Wars and Religion


Wars and Religion
              I would like to claim that religion is closely related to wars. There have been many religious wars in history. Even wars that are not directly related to religion are sometimes indirectly related to it in the sense that strategies are chosen by religious criteria as in the case of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, inhuman acts in wars are often overlooked because churchmen or other moral leaders are silent about them for religious reasons as in the case of Nazi’s Holocaust.
              Take here an example of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East opened after WWII. It was actually a ‘cultural war’ between Japan and victorious or Christian countries. It was obviously illegal because it applied ex-post facto law, but there were virtually no Western churchmen or jurists who opposed it. Probably most judges thought of delivering the Last Judgment to the Japanese ‘suspects.’ It was a revenge show for the purpose of revealing to the world how Japanese had been barbarous during WWII, a revenge for Japan’s challenge to colonialism. Unexpectedly, it has revealed how Western people perpetrate evil. You can see what methods the judges applied and what expressions they wore when perpetrating evil because there are recorded videos of the tribunal.
              The injustice and inhumanity overlooked by churchmen and jurists indicate questionability of religion, doctrine, and ‘specialists.’ They cannot save lives when filling their role is most needed. What religion must do is to save all people in the world at all times. It must confer benefits on whole society rather than a part of it. It needs to maximize social welfare rather than individual utility. An exclusive religion that makes only some people happy is not a good religion.

Comments and questions are welcome.
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