Religion links the human person to His Creator, and hence to all his brothers and sisters who are the creatures of the same God, whether they have the same belief or a different one. Therefore religion should be a factor of reconciliation and an obstacle before wars and quarrels and not the contrary.
Religious wars
2. By "religious wars", the believer claims he is using force or violence to defend the rights of God. He maintains he is acting in God's name, and he allows himself to destroy or to kill in God's name. It is also true that religion is frequently used in support of other motives for war, both national and cultural. This phenomenon closely resembles certain manifestations of violence in the Old Testament; it is a frequent occurrence in the history of all religions, and is still present in people's psychology in our day. It is not only in biblical times that violence is attributed to God; the same mentality continues in our times as well.
In itself, a "holy war" is a contradiction in terms. In his closing address to the meeting of the Eastern Patriarchs and Western Bishops following the Gulf War, Pope John Paul II declared, "there can be no such thing as a holy war". Religion must lead man to love God and God's children, the whole of mankind. "Anyone who says, "I love God", and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen" (I Jn 4:20).
Religious wars
2. By "religious wars", the believer claims he is using force or violence to defend the rights of God. He maintains he is acting in God's name, and he allows himself to destroy or to kill in God's name. It is also true that religion is frequently used in support of other motives for war, both national and cultural. This phenomenon closely resembles certain manifestations of violence in the Old Testament; it is a frequent occurrence in the history of all religions, and is still present in people's psychology in our day. It is not only in biblical times that violence is attributed to God; the same mentality continues in our times as well.
In itself, a "holy war" is a contradiction in terms. In his closing address to the meeting of the Eastern Patriarchs and Western Bishops following the Gulf War, Pope John Paul II declared, "there can be no such thing as a holy war". Religion must lead man to love God and God's children, the whole of mankind. "Anyone who says, "I love God", and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen" (I Jn 4:20).