Argument Essay Does Religion cause wars Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Argument Does Religion cause wars - Essay Example Religion makes significant contributions to the causes of some wars in the modern era. Witness the disputes around Jerusalem, Israels illegal occupation of Palestine and its status as a religious state, a rogue state and an aggressor state. Also, Huntingtons clash of civilizations theory places religion at the core of his warring civilizations. Jerusalem was the objective of the First Crusade, almost one millennium later it remains a focal point of religious warfare. For Jews, Jerusalem is where the Messiah will appear and the site of the original Temple of Solomon. It is also a significant site to Muslims: â€Å"Jerusalem has had a very important spiritual meaning for Muslims, not only being the first Qibla but also the mystical experience of the prophets ascendance to heaven.† (â€Å"Jerusalem in Islam†) For Christians it is where the Messiah was crucified, buried and rose again from the dead. The importance to Christianity is so great that there have been disputes within Christianity (intra-religious fighting) as to who has the privilege and responsibility of maintaining the Christian holy sites in the city. In 2008 the BBC reported, â€Å"Fighting erupted between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Christs crucifixion.† (â€Å"Monks brawl at religious shrine†, 2008) Violence in and around Jerusalem, and attempts by various religions to claim Jerusalem as theirs, can be attributed to religion. In a broader sense the state of Israel and the warfare that has characterized its sixty years of existence are also attributable to religious roots. Israelis often insist that their differences with their neighboring states is not religious. They insist the friction is between a democratic state (Israel) and non-democratic states (Syria, Jordan and Egypt). However, it is clearly a religious issue that transcends Jerusalem. In December 2010 CNN reported â€Å"In August, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual