The tragic irony of "religious" wars or belief based conflict.

Introduction There have been many wars over beliefs since the dawn of mankind which we will look at. Someone believes something and another person believes something else contradictory and it can create conflict or resolution. The initial question is why would someone fight, condemn or even kill another person over what they believe? Seems a bit "extreme" doesn't it over a belief. Often it is to perpetuate and defend that belief and eliminate contradictory beliefs. Implicit within some belief systems is the option to kill and destroy those who reject that belief, as if the belief is more important than life. Often it seems to come down to who is in control and basic tribalism. Genesis 1 to 3 is a great place to start seeing the first but small type of "religious war". Religious is commonly related to a world view or belief regarding God or gods, creation, morals and spiritual things, and the afterlife. We aren't born with a belief system but are taught it or conclude it. The conflicts in Genesis 1 to 3 didn't involve thousands or millions of people like WW1, WW2 but the concepts are clear to see, regarding 4 characters, God, the devil, Adam and Eve. A command In Genesis 2v16,17 God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he would die. One question we might ask is did Adam understand the concept of death? We assume so, otherwise why would God have mentioned death as the punishment of disobedience. Another thing is did God care about Adam dying? Again we assume so or he would have kept quiet. It seems a contradiction if God would have lovingly created Adam and reality just to watch him die needlessly or out of ignorance. That first command to Adam sets forth principles that shows us the character of God in many ways and the basic concepts of life and reality as God has created it. God had created a perfect environment for Adam and Eve, there was all they needed to live and enjoy life and reproduce. It was a perfect paradise literally. Some think reality was created from a godless random "big bang" billions of years ago, others thought the world was flat not long ago. Whatever a person believes or not believes takes faith and convincing, in the secular world the current teaching is the "big bang" invented by scientists who mostly deny God exists. Every few years these scientists theorise some other ideology that contradicts what they theorised before. In religion often people reinterpret what the original text says to mean different things also, often to make it more popular. One question comes along, why put that tree in the garden of Eden if it was fatal to eat from it? Later another question is why allow the serpent to exist and deceive Eve? Wouldn't it have been better not to make that tree nor the devil? To answer that question we need to understand the essence of life and existence, which we can from Genesis. Firstly creating this reality was good according to God, some ponder if there was heaven and angels and demons before this reality was created that produced the serpent, but for now let's focus on this reality as defined in Genesis. When we look at nature at its best it is indeed beautiful to most people seeing flocks of birds fly in the air over tropical paradises, again at this point we also realise some people have no respect for nature and destroy forests and resources to support capitalism and produce endless products they quickly bury in the ground to poison the earth all for the sake of money.

God was the creator, mankind made in his image and likeness also create, often they create civilisations that end in terrible wars over ideology. Cain went and built a city 4v17. When we look at the earth it is life in all its various forms, it is a precious gift from God. The various aspects of life and existence are progressively created in Genesis 1 up to God creating mankind in his image and likeness. Mankind importantly is commanded to rule over the earth, to look after and maintain the earth and life on it ( 1v28,2v15 ). Some humour, we don't have a problem with those darn fish trying to take over the world do we! We learn allot about reality and life from Genesis 1. We learn mankind are in the image and likeness of God, this is very important and a fundamental principle. God had a choice to make reality and free will and various other specifics that define reality and life, in essence we reflect him in our ability to create and make choices, or even civilisations. God goes beyond just a creator, he is concerned about the wellbeing of his creation and harmony. The parameters of existence and limits are defined by reality as God has made it, I've not met someone who can jump 1,000 ft in the air or run 1,000mph so we know there are limits put on mankind. Reality is not chaos it is ordered and defined. Another command of God was to go forth and multiply, sadly disobeying that command produces loneliness, the porn industry or places like Sodom and Gomorrah. It was not good for Adam to be alone. You could literally write a whole book on Genesis 1 and the connotations of it. People go to war to get fertile land to support feeding their nations. In that regard you wouldn't even go up to a hungry lion eating a zebra and tell it to go away in the queens best English ! So what was the first conflict? Well God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet later he did eat it. The devil caused the conflict, the devil was against God. The devil caused Eve to disobey God using deception. Interesting when asked about his return and the end Jesus told the Apostles "Watch out that no one deceives you" Matthew 24v4 in the context of people believing in the coming Antichrist who is in essence the serpent's swan song. Sadly in the creation of the earth and life implicitly comes it's potential destruction. In all aspects there is the potential for conflict, firstly the "go forth and multiply" choice, two guys might go after the same woman and fight over her! Regarding land and living in a certain place, two people or tribes might want the same location, and they fight over it. Importantly in Genesis, God was physically present with mankind. Initially mankind was not a meat eater ( 1v29 )and also they were naked like the other creatures, there was no shame back then. Compare reality now to back then, just a scene on a typical day now ... angry frustrated people rushing around pushing and shoving past one another in the daily commute to the overcrowded city to serve the god of mammon ( money ) and destroying the earth turning it in to a concrete and glass jungle empty of life, getting hired and fired at the whim of greedy devils, producing endless goods not needed for life while letting many simply starve to death. It is very important even at this stage to realise many people who claim to be bible believers and go to church will totally reject Genesis as being true, they believe or rather are brainwashed by the secular world to believe in evolution over billions of years and Genesis is simply a myth or story, they are "partial believers" picking and choosing what they like. In relating to "Christian" or "Jewish" conflict often there is the issue of partial belief, which is obvious in one way because we progressively learn the bible, it isn't an instant "download and know it all perfectly". It is at this point we can consider conflict over belief and the irony of it. At first when born we know nothing, over time through learning and experience we form belief, people are taught different things, different belief systems and hence that implies differences potentially causing conflict. The current

