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Religion Is the Cause of War

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Critical Thinking Paper Final Paper
Critical Thinking – PHI 210
12/14/2012

Religions are the Cause of War

Most religions are not complex in their beliefs. There is a God and his angels or a hierarchy of deities to get to God. There is a heaven and a hell of sorts that the person will go to when they pass on. Most times this depends on how you treated your fellow man or what you did to show God how you felt about him. It’s a no brainer really, the whole “Do unto others as you have them do unto you” or a form of this is in every religion. Then let’s not forget the Messiah or Prophet. Every religion has one. The messiah/prophet was sent by God; a form of himself as human to save humanity from their evil ways. In some religions he was born of the virgin and in others he did not get his calling until he was older. They are more than life and do no wrong. They go throughout the world helping the poor. A Robin Hood if you will; who took from the rich to give to the poor. Religions are rooted and grounded in tradition and give people something to believe in. A “Higher Power”. The “Higher Power” gives a sense of direction. The church through religion gives guidance on how to live our lives and be better people. Regardless of religion or sect, the church brings people together for understanding of the religion and to pray. The church plays an important and is very influential role in the way people live or conduct their lives (Erwin, 2012). With most religions being around the same, the “same” meaning they give guidance on how to live lives and be better. What are the big differences that make religions so different? Why do people feel their religion or God is better than any other? And are wars started because of difference in religious beliefs?
What are the big differences that make religions so different? Throughout time religions have broke off from one another to form their own body. Buddhism and Hinduism are religions that broke off from one other. Buddha was born into a Hindu family and questioned the concept of Hinduism and set out to change it. The difference between Hinduism and Buddhism can thus be formulated as follows: Hinduism does not boast a founder whereas Buddhism has a founder in the Buddha. Buddhism believes in the concept and the existence of Bodhisattvas whereas Hinduism believes in several Gods and Goddesses. Removal of sorrow is the goal of a human being in the mortal world. Hinduism believes in the attainment of the four ends of human life during the stay of a man in this mortal world. The four ends are dharma, artha, Kama and moksha. Hinduism accepts Ashrams whereas Buddhism does not accept ashram but would say that a person can be inducted into the Order if he is spiritually prepared. Looking at these religions on the outside one would never know (Olivia, 2010).
The break between Judaism and Christianity what they have in common is easy. Most people don’t know these things or go to study these religions on their own. They rely on the priest or pastor to tell them about the religion and where it comes from. Most don’t even realize that Christianity is based on Judaism and Jewish customs. We can say that Jesus was not pleased with the way the priests treated the people and decided to build his own following. Thus was the birth of Christianity, Jesus was Jewish and the rituals that he followed and what is in the bible are all based on the Jewish customs. The church was powerful in those days and decided Jesus could not live and set out to kill him. In Jesus’ death it was not intended to make him a martyr. In all of this Christianity became popular and Catholsism after much time became the church of the world. Catholics believe among other things the way to get to heaven is through the priest. Martin Luther a priest within the Catholic Church found himself in a dilemma with the way the church was teaching the followers to worship God. He felt God was more that what he learned in the Catholic Church. He wrote a letter to the church pleading his case. The church did not want to hear what he had to say and tried to kill him and his followers. They formed the Lutheran church based on new beliefs. Baptists and Protestants did not want to follow the ways of the Lutherans; forming their own church. And so on and so on.
Why do people feel their religion or God is better than any other? People believe the way they do about religion based on pride. Even though on the surface there is no difference and should be taken as “you believe what you believe and I believe what I believe”. Everyone wants to be on top. Pride steps in and destroys the good nature of religion. This is part of what began before the Crusades. Over time the following of Christianity grew but was not the largest religion in the world. It was second to Islam. To help, the world to see more of Jesus, the church sent disciples out to spread the word of the gospel. These men were sinners and criminals looking to atone for their sins. They were sent out to bring other sinners into the flock. Pride got in the way when the disciples were not able to convert those around them. This led to the crusades.
Are wars started because of difference in religious beliefs? On the surface, wars themselves are not based on the religion. It’s more human nature that starts the war. On one side the fight is to be free; free to worship the way that suits you; free to be who you are without judgment. The other side the fight is the thought of being elite and better than everyone else. The major wars that were sparked by religious beliefs or undertones of religion are Israel and Palestine, North Ireland and Ireland and the biggest of them all The Crusades. The Crusades, military expeditions, beginning in the late 11th century, that were organized by Western Christians in response to centuries of Muslim wars of expansion. Their objectives were to check the spread of Islam, to retake control of the Holy Land, to conquer pagan areas, and to recapture formerly Christian territories; they were seen by many of their participants as a means of redemption and expiation for sins (Baldwin, Dickson, & Madden). Later there would expedition to conquer other areas of the world. The people conquered may have had many gods and did not understand that Christianity was the better way. This leads to other revolts by the people and again another fight for power over the masses. Sadly the wars are still going on as we speak. The fight is not Christians leading the charge. Instead the religion is Islamic based. Muslims in the Middle East are fighting for their freedom against European and Western way of living. They don’t want to change what has worked for them for centuries. They want to live in their old way. In Israel and Palestine, they are fighting over land listed to be Holy. Israel just wants the land given to them after WWII. They are fighting not be conquered. Does this make them wrong? No, this makes them Human. This shows pride in what they believe and no different from those in centuries past that also fought for what they believed. This does prove the point, wars are started by religion.

References

Baldwin, M. W., Dickson, G., & Madden, T. (n.d.). Britannica Academic Edition . Retrieved December 15, 2012, from Crusades : http://www.britannica.com.libdatab.strayer.edu/EBchecked/topic/144695/Crusades
Difference between Islam and Christianity. (n.d.). Retrieved Deember 16, 2012, from Differencebetween.net: http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-islam-and-christianity/
Erwin. (2012, November 24). Why is chruch important? Retrieved from KnowsWhy.com: http://www.knowswhy.com/why-is-church-important/
Hinduism and Buddhism. (2000). Retrieved December 15, 2012, from Hinduwebsite: http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_buddhism.asp
Olivia. (2010, December 17). Difference Between Hindusim and Buddhism. Retrieved December 2012, 2012, from Differencebetween.com: http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-hinduism-and-buddhism/

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