Religion: The Root of All War?
Fourth Sunday in Lent – 15 March 2026 – Sermon for Evensong at All Saints, Kesgrave
Text: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. (Ephesians 2v14)
God give you peace my sisters and brothers
…and good heavens do we need peace!
How did we get ourselves into this place? Ukraine, Iran, The Lebanon, Somalia, Mali, The Sudan… Currently there are Twenty ongoing conflicts across the world in which over 1000 people have died each year. Some are new wars, (as if we needed more) starting only a few years ago. Others are seemingly endless going back as far as 1918 with what is happening in the Middle East as I speak having its roots as far back as 1948.[1]
Why do we do this? Who wins from the seemingly endless passion we have for death and destruction? And most of all whose fault is it? For if only we could root out the causes of war we might have a chance at peace. Who or what is to blame? What do you think? What do your friends, especially your non-religious friends think? Who amongst us here hasn’t had the accusation that ‘Religion is the root of all war’ thrown at them? After all aren’t we supposed to be followers of the Prince of Peace and not soldiers of Odin, Athena or Mars?
Is it true that we, particularly if we are one of the Abrahamic Faiths[2] committed to Shalom, Salaam, Peace are the reason for so much mayhem, murder and massacre?
If we are to believe our detractors that would seem to be the case. And far too many times religion has been used to stoke evil passions and inflame hatred. But only, and I use the word only carefully here as no war should be laid at the feet of people of faith, only between 6% and 7% of all wars throughout history[3] have had their roots in a Crusade[4] or a Jihad[5] or a Milḥemet Mitzvah[6]
So what does cause war? People war over natural resources, territory, (the word Lebensraum springs to mind…[7]), tribal prejudice, and bare-faced greed. If we were to put the blame on any particular cause for war it may well be the fault of good old fashioned filthy lucre – money – as one of its chief driving factors. Not that money itself, as is often misquoted, is the root of all evil. (It is the love of money [that] is a root of all kinds of evil; 1 Timothy 6v10) How we use money affects how we live with each other. Used well money becomes a tool to transform the world into a better place. Hoarded and sought after our lust for money ends up spreading poverty and despair.
It can be the same religion as with money. It is not religion per se that is the problem but how we use it and propagate it. The love of religion can easily become a lust for power which too often has meant (and sadly does so to this day) using the Holy Name of God to subjugate and oppress people made in the image of that self-same God.
Jesus might agree with this. I don’t think Christ was much of a fan of religion. Well not that He was against religion itself rather He could not agree with how some of the religious leaders of First Century Palestine acted out their faith. Too often He saw a faith based on God’s free choice of a powerless people subverted by human rules and restrictions that were not at all godly.
Little wonder He was turfed out of the synagogue at Nazareth when He dared suggest that God loved widows from Sidon and lepers from Syria as well as the children of Israel (Luke 4v23-30). How could He not overturn the tables of money-lenders who, to fulfil the premises of the Law, prevented Gentiles from worshipping God?
Neither religion nor money is the root of all war or evil. It is what we do with them. How we deal and work with them is what the world sees. And as the world looks on it wonders if there is ever any chance of religion bringing Shalom, Salaam, Peace.
Too often we have used religion as some sort of spiritual one-upmanship.
Presuming that the traditions which have blessed us are the only ones that are blessed by God.
Or deciding that only worship in new and fresh ways is valid worship.
Or belittling God’s precious children who don’t have the ‘correct’ version of the Scriptures.
Or proclaiming that only those who go to ‘our’ Festival or teaching event are truly part of the Household of God.
Did we miss this part of the Bible reading?
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2v8-9)
The moment we presume that our way of believing is the best way of believing we are guilty of boasting and make war with each other.
How does God convert our hearts to be more loving than lust-full, more giving than hoarding?
As we grow closer to Holy Week and Good Friday we will once again see the love that ends blood-shed by pouring out blood. A love that conquers death with death itself and, as Paul reminds us, binds us to each other regardless of our history of hurt and pain:
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. (Ephesians 2v14)
Soon we will be asked to gaze once more on the Wonder of the Cross. Let us spend the time left until then not on ourselves but on others. Pouring ourselves out for them as Christ does for us.
For we who once were far away have [indeed] been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2v13) and our only response should be ‘Thank you’ to God and ‘Welcome’ all those whom we meet.
[This blog ’Religion: The Root of All War?‘ is copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2026 and may be reproduced without charge on condition that the source is acknowledged]
oooOOOooo
Made Alive in Christ
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Jew and Gentile reconciled through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human hands) – 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.
(Ephesians 2v8-14 – NIV)
[1] For a list of all current ongoing conflicts visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_armed_conflicts
[2] For an overview of all three visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions
[3] Frequency of Religion as a cause for war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_war
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad
Suffolk Vicar 