# Weaponized Religion

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaponized-religion/399983>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [April 13, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaponized-religion/399983 "2007-04-13T17:24:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaponized-religion/399983/21 "2007-04-16T20:42:18Z")

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Do not the Sikhs carry weapons because they peaceful ones were killed off, leaving the militants?

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**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaponized-religion/399983/22 "2007-04-16T23:25:20Z")

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[QUOTE=Magiver]  
Since this thread specifically addresses religion as a medium I would add that competition is important in the softening of the power base. Martin Luther nailed it when he challenged the Catholic Church as the final authority in public matters. Once that monopoly was broken then the global reach was seriously reduced.  
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But things got very much worse within Christian Europe as a result of the religious competition. The [Thirty Years War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years'_War), among others, is a good example of weaponized religion IMO. Before Luther, yes, you had the Spanish Inquisition, but that didn’t manage to kill off 15-20% of the population of Spain, which is what the Thirty Years War did to what is now Germany.

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaponized-religion/399983/23 "2007-04-16T23:36:52Z")

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I’ll nominate the neo-pagans as the least likely to weaponize.

We can’t even organize ourselves enough to make a decent potluck most of the time, much less form a militia.

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**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaponized-religion/399983/24 "2007-04-16T23:56:15Z")

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[QUOTE=Anne Neville]  
But things got very much worse within Christian Europe as a result of the religious competition. The [Thirty Years War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years'_War), among others, is a good example of weaponized religion IMO. Before Luther, yes, you had the Spanish Inquisition, but that didn’t manage to kill off 15-20% of the population of Spain, which is what the Thirty Years War did to what is now Germany.  
[/QUOTE]  
Correct, it didn’t happen overnight. But I think ML was the catylizing event that broke the political hold of the Catholic Church. Due to the size of the political empire plus the length of time involved with change it’s amazing how quickly it took place.

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