ABSTRACT
There can be no denying the enormous significance of religion throughout history. Millions have died and continue to die in the name of religion, sometimes in conflicts between believers and non-believers, but generally in savage wars between religions, and sometimes in conflicts and disputes between different sects within the same religion. Religion has inspired people to savagery and cruelty from the time of the Roman persecution of Christians, through the wars of the Crusades and the years of the Inquisition, up to and including recent events in such places as the Balkans, not to mention ongoing hostilities, particularly in the Middle East. Of course, in many of these conflicts there are also other factors such as ethnic differences involved. But the fact remains that religion has been and remains a significant cause of war, terrorism, and cruelty, and when it stops short of violence in many cases it nonetheless breeds intolerance and fanaticism.
