Heather+Campbell

Religion and War Throughout history, there have been many religious wars, one of the most well known being the Crusades. The Crusades are described as a religious war because they were a series of Military Campaigns between the Christian England and the Muslim Middle East. There were a total of eight crusades between 1096 and 1270, all fighting for the power over Jerusalem and the land surrounding it. During the Crusades there was shuffling of land between the Muslims and Christians. Throughout the Crusades there were many military and religious figures that played a key role in the outcome, for example Pope Urban II, Richard the Lionheart, and Saladin al-Din Yusuf. All three were involved in the brutal religious war; but were they following their religious beliefs? There are many passages in both the Bible and Koran that talk about peace and tolerance, yet there are also stories about war and violence. These passages have become a controversial topic in the news more recently. They have sparked debates among religious scholars, and the everyday civilians. People are outraged over the Mosque that is planned to be built near where the twin towers had once stood, all because of their superficial understanding of Islam, and specific passages in the Koran. Are they aware that the Bible has similar passages, or that there are other passages in the Koran that say the opposite? In fact by reviewing both the Bible and the Koran, you can see that both religions enforce tolerance and peace, but also self-defense. So how can wars be religious? From one perspective, religion is used as a way to justify a war caused by ones thirst for power. By looking at both the Bible and Koran, we can see that they have parallel views on war, which is important because they are the most controversial from both the Christian and Islam faiths.

Bible Quote 1:

This quote from the Bible is questioning the reasons why people fight and start wars. People fight for things that they want that other people have and they don't. The Crusades started over the Christians and Muslims quarrel over who had the right to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was of great religious significance to both religions. Before the first Crusade, Jerusalem was under the control of the Muslims. Because of this, Christians were not able to pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Instead of asking the Muslim leaders of Jerusalem to share the religious right to pilgrimage there without the concern of safety, they took them to war.

Bible Quote 2:

This quote from the Bible is stating that you may fight when you need to, but to make it a fair fight and stay true to your morals. Which is all too often ignored. For example, when recruiting people to fight in the first Crusade, Pope Urban II used bribery to get people to fight his battle. "This royal city, however, situated at the center of the earth, is now held captive by the enemies of Christ and is subjected, by those who do not know God, to the worship the heathen. She seeks, therefore, and desires to be liberated and ceases not to implore you to come to her aid. From you especially she asks succor, because as we have already said, God has conferred upon you above all other nations great glory in arms. Accordingly, undertake this journey eagerly for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the reward of imperishable glory in the kingdon of heaven." (Pope Urban. Speech at Clermont 1095). Surely this is not what was meant when they said "fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience."

Bible Quote 3:

This quote feebly sums up how the Bible views war and tolerance. The Bible does not encourage war and violence, but it states that sometimes it is acceptable. What this quote leaves out are what the quotes above include.

Koran Quote 1:

This passage from the Koran may not necessarily seem too controversial. It is simply stating that if anyone is fighting you, put up a fair fight. Fight to defend yourself, but make sure you stay within your moral boundaries. And if they are terrorizing people, you have the moral right to physically end it. Because killing one person is better them killing tons more. But if they surrender, give them mercy, unless they continue to terrorize people.  The reason this passage is controversial is because it is often taken out of context. Instead of looking at the whole passage, they see "And slay them wherever you catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out;". The people who opposed the building of the Mosque near Ground Zero, had probably not taken the time to learn about Islamic views. Instead they just read the snippets that were often taken way out of context. In fact, many Muslims stay true to their Islamic values and are peaceful and tolerant people. For example, Saladin al-Din Yusuf, the Muslim military leader during the third crusade. He was very cautious to to preserve his environment while fighting or taking over cities. He enforced the rule that no soldier will kill civilians, rob, or damage the city, for they were not the people they were fighting.  Often times the most publicized religious beliefs are those involving extremism and terrorism. In those cases the passages are taken out of context and used to promote violence. When taking the passages out of context, it is defeating the religions values, and changing them to ones personal beliefs.

Religious wars are started over peoples lack of tolerance towards each other, and lack of understanding and respect for others religious view. Instead of fully learning about other religions morals, they take items out of context and assume the worst, and start wars over their differences or feuds. The Crusades were fought by the Christians and Muslims over Jerusalem. Had they learned more about each others religion, they may have been more tolerant towards each other, and both been able to be in Jerusalem. If the people who opposed the building of the Mosque in New York, learned more about the Islam values, they may realize that they may share common views. Both religions believe in a fair fight while staying true to your morals. The fundamental beliefs on war between Christianity and Islam are relatively similar.

Bibliography:
Bible

"Catholic Answers: Just War Doctrine." Catholic Answers: Catholic Apologetics, Catholic Evangelization, Catholic Teachings, Catholic Radio, Catholic Publishing, Catholic Truth. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. .

"James 4:1 ." Online Parallel Bible: Weaving God's Word into the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. .

"Medieval Sourcebook: Urban II: Speech at Clermont 1095 (Robert the Monk version) ."FORDHAM.EDU. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2a.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Qu'ran

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"The Crusades." Middle Ages. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. <http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/the-crusades.htm>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> "SoundVision.com: Translation of the Quran ." Islamic Information & Products - SoundVision.com home!. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. <http://www.soundvision.com/info/~quran/search.asp?sura=&transtable=quran_yusufali&ayah=&Submit=Search&word=war&offset=20>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"10 Bible Verses About War ."Associated Content. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5458638/10_bible_verses_about_war.html?cat=34>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"U.S. - Iraq Relationship Timeline : Military Channel."Military Channel : Wars, Weapons, Vehicles, Games, Top Ten Lists. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. <http://military.discovery.com/randr/interactives/iraq/timelines/us_iraq/us_iraq.html>.