political trend is "religious tolerance" and "interfaith" to try to supposedly keep the peace, the attacks on the World Trade Centre aka "911" brought about that policy of "tolerance" yet at the same time there were wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it took a decade to kill Osama Bin Laden. Regarding Jihad things have got worse and worse, the people are told not to react against muslims while soldiers are killing in wars that produce more terrorists. Most of us might know people with widely differing understanding and perceptions of life and reality, most people in western culture and most other places are caught up in capitalism and materialism and therefore are slaves to money and work. Capitalism is the system all around us in the west, the hustle and bustle of cities, drunkenness immorality greed and desire for more money to get a higher position in the capitalist system. People in capitalistic systems want money because that is power in that system, spirituality has no value in a capitalistic society, they are effectively atheist or agnostic, money and gold is their "god". In Genesis 1 to 3 there was no question of is there a God because he was right there with mankind, that soon changed though. And hence most bible believers expect to be in the actual presence of God sometime in the future, known as heaven or more accurately the new heavens and new earth. As you read the bible you might agree or disagree with it, more so as you read someone's commentary on it or a preacher preaching about it. There is reality and our perception of it, there is "truth" and perception of it. People's experience of reality will form their belief system and definition of "truth". Where there is different understanding there is the potential to discuss differences or fight over it. Some people change belief system they "convert" it takes time to change, often people have previous understandings that only come to the surface over time. I've been in situations in a cafe where a person wanted to supposedly discuss the bible but simply preached at me their belief system giving me no chance to reply or debate at all, they over powered the conversation with aggressive deceptions, other times the person says nothing and their mind is somewhere else totally. Some people aren't bothered about beliefs or anything, others kill over them. Here we might ask ourselves why even bother debating beliefs? It goes back to Genesis and God commanding Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Suppose you see someone on drugs that will in time kill them, if you care about that person you might try to persuade them not to take those drugs, or likewise you might try to dissuade someone getting involved with a person who you know will bring them harm and suffering such as a sociopath or narcissist. It can be linked to how much we value life or feel valued, in a capitalistic system the conclusion is the only thing that matters is making money, relationships are made or broken over money. Spirituality and often morals and ethics have no market value in a capitalistic system beyond selfish gain. Religion in a capitalistic system sadly becomes all about making money also, as seen in many modern churches that mostly preach about making money as supposedly being blessed, in reality they simply worship the god of capitalism and mammon, people who are poor have no place and are shunned in those get rich quick churches. God made Eve for Adam, she could be a helper or a hindrance, make him happy or make him wish he was dead! The same goes for Eve, Adam might bring joy or grief to her. Where there is life there is choice albeit limited at times. With all the permutations and consequences of a reality defined by God, he knows how it will "end" in effect the seed is sown in Genesis 1 to 3. Mankind has the potential to obey or disobey God, mankind has the potential to perpetuate truth or deceptions to other people. The serpent and the tree of knowledge of good and evil Genesis 1 shows reality created, mankind also in the likeness and image of God. Genesis 2 focuses on Adam and Eve, next we come to Genesis 3. In the king James translation it describes the serpent as "subtil" ie subtle, the NKJV uses "cunning" the NIV "crafty" NLT "shrewdest", sounds like a salesman doesn't he! The serpent is a created being we later come to know as Satan an enemy of God.

