By Fr. Joshan Rodrigues –
If you did not raise your eyebrows on reading this question, you can be forgiven. It’s not uncommon to come across opinion articles and statements (quite often by educated and sincere people) that religion is the primary reason for all of mankind’s woes. More specifically they say, religion has been the cause of most wars through human history.
On first glance, if you ask people why they think that, they point to the existing situation in our time. Look at Islamic terrorism, Jihad, 9/11, Afghanistan, Syria et all. Isn’t Jihad endorsed by the Quran? If one speaks of Christianity, then even the most faithful of Christians shrug and mention the Crusades launched by the Popes, the Inquisition or the 100 years Anglo-French conflict. The Crusades were brutal campaigns carried out against Muslim occupiers in the Holy Land. They were unprovoked, caused large-scale death, looting and destruction and were the first instance of colonialism. In India today, we are seeing the rise of extreme right-wing elements manifested in the Gau-Rakshaks, Ghar Waapasi and honour killings in the name of religion.
Without denying that these events have taken place, our understanding of these events is most often simplistic or minimalistic. Religion hasn’t been the cause of most wars in human history. What’s more, it would not even figure in the top 10.
Let me present a few statistics, because numbers can bring us closer to the truth. While reliable sources say that close to 3 million people died during the Crusades, more than 18 million died during World War I and 60 million during World War II, both of which were secular wars and had nothing to do with religion. The ‘Encyclopedia of Wars‘ by Philips and Axelrod list 1763 wars in the recorded history of mankind, out of which only 123 have been figured to have had a religious cause. That is just 2 percent of all people killed because of war. Clearly then, religion is not the primary cause of human bloodshed, but is an easy scapegoat to blame it upon.
A simple objective look at the real cause of conflict will tell you that the greatest reason for war has been man’s thirst for power. Politics, nationalism, ethnics, race and power have been the primary reasons for war. A cursory reading of the war in the Middle East today indicates the tremendous political power struggle that exists between the US, Russia, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
It would be naive and minimalistic to attribute the rise of ISIS to pure religious motives. If it were why do they kill, murder and rape their own fellow Muslims belonging to different sects and tribes? Let’s not forget that Bin Laden who brought down the Twin Towers was America’s own creation against the invading Russians in Afghanistan. Similarly, the millions who died in Communist purges in the erstwhile USSR and China and in the many genocides in the 20th century, did not die for religious reasons.
Coming to the question of the Crusades, the reasons that led to them are far more complex and nuanced than what we assume. Rodney Stark in his book ‘Bearing False Witness’ provides an incisive and scholarly argument on the truth behind the Crusades based on the research of many prominent 20th century academics and historians. Since we cannot enter into a detailed examination of the reasons here, I recommend the book to those who want to learn more. But let me present a few points. The Crusades were not unprovoked; they were initiated in response to the torture and persecution being inflicted on Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land which was under Muslim occupation. Greed was not at the root of the crusaders, since embarking on this campaign meant a huge investment of personal wealth, so much so that many bankrupted themselves to fund their own campaigns.
The Crusades were not barbaric by the standards of modern warfare. While it is true that the crusaders sacked some of the cities in the Holy Lands, it must be remembered that this was common practice on both sides of the conflict, as well as throughout the rest of the world. Saladin spared Jerusalem as an exception to his record of slaughter, and the Egyptian sultan has the distinction of inflicting the greatest massacres in that period in history. Stark notes with curiosity that Western history texts are silent on the subject of Muslim atrocities during this era.
Finally, this is not to say that religion has never motivated anyone to commit horrendous crimes. We must always strive to educate people on the true essence of religion, by appealing to both faith and reason so that we do not fall into opposite extremes of fundamentalism or rationalism. Religion is an important institution that constantly fights for peace and justice. We should not generalise the misdeeds of a few to blame all religion.
Fr. Joshan Rodrigues is from the Archdiocese of Bombay, India. He is currently studying Institutional and Church Communications at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome. Travelling, reading and social media are his passions. His drive is to make Church teaching more accessible to younger audiences and he holds G.K. Chesterton, Bishop Robert Barron and the Venerable Fulton Sheen among his role models for this task.
Also do read Musings In The Catholic Land
Well put there. Unfortunately our minds have been too clouded with “Religion” preceding all reports on conflicts including the refugees from Myanmar that it is too difficult to think and reason otherwise. The conflict in Ireland of Christian against Christian is one of the most bitter memories.