Religious WarsReligion has played a key role in wars and death.Religion is the basis of faith for humans, it is the belief that there is a higher being who watches over us, guiding us, a belief that there is life after death and if we follow these beliefs we will enter heaven in the most beautiful place. However, religion has also played a role in wars and religious conflicts in Ireland (Protestants and Catholics). Israelis and Arabs (Holy Land) and the Holy Crusades of the 11th century (reconquest of the Holy Land). In Israel Jews and Arabs have been in conflict for hundreds of years because they both share religious reasons in Israel. Since the founding of Israel in 1948 there has been continuous conflict between Israel and the Arab states. This conflict was marked by six bloody wars. On both sides, religion has repeatedly brought the peace process to the brink of annihilation. The first spark between the two parties was sparked in Hebron, the site of the tombs of the patriarchs, a sacred building for both Jews and Arabs. In early 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a religious Jew, opened fire and killed thirty-nine Arabs as they prayed. In response to the Hebron killings, two Arab suicide bombers blew up Jewish buses in northern and central Israel. Fifteen died and seventy were injured (Peres 1995 p.177-178). There are still wars going on today, Israel versus Palestine. The Crusades were medieval military expeditions undertaken by European Christians to reconquer the Holy Land from the Muslims (Collins new English Dictionary 1997). The word crusade comes from the Latin word crux (cross), this is a reference to the biblical injunction that Christians carry their cross. Crusaders wore red cloth sewn onto their tunics to show that they had taken up the cross and were soldiers of Christ (Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades, 3 vols 1951-1954; Rep 1987). The causes of the Crusades were multiple and complex but the main factor was religion. It was considered a justifiable war, because it was fought to reconquer the places sacred to Christians. Charlemagne made his wars of aggression decidedly wars of religion. The whole world of northwestern Europe, which today includes Great Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, was in the 9th century an arena of bitter conflict between the old faith and the new. Nations converted to Christianity in......middle of paper......stopping religious conflicts is a dream, as long as humans have walked the earth and believed in a higher being. Conflicts came from all sides; people try to convert other Black Robes in New France (Canada) who tried to convert Algonquians from Animalism, Indians and Black Robes died because of it. Religious conflicts have been everywhere and continue to exist if only we could learn that difference is good, learn together and work together. In conclusion, I'm not an atheist, I just feel that humans have too strong feeling towards that higher being that we have never seen before, but they are so willing to kill and die for it. ReferencesCollins, 1997, New English DictionaryCollier & Son. PF 1913 History of Nations vol.12. Ireland-ScotlandPeres, Shimon. 1995. The New Middle East. New York: Henry Holt and CompanyWells, H. G. 1949. The Outline of History .1. USA: Doubleday & CompanyWells, H.G. 1925. The Outline of History vol.3. Fourth revised edition. USA: Review of Reviews CompanyWashington Post.1998 Washington Post Internet: www.washingtonpost.comRunciman, Steven. 1951-1954 Representative; 1987 A History of the Crusades 3 vols