Religion and Violence: Christianity, the Crusades, and War

Introduction: Religion as Both Moral Guide and Tool of Violence

For many people, religion is a tool to remove negativity from one's life and to enable a more moral way of living. Even so, religion has also been used as a means to encourage violence in numerous cases throughout history. A great many individuals who claim to be religious can actually be considered a paradox, in that they promote peaceful behavior while also performing acts of violence. Religion can thus be exploited depending on what a person wants, with numerous people throughout history using it to achieve their own goals rather than out of genuine devotion. Christianity in particular is intriguing when examined in the context of violence.

From the earliest times, people have been predisposed to engaging in violent acts for a variety of reasons. The simple recognition of difference encouraged individuals to persecute others who could not be considered part of their community. Religion functioned as a cultural difference that influenced individuals to become actively involved in acts of violence. As De Vries observes, in pluralistic societies "an ability and commitment to recognize, respect, engage, and negotiate difference is held to be an integrative sociopolitical force, a necessary condition for relative stability and a reservoir of potential imaginative response to the challenges of globalization, informationalism, and multiculturalism in the contemporary world." (De Vries 18)

Monotheism and the Origins of Religious Persecution

The concept of monotheism is one of the principal factors influencing people to adopt violent attitudes toward others. The idea that someone else is unwilling to acknowledge a single God — particularly one associated with a specific religious ideology — can be sufficient cause for some to persecute that individual. As a consequence, there have been numerous instances of individuals and entire communities acting aggressively in order to assert their religious convictions. Monotheism can also be considered dangerous insofar as it persuades its adherents that they are specially privileged. This sense of divine election then leads people to consider it entirely justifiable to engage in violent acts against those who do not share their beliefs.

The fact that Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world has also made it one of the most complex. Throughout history there have been several cases of individuals wrongly interpreting the Christian Bible and committing violent acts as a result. These individuals combined their own ideas with selected passages from scripture and came to portray violence as something that served a religious purpose.

The Crusades as a Case Study in Misinterpreted Christianity

The Crusades are probably one of the clearest examples of Christian teachings being misinterpreted and used to achieve the goals of particular powerful individuals. These campaigns lasted roughly from 1095 to the sixteenth century and involved several waves of Western Christians attempting to slow and ultimately end the spread of Islam across the Arab world. The participants were primarily motivated by their dedication to Christianity and to monotheism. They were acquainted with accounts of Christians and non-Muslims being persecuted in Arab states, and this led them to want to end such persecution by any means available. Numerous Europeans risked — and many lost — their lives in an attempt to remove what they perceived as the threat of Islam.

Going to war while believing it to be one's divine mission was, for many Crusaders, the primary reason they fought with such determination. Many of these individuals had simply absorbed the interpretations of scripture offered by others and accepted them as accurate. From their perspective, they would be absolved of their sins as a reward for acting on behalf of God.

It is also notable that influential religious figures turned to the aristocracy in search of support for these campaigns. While Christian institutions in Europe had traditionally sought to discourage the upper classes from engaging in violence, this changed once Islam began spreading across the Arab world. This moment demonstrated the remarkable power of the Church in Europe, as it played a central role in persuading people from a wide range of backgrounds to become Crusaders.

Conclusion: Human Nature at the Root of Religious Violence

All things considered, religion is simply a motive for some to perform violence, as these people regard it as sufficient justification for persecuting others. Monotheism in particular can be especially harmful, because it lends itself to interpretations that cast non-believers as enemies. Those who oppress others in the name of religion essentially see the world in binary terms: their own side and the side of those who oppose them. Events such as the Crusades stand as prime examples of people persecuting others without a deep understanding of why they are doing so. Persecution arose largely because non-Christians were perceived as a threat to Christianity.

It would therefore be misguided to blame religion itself for the violent episodes that have occurred throughout history. The principal factor to blame is the human element: human beings appear to be inherently prone to committing violence, and religion is simply one of many frameworks they have used to rationalize it.

Works Cited

De Vries, H. Religion and Violence: Philosophical Perspectives from Kant to Derrida. JHU Press, 2001.

Riley-Smith, J. The Crusades: A History. A&C Black, 2014.