[Common Tator]

The separation of Church and state is only important when the church/state uses religion to justify war and offers religious rewards for dying in war. Religions who wage war nearly always offer an instant trip to heaven for those that die for the religious state. Religions that offer little on earth, must offer a lot in heaven. Otherwise the followers fall away. Few benefits now much later, is a hard sell if the people are allowed to think. There is a reason Muslims must pray 5 times a day.

Secondly those that have a better life must be described as servants of Satan, or the believers will leave the religion for the better life. War fever is requred to keep the faithful, faithful.

Wars are always about power and expansion of power. Religions whose people are not doing well, must make those that are doing well out to be evil. Otherwise their God is less powerful than the better offs God. They must attempt to bring the successful powers down or the bleak life afforded the followers of their God will be seen as a failure of their God. If they fail to destroy the more sucessful people, the religion eventually loses all or most all of its power. If they succeed their power will be much greater, for it will be used as proof their God gave them victory. Their followers will be reassured.

When people are willing to die for a cause, you must destroy the cause, or be distroyed by the cause.

Religious wars end when a Goliath slays a David with a single blow.It creates a shortage of Davids.

[neutrino]

Re: post #6

Great comment!

[norraad]

"My invisible friend in the sky is better than than your invisible friend in the sky"

Book of Invisible Wisdom

[Torie]

You have made a point, but actually some of the Muslim countries are quite rich, and still quite fundamentalist. And Hinduism exhibited no such belligerence, and it resided in one of the poorest and most miserable places on the planet until recently for a very long time.

[Thorondir]

You keep on using a blanket universal statement in your clearly limited understanding of "religions". The subject "religions" encompases many varied things, most of which do not fall into your neat and erroneous scourge-of-the-earth pidgeonhole.

"Opiate of the people", perhaps? I think I see your color ... once again.

Liberalism must be crushed!