Mr Khan said:
Japan at least was acting as much on a religious basis in the second world war as anything else. Emperor Hirohito was the living descendent of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami and his word was as to law for the people, who would build the reach of the state to accentuate his glory and the glory of the imperial family. Aside from that, however, you've got things like the Crusades, or the Israel-Palestine affair, various purges between Buddhism and Taoism across Chinese history. The issue is that religion usually isn't the root cause, but people merely utilizing religion for more realistic ends, or at the very least as a mere tribal indicator. |
Don't forget about the Ottoman Empire declaring jihad during WW1 and attempt by the Nazi's in WW2 to invoke jihad. I believe the Middle Ages shows religion at it's worst. The inquisitions, medieval antisemitism, and crusades show how stupid religion can become.
