Religion: The Scapegoat of Conflicts, Part V: Conclusion

INDEX
Part I: Introduction
Part II: The Axial Age Religions
Part III: Religion as a Casus Belli
Part IV: The Extremists
Part V: Conclusion

It is without a doubt that religion plays a role, however little or much, in the presence of conflict and war. Though so, its role is not the main cause of war, such as many thought. Hinduism and Buddhism are two perfect examples as they are two very close religions, with similar ideas and the same goal for peace. Both are also misused to initiate war.

As we have learned using those two religions as an example, all religions had their roots during the Axial Age, where widespread conflict at the time led to the integration of moral standards to the preexisting rituals. However, this does not change the role of religion in the human life as central to a human being's desire to understand their world, and as such, remain a sensitive matter.

This sensitivity is used by factions and nations to initiate a war for their cause, either for political or economic reasons. On the other hand, extremists who zealously defend their religion forces their own beliefs, using the difference in religion as a justification for violence. On both cases, the teachings of all religions do not approve the violence, as violence is the exact opposite of the peace sought out since the Axial Ages. Considering that religion is only used as a premise to start a war while nothing in its teachings approve of it, then we could say for certain that religion is actually merely a scapegoat of wars and conflict. 

The fault lies in the humans themselves, the followers of a religion either overly zealous or understands too little of their religion. Those people will not hesitate to use religion to start a conflict, for their own profit. Knowing that, all that is left to be done by everyone is to embody each of their own morals according to their religion. Even people without a religion should understand about how to treat others as humans, appealing to everyone's desires for peace.

References

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Bugnion, F. (2004, October 28). Jus ad Bellum, Jus in Bello, and Non-International Armed Conflicts. Retrieved from International Comittee of the Red Cross: https://www.icrc.org/

Center for Reduction of Religious-Based Conflict. (n.d.). Sri Lanka: Hindus Versus Buddhists. Retrieved from Center for Reduction of Religious-Based Conflict: http://www.center2000.org/

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