Religion is not the cause. it's a system of control. people do not fight over differences of religion. they fight over differences of interests. spiritual teachings of love and peace are part of every known religion. but it's only there as a tool of control. religious leaders use these teachings,feelings, and thoughts to control people and make them do what they normally wouldn't accept to do. like killing each other! .. it's amazing to know what ''good'' people could do in the name of God. of course, each part in a religious war believes that they are the good guys, the chosen ones, the sons of God. and they believe the other, is the devil. this is not against all faiths. this is the core of all faiths, especially in the 3 main religions of the world .. Christianity, Judaism and Islam. and nothing will change if people didn't start to realize that they are manipulated and controlled. if you are not aware of the disease, there is no hope to be cured. the real war now is not between religions. it's between enlightenment and religion. science and superstitions. knowledge and beliefs. it's a big mistake to think that not all religious people are dangerous to themselves and others. it's a big mistake to think that only religious fundamentals are the real danger. ( sorry if this offended any one ) all religions are dangerous. all so called faiths are dangerous. who ever gives you a system of belief is offering a poison to your mind and spirit. I'm not against your choice to believe whatever you choose to believe. I'm against seeing you enslaved, manipulated and used against your will. I'm against you being used to do the same thing to me and anyone else! .. that's the real war. and we are in it, living it, everyday and every moment. but most of us are not even aware of it happening.

I don't think religion is the actual cause of the war. I grew up in N. Ireland at the peak of " the troubles" where there was a strong division between catholics and protestants. Looking back I don't think the religious difference played the major part but rather the conditioned beliefs that were passed from generation to generation and the feelings of bitterness that were nurtured along the way. As Eckhart Tolle said as human beings we will do things when we are caught up in the hysteria of a mob that we would not otherwise do as individuals. Witnessing the riots in N.Ireland I would testify to that. I think people get so caught up in the negative energy that the original cause doesn't even matter anymore, unfortunately it becomes "us" against "them" and "us" has to win,no matter what the cost is.

Yes, it does go against the fundamental teachings of all religions.

Even Islam.

Islam fundamentalists have twisted the teachings of the Koran to satisfy their desire for power. That's not a religious viewpoint, it's a distortion of the teachings of the Koran, based on their desire to control other people.

You don't need religion to do this, although you do need religious fervor.

It can happen in any organization or community which begins with a pure idea, but then that pure idea is co-opted by those with a desire to dominate the community, who distort the idea for their own purposes. This causes conflict between those who support the community's original purpose, and those who are attracted to the new agenda. Eventually, nobody can remember what the original idea was.

Happens all the time.

The outer world is a reflection of the inner one, though far from perfect. An internal drama is carried on by each individual, a psychic drama which is finally projected outward with great force upon de filed of history.

The birth of great religious events emerges from the interior religious drama. Different religions were based upon different dramas, in which ideas were acted out in a way that was comprehensible to various cultures. Unfortunately, the differences between the dramas often led to misunderstandings, and these were used as excuses for wars.

Source: Seth Speaks

I'm not sure wars are really fought over religion but rather over what is presented as religion.

From my observations of the major religions, there are two aspects to all of them.

• On the inside...a mystical inner core
• On the outside...a veneer of various cultural traditions, rules and regulations that were originally intended to be guidelines for living in harmony with that mystical inner element, and eventually coming to a deep personal appreciation of it.

It is my view that the mystical inner cores of all the religions are essentially saying the same thing. This is the aspect that your peace and love reference relates to.

However, it is that outer layer that is most visible and understandable to the average person and is also most open to manipulation by various vested interests, usually political and financial.

And so we end up in the situation that what many people (if not virtually all people) perceive as religion is really only that man-made outer layer which has often become twisted and distorted over the years.

And this results in advocates of those "religions" blindly following those traditions, rules and regulations without knowing why they are doing so and, because they no longer see the commonality between all the religions, also being intent on ensuring that their own particular version of those rules, regulations and traditions dominate over all the other ones.

It reminds me of the old saying...

When a wise man points at the moon, all the fool sees is the finger

Religion is a good excuse to fight a war since those who do claim to be fighting for God. But, the powers that provoke war do so because the shedding of blood is a way of accessing energies, eliminating opponents and gaining control. The believers are the only victims since what greater ideal what you instill in controlled people than dying for your beliefs.

Any group of people reguardless of who or what they are can try and cause you to believe in their cause or agenda by misuse and misguided and given wrong information or 1/2 truths and lead you to believe in and fight for what ever you persuade them to do. It is called propaganda is when you are told something and showed something over and over again in time the person or persons began to believe it.

So many things have started out to mean good and through out the many years have been added to taken from and turn completely around maybe from where it started to be including all religion or any other where there is a group of people or one person you can do like this.

Take the Jim Jones where this man started out as an preacher of God and later on said he was God and got the people so into him that he got them to kill themselves. Now later on the news was out saying it was all an government experiment seeing how far people will go to follow someone. So yell some people will go all the way an kill someone they are that much into what is going on whether it is an organization or an religion. Yes they will fight wars in the name of God or kill people.

But I tell people God is all powerful he does not need anyone to judge for him or punish for him he is capable of doing this all his self. Now you can heal, save, feed, cloth and etc doing something good.

The simple answer is division. There will always be wars as long as there is division in the form of religion or nationalism. Anything less than one or the whole that consciousness is, is division. Where there is division there is always the potential for conflict.

Instinctively, none of us wants to be wrong about our beliefs, and just as importantly, none of us wants to be seen to be wrong, or to be accused of being wrong, because that creates self-doubt. Self doubt can undermine everything we stand for, even our very survival, and we are, as a species, genetically programmed to fight for our survival.

I think there's a difference between belief systems and religions. When a belief system becomes institutionalized, there are many people with much at stake. For the religion to perpetuate itself and keep itself pure, it must put down the opposing forces. Religion, therefore, must use methods to control both its adherents and its opponents. The more that's at stake to lose, the more force is used to maintain control.

There is nothing inherently wrong with any belief system as long as we live and let live. And not all religions are culpable at the grassroots level of its practitioners for the control being exercised at the higher levels. There are many benefits that people gain through religions, most noteworthy is the caring for their own, and often, charity extended to others beyond their own group. It's a shame that those at the higher levels in organized religion have all too often used force to impose their will on others or to eliminate those who stood in their way.

As for me, I always try to find the redeeming value in things. One could say, "How can you be a part of a group that has done so much harm?" I would answer, "The group has also done an amazing amount of good." If the rank and file of an organized religion desire that the religion work to improve itself and become more tolerant, more helpful, and less harmful, then I would rather try to work from within to make it better.

The fact of the matter is that if one religion is done away with, another will spring up to replace it. If there are good qualities that can be improved upon, I'm all for working within a system that has already accomplished much good to make it better.