The eyes of the world are fixed on Gaza. We hear about the loss of life every day and our hearts turn to those under brutal attack.

Yet as usual the Atheists out there come out and blame religion for the terrible circumstances there. This is despite the fact many religions get on fine (in principle) in places like Australia for example.

Many Atheists are split though on the Gaza conflict on who is actually to blame religion wise. They have to find something religiously to blame, without having to take any questioning on their own principles in terms of life and social standing.

In one article I've read online, the main blame is placed on others and Israel/Jews are left out of the debate. Well if you're a Jew it's still part of a formed religion. I would argue though many Jews oppose the actions of the Israeli government on Gaza and the occupation of land.

We've always had religion in life (in various forms) and while there are many advances in technology and science there are no significant changes in human psychology which I feel will see these conflicts continue like in Gaza, it's not always the fault of religion.

FALSE REASONS GIVEN by the Palestinians to attack Israel on Oct 7th
1. THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY
Gaza has not been occupied for 17years. The Palestinians elected Hamas as their government. They were given truckloads of humanitarian
aid to turn Gaza into a well run prosperous state. Like all fascist - Authoritarian Islamic states, they don't run happy states they oppress their people, and they tell the people it is Israel's fault to deflect the anger of the people

Gaza Was not the Occupied Territories, It was a defence Buffer Zone taken along the Israelie border after one of the many missile attacks by Palestine on Israel when the Israele Soldiers discovered tunnels being dug under Gaza to get into Israel to attack.
Israele totally withdrew from Gaza in 2006.........continued

.....Palestinian propaganda continued

False Palestinian claim :
2. APARTHEID

Around the year 2,000 there had been over 120 terror attacks inside Israel the worst being the blowing up of a school bus full of Jewish Children. Israel built a border wall and required passes for Palestinians coming into Israel, to shop, to work and to visit Israelie hospitals.

The Palestinians now call this Apartheid, notice how they cherry pick the sequence of events so the Arabs never admit blame for anything.
I've noticed this in all Islamic Arab societies. Whereas we in the West fall over backwards to admit blame

Winston Churchill had the right idea: he considered the Palestinians to be on a level with indigenous populations such as the Australian Aboriginals..
The British view was to quietly extinguish them.

That being a main motivator for his support of the Jewish State. The Jews were considered a superior race (White).

How attitudes change.

Dear Nathan,

Thank you for bringing up this issue.

Religion is blamed because it is popular and easy to do so, even when one has no clue what religion is.

«it's not always the fault of religion.»

It never is!

Suppose even that Judaism and/or Islam were responsible for the present war, suffering and loss of life - so what? that does not automatically qualify them as religions.

While individuals CAN use Judaism and Islam (and Christianity) as a religion, or incorporate parts thereof into their own religion, others can use the above for completely different ends, at times even for opposing ends. In other words, these three are religions for some but not for others.

To clarify, if a path does not lead one closer to God, then it is not a religion. It could be many other things, nice or not so nice, just not a religion.

Also, it is not enough for one to believe that a particular course of action leads them closer to God in order to call that course of action a "religion" (or a part thereof) - that course of action must IN FACT bring them closer to God, and I don't believe that there is even one reader here on OLO who thinks that murdering innocent people can help anyone to come closer to God!

Hi Nathan,

I've just read an interesting article in the Jewish
Israeli newspaper - Haaretz. It says that:

Religious devotion starkly connects with political
extremism in this conflict. Religious Jews, and
Muslims stoke incitement and violence.

In the Israeli-Palestinian context
religious movements are the prime actors stoking and
sparking escalation. From Hamas or Islamic Jihad rockets
fired into Israel, to radical Jewish settler attacks on
Palestinians and relentless settlement expansion over decades.

Haaretz points out that because of the centrality to
society and politics on both sides - there can be no peace
without at least a partial acquiescence of religious
communities.

Haaretz tells us that "Many believer's narratives are tribal
and exclusive - we alone are the chosen group and our claims
alone are correct. Most importantly the divine religious
mission is often framed as a matter of life or death."

Haaretz says that Jews sanctify the notion of "giving one's life
for the land." And that Palestinian religious extremist groups
such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad support killing and attacking
civilians and themselves too, if needed.

We're told that notably on both sides the cause is considered
so holy that it justifies violating each other's own religious
principles.

The conclusion by Haaretz is that it is religious thinking that
exacerbates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We're told that political compromise cannot satisfy the
extremists but that efforts for peace must include a willing
portion of the religious opposition, or at least convince
them to refrain from spoiling the effort.