those tend to last for hundreds if not thousands of years in relation to cultural grudges.

Okay - if by "a few years" you mean "3 years", then 123 wars in 5,000 years is equivalent to getting sick for approximately 5 years out of 70.

[Jorgunmandr]

Lucky~9~Lives

Derek Gibson

Lucky~9~Lives

Derek Gibson

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

123 over 5,000 years is a pretty good track record. That's like, in a time we can relate to, getting sick for about 3 minutes out of your entire 70 year life.

Only if each war lasted approximately 2 minutes.

Considering the length of time they could last a few years as all out wars and still not be that long. Mind you 'Secret Wars' wouldn't count since those tend to last for hundreds if not thousands of years in relation to cultural grudges.

Okay - if by "a few years" you mean "3 years", then 123 wars in 5,000 years is equivalent to getting sick for approximately 5 years out of 70.

That's a lot.

[Kurokage Z]

Well wars are either fought over resources, wealth, land, or religion. Sure fighting over any of them is bad but at least if your fighting over something that actually exists its not as bad as fighting over imaginary figures. A battle over land and resources at least have a reward of something but a battle over religion has no positive outcome just one or both sides dead/mutilated/or hating the the other more than when it began.

[marshmallowcreampie]

rmcdra

Amor Sempiternus

Citations and credible sources would help your point.

Encyclopia of Wars (3 Volume set)
Records 1763 wars. Only 123 of the wars covered have religious causes.

Only causes, but also consider that some wars could have religious issues that only fan the flames.

Though I do agree with the sentiment that getting rid of religion won't get rid of wars.

[rmcdra]

marshmallowcreampie

Only causes, but also consider that some wars could have religious issues that only fan the flames.

Yeah tribalism is a common way to fan the flames. It takes many shapes.

[marshmallowcreampie]

rmcdra

marshmallowcreampie

Only causes, but also consider that some wars could have religious issues that only fan the flames.

Yeah tribalism is a common way to fan the flames. It takes many shapes.

Ee-yup. The Iraq War hasn't been around religion, but people have been bringing it up to fan the flames. Easier to demonize the enemy when they have different beliefs. But the war would still be going on even if we shared a religion with the enemy.

[rmcdra]

marshmallowcreampie

rmcdra

marshmallowcreampie

Only causes, but also consider that some wars could have religious issues that only fan the flames.

Yeah tribalism is a common way to fan the flames. It takes many shapes.

Ee-yup. The Iraq War hasn't been around religion, but people have been bringing it up to fan the flames. Easier to demonize the enemy when they have different beliefs. But the war would still be going on even if we shared a religion with the enemy.

It's easier to demonize anyone when you paint them as an "other". Again "Otherness" takes more forms than just beliefs. It exists as differences in appearances, cultural differences, nationalism, etc. I think a lot of people don't recognize that it's easier to kill someone you can't relate to.

[marshmallowcreampie]

rmcdra

It's easier to demonize anyone when you paint them as an "other". Again "Otherness" takes more forms than just beliefs. It exists as differences in appearances, cultural differences, nationalism, etc. I think a lot of people don't recognize that it's easier to kill someone you can't relate to.

That's pretty much it. The enemy is usually painted as alien, barbaric. They're rarely portrayed as doing the same things we do, because it makes them too relateable. Nobody wants to think of the enemy as people, they want to think of them as guys who are against us in every way and thus must be taken down. Religion isn't the only thing use to turn the enemy into the "other", though it is a big one. Religion plays such a big factor in peoples lives, people base their morality and views on it, so they're often more inclined to dislike people of different religions.

[rmcdra]

marshmallowcreampie

rmcdra

It's easier to demonize anyone when you paint them as an "other". Again "Otherness" takes more forms than just beliefs. It exists as differences in appearances, cultural differences, nationalism, etc. I think a lot of people don't recognize that it's easier to kill someone you can't relate to.

That's pretty much it. The enemy is usually painted as alien, barbaric. They're rarely portrayed as doing the same things we do, because it makes them too relateable. Nobody wants to think of the enemy as people, they want to think of them as guys who are against us in every way and thus must be taken down. Religion isn't the only thing use to turn the enemy into the "other", though it is a big one. Religion plays such a big factor in peoples lives, people base their morality and views on it, so they're often more inclined to dislike people of different religions.

I think different nationality, culture, or ethnicity is a much easier way to motivate dislike of someone but that's just me.

[Ranga runner]

Derek Gibson

Ranga runner

Derek Gibson

Ranga runner

Oh and quickly... you realise the fact that there have been 123 wars started based on religion.... is not a point in religions favour right?

123 over 5,000 years is a pretty good track record. That's like, in a time we can relate to, getting sick for about 3 minutes out of your entire 70 year life.

Completely awful argument. War does not put a 'pretty good track record' on anything.
War is awful. People die in war. The fact these people died over who had a better imaginary friend just makes it all worse

Whether you like it or not the comparison is valid. I can't help that you don't like it.

Besides the point you cannot wave off religion as a cause of war. Yes often it comes to many other factors and I guess instead you could argue that religious extremists are more often the cause of wars than the religions themselves. Then I guess that means that often is isn't a fault of the religion itself, but the people who follow them