Rogerian Essay: Does Religion Cause War? Essay Example

A cursory glance at history reveals the great number of wars that can be considered to be a result of religious conflict, from the Crusades to the Thirty Years’ War to contemporary Islamic jihad. Yet despite the religious causes of these conflicts – which also does not entail that religion is the “efficient” or ultimate cause of such wars – the claim that religion causes war in general is a much stronger claim. In other words, in order to defend the position that religion causes war, one must create a historical case, whereby the very existence of religion is coextensive to existence of war. However, from another perspective, this argument does not eliminate the possibility that other types of motivations for war also subsist – rather, the claim is that religion invariably leads to war. The problem with such a thesis, nevertheless, is that it overlooks the sense in which other factors may contribute to war and thereby simplifies the causal relationship between religion and war.

The reason why religion is connected to war is because of the sheer volume of historical conflicts which appear to be motivated by war. As Jenkins argues in his book review of Pearse, the latter’s thesis being that all religion does not lead to war, there are clear connections between war and religion as demonstrated by conflicts such as the Reconquista and the Crusades. Furthermore, religious traditions themselves elaborate theories of war, such as jihad in Islam (Watt) and the just war theory in Christianity developed by St. Augustine. (Pearce, 718). The historical fact of religiously motivated wars coupled with the notion that war is it appears endorsed by religions themselves from this perspective implies the legitimacy of this etiology.

Even if some conflicts are reduced to entirely religiously motivated wars and, in addition, it may be argued that some religions also justify war against various forms of “non-believers”, this does not support the claim that religion necessarily leads to war. For example, from the perspective of apparent doctrine that legitimates war, as Watt shows, the Islamic tradition places the greater jihad or the internal, spiritual struggle of the person above the lesser jihad of martial conflict. (155) Furthermore, Watt also argues that the image of Islam as a religion of war was the “work of Muhammad’s pagan opponents who by their measures against the Muslims put the latter in the position of having to fight for survival.” (146) With regards to Christian just war theory, Pearse argues that although this concept exists in Christianity, the standards of what constitutes a just war are so high that “no wars ever rise to the level of being just.” (Jenkins, 718)

Further analyses lead to the conclusions that what appear to be wholly religious motivated wars are not caused by matters of faith. This is the conclusion of Haynes (2007) with regards to civil wars in Uganda and Sudan. McGee (2008) further argues that militant Islam cannot be reduced to Islam itself, but rather to a particular interpretation of Islam. In other words, the cause and effect relationship of religion and war is a simplification of the complexity of conflicts.

Certainly, as Purzycki and Gibson note, “religion may facilitate social bonds that are necessary for engagement and success in war.” (26) Religion, in other words, can be construed as a divisive force in society, to the extent that it makes very clear distinctions between “us” and “them.” Furthermore, because of the nature of religion, particular religious doctrines do make claims to absolute truth, which, because of the multiplicity of religions, suggests that religions are always in conflict with other religions. It would be, in other words, difficult to find a religious group that had not engaged in war at some time in its history.

But there is a fundamental difference between the historical relationship of religion and war and stating the deterministic thesis that religion leads to war. Certainly, religion can be a source of conflict. But religion can also “maintain cooperative behavior” between “in-group members.” (Purzycki and Gibson, 27) The connection between war and religion needs to be underscored to understand how certain conflicts are religious in nature. But the reduction of religion to inevitably producing war provides both a caricature of religion, as well as providing a simplistic reading of the complexity of causes that create martial conflict.

Annotated Bibliography

Haynes, Jeffrey. Religion, Ethnicity and Civil War in Africa: The Cases of Uganda and Sudan.

The Round Table. Vol. 96, No. 390, June 2007. pp. 305-317. Print.

The article opposes the account that civil wars in Uganda and Sudan are the result of ethnic and religious difference, favoring an economic cause. conflicts. The text demonstrates how socio-economic analysis can be applied to conflict analysis.

Jenkins, Gary W. Book Review: The Gods of War: Is Religion the Primary Cause of Conflict? by Meic Pearse. Journal of Church and State. 2007. pp. 717-718. Print.

Pearse’s book defends the thesis that religion is not the key cause of war, whereas Jenkins notes shortcomings to Pearse’s argumentation, both in terms of data that would have augmented his thesis and that which contradict his thesis, such as the Crusades and the Reconquista. The book review shows how cases for religiously-motivated war must be above all historical in nature.

McGee, Michael R. We Are at War with Terrorists, Not Muslims. Air & Space Power Journal. Spring 2008. pp. 21-23. Print.

In this article, McGee that Islamic theology is on a fundamental level asymmetrical to the Western world-view, such that Muslims should be approached from a perspective of cultural respect that encourages them to join the globalized West on their own terms. The text is above all valuable for not performing the simple reduction of religion to violence and arguing why this reduction is flawed.

Purzycki, Benjamin Grant and Gibson, Kyle. Religion and Violence: An Anthropological Study on Religious Belief and Violent Behavior. Skeptic Magazine. Vol. 16, No. 2. pp. 22-27. Print.

The article argues that while religion may play a role in the structure of conflict by delineating opposing sides, this is not sufficient to understand war. An inter-disciplinary methodology is employed in the text.

Watt, W.M. Islamic Conceptions of the Holy War. Ohio State Press. 1976. pp. 141-155. Print.

Watt examines the Islamic concept of jihad or holy war. He distinguishes following the Muslim tradition between a lesser and greater jihad, the latter being a spiritual war that occurs within the person.