It is often stated by critics that religion causes more war and violence than anything else and that Christianity has been the cause and at the forefront of much conflict in history. It is certainly true that Christianity does not have an unblemished history and hideous things have been done in its name. Most commonly the Crusades are brought to mind where Christians discriminated cruelly against Muslim "infedels". Christians in the past have attempted to impose their beliefs on whole societies leading to wars persecutions and hatreds. Jews particularly have suffered repression as they were regarded as being responsible for the death of Christ. It is hard to understand why the pacifism and peace found in the teachings of Jesus should have been expressed by some of his followers in the way of warrior knights and using force to tackle heresy.
Jesus in contrast taught us not to resist an evil person or take revenge and lived this out through action, he was true to his word as he was mocked beaten and tortured to death and refused to take up arms against the occupying Romans as was expected of him by the Jewish people of his day. He came into Jerusalem not on a chariot but on a humble donkey. He urges us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek. Many people find this teaching difficult because it is natural for us to want to defend ourselves and certain values and one famous atheist critic called it cowardly not to resist but throughout history we observe that violence breeds violence and conflict feeds yet more conflict as seen in Jesus’s day with the rise and fall of various empires involving war and oppression. The violence of the past is often remembered and used as justification for violence in the present. Jesus instead asks us to forgive and God who also forgives remembers your sins no more.
Jesus is asking us turn our 'swords into plowshares' and to break the cycle of violence. No one can deny that there have been religious wars throughout history but when we look at all the wars fought in the last 1.000 years surprisingly we find that very few have a purely religious motivation and there are just as likely to be other aggravating factors such as Nationalism, Poverty, Social deprivation or power politics. The conflicts in Northern Ireland are a good example being Nationalistic but which have divided historically along religious lines. Even in wars where there is a religious component like the so called war against terror, great superpowers are more interested in deposing dictators and protecting western interests and values rather than looking to impose Christianity.
The most devastating conflicts that have arisen in recent times are contained within ideology’s that required that the state was "God". It is said that over 90 million people have died as a result of communist governments who have routinely slaughtered their own people. The two world wars were not fought on religious grounds at all but interestingly all sides were calling on the same God for support. Wars have been largely fought on the grounds of territory, power, resources ideology and national pride. The Church went underground in communist countries and was assimilated into the system in Nazi Germany. World war one left 17 million fatalities whilst there were 60 million deaths in World war two. Many wars are tribal and ethnic in nature with over 250 armed non state groups said to be active across the world and many combatants are mercenaries who have no particular religious motivation and will take whatever side will pay them most. It has been rare in history for Christian clerics to start a war and have often counselled against it, more often it is leaders seeking power and wealth who will claim that theirs is a just war and that God is on their side. Christian values may form part of the motivation of a particular country who may want to either defend or spread ideas such as democracy freedom and equality of worth.
Christians routinely call for peace through prayer and by offering practical support for those who are victims of war. For over 300 years Christians were subjected to brutal persecution by the Roman and Jewish authorities so became well acquainted with imperial violence, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire it became protected ensuring its survival but also entwined with political power. Christianity in time mimicked certain features of hierarchy and government, the C of E synod for example is a kind of parliament and in our national life the Queen remains defender of the faith while 26 out of 700+ members in the House of lords are clerics known as the Lords spiritual. Some of this may sit uncomfortably with the teachings of Jesus and when compared to the more simple practices of the early church. But within our establishment it has enabled the spread of many positive values which have become deeply embedded and institutionalized in western culture to the point where we now take many of them for granted. Christians along with others have also been at the forefront of developing schools, education, social care, science, hospital care and systems to alleviate poverty and ensure justice.
Detractors of Christianity will always focus on those areas where adherents have deviated from the teachings of Jesus and play down the positive influences where it has achieved social benefit and order. It will also ignore the war and violence perpetrated by Scientific or evolutionary ideas such as 'survival of the fittest' or totalitarian regimes which required the worship of a dictator. Humanists will point out that no wars have ever been waged in the name of humanism but so many of their ethics and values are taken from biblical teaching and shared with countless people who have worked for the good of humankind whether Christian or not. Humanism is less likely to challenge immorality ( calling it moralizing ) but rather assumes that we can have a cordial conversation between ourselves and agree common values. Many of these ethics however are a matter of personal choice where what harms become a relative rather than absolute concept and often something of personal convenience. A shrugging of the shoulders rather than a serious self examination. Gods values as revealed in Jesus in contrast are timeless and aimed at human flourishing and well being and achieved through a spiritual life. What helps those who go on a looting spree in the inner city riots. Those doing drug deals on our streets. Those involved in Gang violence, gun and knife crime. Those involved in domestic violence. Those who blight city and town centres with Alcohol fueled social disorder. Is Christianity the cause of these various forms of violence? Is this what Jesus teaches?.
There are countless testimonies of people who have been released from a life of violence and abuse through the spiritual power found in a prayer life, faith in Jesus Christ and in his teachings on love, forgiveness, equality, tolerance, peace and non- violence. This also includes violence of the tongue and its ability to do emotional and psychological harm. There is much to be found in the bible warning against political and religious power and its propensity toward corruption and greed including its manipulations and oppressive practice. In Jesus we find the resources available to us all, to temper the human instinct of aggression and power, to resist both passive and active forms of violence and to prevent war and conflict.