The belief is common that religion is the main cause of wars and conflicts. Didn’t religion cause 9/11, leading to the Afghan and Iraqi wars? What about the Crusades? The Palestinian/Israeli conflict? Strife between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland?

Studying history, I doubt religion has been the main cause of conflicts. I don’t think the Romans conquered the Mediterranean basin to spread the religion of Jupiter. Surely the movement of the Germanic peoples against the Roman Empire wasn’t any desire to inflict Woden on others nor the appearance of the Huns an attempt to spread their religious beliefs.

Most struggles throughout history, from Asia to Africa to South America and Europe had to do with the desire for territory and wealth and control. In World Wars I and II, coalitions fought over land and empire. Even recent and current conflicts in the Middle East continue more for reasons of security, ethnicity, and control for one’s tribal space than for actual religious beliefs, couched though the conflicts might be in religious terms.

The Crusades of the Middle Ages are often cited as Christianity against Islam. Religious elements certainly were involved, and some did join the Crusades from religious zeal. However, the desire for wealth and power probably propelled more of the participants. Likewise the spread of Islam throughout formerly “Christian” lands.

Certainly the Crusades would be judged evil by the founder of Christianity. Jesus would not allow his disciples to take swords in his defense. Would such a person approve the Crusades?

The enlightenment era of early modern times often is cited as rationalism overcoming religious superstition. Its advocates say scientific advances have benefited humankind more than any movement before it.

That science has benefited us surely no one denies. Yet, the Holocaust happened in Germany, a nation that accepted the enlightenment as deeply as any nation. Britain spawned Methodism and influenced the western world to abolish slavery.