Looking at the history of the world, in my somewhat dilettantish and rambling way it seems most obvious that we are a rather pugnacious animal. Look at all the damned wars around the globe. Except for, perhaps one, all societies had and have arms designed to bash, skewer, chop, dismember and incinerate other folk. It has been, and forever more shall be, what makes us human. Animals don't typically kill except for food or to protect their young; we do it for fun and games. Well, really not fun and games though there is some grisly pleasure in winning a life and death battle; there seem to be three reasons we get into the institutionalized killing game. One is for self protection. Clausewitz, that German general who understood war commented that wars are generally started when the invaded people decide to fight the invaders. If one did not mind having resources stolen or women raped, no violence would ensue. Empire building, a purely natural desire to improve ones standard of living required going after others goods resulting in wars.
Finally, after much bloody mayhem, we have decided there is a better way to sort out who gets to own what. Differences are now more likely decided through negotiation; i.e. the failed League of Nations followed by the UN. Attempts at international treaties such as the still simmering Law of the Sea (The US refuses to ratify it) are attempted with moral suasion the primary instrument. Some presidential candidates argue we should attack Iran while the prevailing opinion seems to be to make their quality of life tougher. We even let the Arabs own their own oil. War for resources seems less likely.
A second source of war is civil war or revolution. A people fights against those in charge in order to change the system of government. Our revolution, the French revolution, the Russian revolution, the Arab spring, etc., are examples of how people can refuse to tolerate tyranny. Such wars are often blood baths with the victors slaughtering the losers.
But, the third cause of war and the most intractable is religious differences. This might be more true of western civilization but perhaps not. So many have been killed in the name of God that it is fair to wonder what God might be thinking. As far as I understand things, God is typically described as loving peace (except of course during war when he is described as the host of battle or given some other bellicose nickname.) except when the expectation is that God will smite the enemy. Is it not astonishing that Christians professing belief in the same God have committed the cruelist acts of murder piously proclaiming, as did the German army, “God is with us.” The Jewish Messiah was to lead the people in destroying the enemies of Israel. Wrong believers and non-believers alike are fair game to religionists who know the capital t, Truth, and it almost always includes destroy the other. In Israel, the orthodox throw stones at Jews of the wrong kind.
Well, all that sounds a bit like the other cases of war noted above, but there is a significant difference, one that ensures that religious wars will continue into the distant future. Why is this so? It is because religions have no way to negotiate their differences. It is argued that all religions worship the same God, but the devil is in the details. When Luther had had enough there was no way to sit down and discuss the matter to see if some mutual agreements might be worked out. Protestant objected to a number of the Vatican's ideas, well okay, that's part of the human condition, but absent any way to work out mutually agreeable solutions, the solution was to kill each other, to wipe the other completely out. Islam's goal is to take over the world; they go on jihads, essentially religious wars and they determine that Jews have no right to life. This goes back to Mohammed who got pissed because the Jews refused to join with him
What goes on here, why is killing preferable to negotiation? Because, negotiation is impossible when each side has capital t Truth. The Vatican and Greek Orthodox churches, indisputably Christian, struggle to find some way of finding a way to come together. There is the same effort with the Anglican church but big t Truth always gets in the way. Keep in mind that religion is a way of knowing how the universe is organized. Well, science comes along and challenges many of religions ideas and there is a slow erosion of religions belief in western civilization. (Of course, science is attacked as ungodly; to be an atheist in this country is sometimes dangerous.) It may very well be if that process continues Western religious wars will disappear, but then the problem will be how to live with Islam. Perhaps in 500 years or so, such things will have sorted themselves out.
If you want to get into deep trouble
Attempt to burst a religionists bubble
He/she will staunchly resist
Calling you atheist
As if that status is truly insufferable
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