This presentation examines whether religion and faith are the number one cause of war as some atheists say.

1. Does RELIGION CAUSE
WAR?

2. Atheists and secular humanists consistently make the claim that
religion is the #1 cause of violence and war throughout the history
of mankind.
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3. Religion and faith are “the
most prolific source of
violence in our history.”
- Sam Harris
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4. Is that true?
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5. Three Truths to Start with…
1. Campaigns such as the Crusades and the Thirty Years‟ War
foundationally rested on religious ideology and did occur.
2. There is no disagreement that radical Islam was the spirit behind 9/11.
3. It is not true to say that all faiths contribute equally where religiously-
motivated violence and warfare are concerned or that religion/faith is
the #1 cause of war.
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6. More Truth on the Matter
• Philip and Axelrod‟s three-volume
Encyclopedia of Wars chronicles
some 1,763 wars that have been
waged over the course of human
history.
• Of those wars, the authors
categorize 123 as being religious in
nature, which is an astonishingly low
6.98% of all wars.
• When one subtracts out those
waged in the name of Islam (66),
the percentage is cut by more than
half to 3.23%.
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7. That means that all faiths combined – minus Islam – have caused less than
4% of all of humanity‟s wars and violent conflicts. Further, they played no
motivating role in the major wars that have resulted in the most loss of life.
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8. Religious/Non-Religious Wars
1650
1600
1550
1500
1450
1400
1350
1300
1250
1200
1150
1100
1050
1000
950
900
850
800
750
700
650
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Non-Islamic Religious Islamic Wars Non-Religious Wars
Wars
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9. 3% 4%
93%
Non-Islamic Religious Wars Islamic Wars Non-Religious Wars
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10. Kind of puts a serious
dent into Harris‟
argument, doesn‟t it…?
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11. Truth you can’t argue with…
The truth is, non-religious motivations and naturalistic philosophies
bear the blame for nearly all of humankind‟s wars. Lives lost during
religious conflicts pales in comparison to those experienced during the
regimes who wanted nothing to do with the idea of God – something
showcased in R. J. Rummel‟s work Lethal Politics and Death by
Government:
Non-Religious Dictator Lives Lost
Joseph Stalin 42,672,000
Mao Zedong 37,828,000
Adolf Hitler 20,946,000
Chiang Kai-shek 10,214,000
Vladimir Lenin 4,017,000
Hideki Tojo 3,990,000
Pol Pot 2,397,000
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12. “Almost 170 million men, women and
children have been shot, beaten,
tortured, knifed, burned, starved,
frozen, crushed or worked to death;
buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed
or killed in any other of a myriad of
ways governments have inflicted
death on unarmed, helpless citizens
and foreigners. The dead could
conceivably be nearly 360 million
people. It is though our species has
been devastated by a modern Black
Plague. And indeed it has, but a
plague of Power, not germs.”
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13. The historical evidence is quite clear: Religion is not the
#1 cause of war.
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14. If religion can‟t be blamed for most wars and violence, then what
is the primary cause? The same thing that triggers all crime,
cruelty, loss of life, and other such things…
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15. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil
thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of
coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy,
slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from
within and defile the man” (Mark 7:21–23)
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16. “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not
the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You
lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and
cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel” (James 4:1–2).
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17. To end war, we don‟t need to get rid
of religion / faith. The atheist
philosopher Frederick Nietzsche –
who pioneered the „death of God‟
movement – predicted that because
God was supposedly dead, the 20th
century would be the bloodiest in all
of human history.
Turns out, he was right.
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18. To stop war, we need a revolution of the heart. And that starts when we seek
and find God, who is the only One that can change hearts for the better.
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19. For More Information
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20. Does RELIGION CAUSE
WAR?
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