Here’s one thing you might hear when trying to talk to someone about Jesus.
“I hate religion! Religion has caused more death and wars then anything else!”
Well, let’s look at some facts here. Philip and Axelrod’s three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars lists about 1,763 wars that have been fought over the course of human history. Of those wars, the authors categorize 123 as being “religious in nature.” That means of all wars, about 6% were religious. Now subtract Islam’s wars from the religious wars, and you have about 3%. So, of all the wars fought in our history, minus Islam’s wars, only about 3% have been religious in nature.
The truth is, non-religious motivations, and atheistic philosophies have caused nearly all of mankind’s wars.
Non-Religious Dictator Lives Lost
Joseph Stalin – 42,672,000
Mao Zedong – 37,828,000
Adolf Hitler – 20,946,000
Chiang Kai-shek – 10,214,000
Vladimir Lenin – 4,017,000
Hideki Tojo – 3,990,000
Pol Pot – 2,397,000
If religion isn’t the number 1 cause of wars, then what is it? The same thing that triggers all crime, cruelty, loss of life, ect…Sin.
We shouldn’t be surprised though. Jesus told us, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:21–23).”
In short, don’t believe people who shout religion is the number one cause of wars.
Black Belt Apologetics 