Reply #46: religion isn't the cause, more the means to war. . . [View All]

[Hamlette]

wars (including this one) are greedy land (or resources) grabs (or a response to a greedy land grab). Religion gives the real motives cover and rallies the troops.

The Irish are pissed because the Brits invaded and treated them like slaves for hundreds of years and they want their 7 counties back. The people in Northern Ireland have lived there for several generations and now consider it their land/country. People who have written about terrorist attacks say each one of them can be traced to resentment against an occupying force (Osama wanted us out of Saudi Arabia.)

The problem is, you can't get the people to willingly lose their lives so the King (president/whatever) can have more land/power/oil/resources so you need the priests to tell the masses it is necessary to protect/worship god/allah, or more recently because we are more "civil", to protect "our freedom" "way of life" "civilization itself." Think opiate.

When they say there are no atheists in fox holes they don't mean because atheists do last minute conversions, its because atheists are less willing to crawl into fox holes for oil...I mean god.

And yes, Communism doesn't fit the model. But then again, its gone, or almost gone. It used extreme nationalism to rally the troops.