by Ross Edgar

Created on: July 02, 2008

Religion is very rarely, if ever, genuinely the cause of conflict in the world. It is simply an excuse. After all, what higher justification is there for anything than to say that an act of aggression is the will of God?

The Crusades were one of the earliest conflicts in which a military force fought under the banner of Christianity. Many men travelled thousands of miles across Europe to the Holy Land at a time of great hardship at home in order to find a better life. The vast majority feared God and participants were promised redemption from their sins on the Crusade. Yet others travelled the distance in search of wealth and land and power. All of these selfish desires could be pursued with a clear conscience because the Catholic Church of the time proclaimed that God willed the Crusade.

Of course some men of the time genuinely believed that they were following God's will by taking up the cross'. A number of individuals but usually the military orders of the time such as the Knights of St. John whole-heartedly dedicated their lives to what they perceived as the will of God.

In the instance of the Crusades it could be argued that the motivation for Crusade amongst the majority was the desire for wealth and land and power and influence. Religion was simply a justification for the conflict which the ordinary man across Europe could relate to and feel a great passion for.

Terrorism provides another example where religion is used as an excuse for conflict. In Northern Ireland the aims of the IRA were political; they wanted the British out of Ireland. However, the conflict soon became known as a Catholic vs. Protestant conflict as religion could be used to greater effect to create the hatred required to repel the British.

Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda use Islam as an excuse to pursue Jihad' against the West despite the Koran condemning violence against civilians. Again, the true origin of Al-Qaeda's campaign is political; to drive Western influence from the Middle East. Yet religion can be an incredibly effective tool for generating hatred and reaching out to the average person.

The majority of world religions in their original form preach peace and love for fellow man. However, when religion is corrupted to fulfil the objectives of a nation or individual with the introduction of a political agenda, religion can easily be manipulated in order to justify aggression. This manipulation creates the perception that religion is the source of conflict when in actual fact greed and ambition are the genuine source, cowering behind the faade of religion. This manipulation does no favours for any religion and simply fuels the hate so abundant in the world.

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