Religious Values in War and Peace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religious Values in War and Peace - Essay Example Most often, a war that is based upon religious ideology will not end until one faction subjugates the other. Religious ideologies that are in conflict more than likely will never find true resolution and peace. Two very different places in the world where this is in evidence is in Northern Ireland and Israel. These two places have been host to factions who are in constant conflict with each other. Generations pass and yet the conflict continues because it is not the individuals that are in conflict, but belief systems. According to Brinkley, â€Å"Staunch belief in something greater than ourselves is an essential building block in the construction of a personal reality† (83). When a personal reality is violated, a reactionary violence can be the result. In believing so strongly in the right of one doctrine, the acceptance of others who don’t share that doctrine can threaten the reality that has been created through a system of beliefs. The very existence of other avenues of thought can be perceived as a threat to a way of life. The rise of the modern secularized state has helped to minimize the number of conflicts that arise because of religious belief. Up until the rise of the ideologically founded political system of the United States that firmly situated the acceptance of faith as a personal choice, rather than a state dictated set of national beliefs, most nations were built on a foundation of religious, political and warfare structures in which exclusionary policies promoted conflict. The needs that a civilization had for religious sacrifices were one of the first causes for war in history. The Aztecs based much of their warring on the need for human sacrifices and the Maring based their cyclical warring on the need for pigs to sacrifice to their gods (Wade 128). There is an innate conflict within the Christian religion between the promotion of war for its cause and the desire for peace as is interpreted through the teachings of