Implicitly with life there is choice, Satan the serpent somewhere somehow made choices that made him anti-God. Satan went to deceive Eve. Eve seems to have added not touching the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to what God said, maybe Adam added it who knows, that's not the issue for now though it does show alteration to what God said in 2v16,17. Eve wasn't around when God told Adam that command in 2v17, it's a point of debate as to Adam telling her differently through possible concern or her adding it! More importantly Satan told Eve she would not die 3v4, to imply God was lying, now comes the question did God lie or the devil. Interestingly enough mankind was already made in the image of likeness of God so what Satan added in 3v5 had no implicit value, yet Eve might not have been aware of that. Mankind were already made in the image and likeness of God with limitations God decided on and added to later ( 6v3 120 years ) they didn't need the knowledge of good and evil indeed it would kill them. Having limitations and disabilities can be frustrating or you can trust God that he is in control, we all have limitations. God was there, why didn't Eve later ask God about what the serpent had said or Adam, suffice to say that didn't happen and the sin / disobedience / fall came about. In this chapter we see the deception of Satan, Eve ate from the tree as did Adam. From having a unblemished relationship with God, Adam and Eve were no longer in that relationship, they'd disobeyed him, it caused separation initially imitated by them through hiding. "Sin" separates, one thing we don't see yet in Genesis is the way back i.e. forgiveness, to restore that relationship, later we see that is repentance and to obey God again. Some religious people think God and the devil were just a voice, or just a spiritual essence, others see it as literal, some think it was Jesus who was there not the father, there are many manmade and devil made theories around. As if God and the devil were just voices in their heads, as if spirituality is just schizophrenia. It is obvious but the more you agree and in harmony in life and doctrine with the bible the more godly you are, the more you disagree the more ungodly you are! We might be able to understand why people believe there is no God, he is not physically around now so people doubt, others say since there is so much suffering that is a reason why there is no God as if he doesn't care at all and hence doesn't actually exist. I remember a friend at school telling me he didn't believe in anything he couldn't see, that bizarrely meant he didn't believe in Australia, he thought it was a myth! People have believed in the past the world was flat and fought and killed over it! The serpent is described as crafty or indeed convincing, have you ever been conned by a person, they might have seemed convincing promising love or money simply to con you for their own advantage, sadly it goes on all around the world in countless interactions often for the sake of immorality or money. Deception also plays out in the commercial and political arena's, you never get the deal they imply, indeed it is getting worse and worse as we near the end. This first deception is described in detail in Genesis 3, we might ask why oh why did Eve do that "stupid" thing, then again haven't we too be conned at one time or another. This shows us we can be deceived, many people are too proud to admit that! Eve wasn't implicitly "stupid" she was deceived by a creature who hates God with a passion and will lie and deceive in order to destroy what God has created. Herod was used by Satan to kill all those babies in the time of Jesus' birth. Hitler was used by Satan to kill all those Jews and other victims of WW2. Judas betrayed Jesus yet when Satan entered him who did he run to? That's right the religious rulers of the day who were not just betraying Jesus but intent on killing him exactly as Satan wanted. Judas was filled with regret but the religious rulers were filled with zeal to kill Jesus. I heard an expression one time "if you want to win a battle know your enemy and know yourself", it seems a wise saying, you might know your limits but not know the enemy, hence we have spies or simply interact with the enemy to understand them.

Life and choice, mankind being made in the image and likeness of God implicitly implies there is the potential for the whole God and devil scenario to play out in to all areas of reality where life exists. Next comes the question of angels and demons in Genesis 6 but we will put that aside for now, suffice to say they too seem to be beings with life and choice in the heavenly realms and on earth also. Genesis 3, consequence to disobeying God Adam and Eve hid from God, they might have realised they disobeyed him and that generated the reaction to hide or run away. That could have been the reason Satan deceived Eve when God wasn't around, the reason the burglar climbs in the open window under the cover of darkness, the mugging or rape down some dark and secluded alley way. The pushy salesman wanting to deactivate your reasoning through emotional manipulation and seduction. God probably knew exactly where Adam and Eve were but he called out regardless, they might have regularly met at that same time and location each day in Eden, who knows! 3v10 three things happen, Adam was afraid, he also knew he was naked, and he hid. All bad things unfortunately. Sin is like that people pretend they are good people and keep their sin secret, unless they are blatant unabashed sinners. Satan it seems also was afraid and hid from deceiving Eve in the presence of God. Satan didn't try to deceive Eve in front of God, so far we see 4 characters, God, Adam, Eve and the devil. God is the creator, he creates Adam and then from Adam's rib Eve. Later we see two more people Cain and Abel. All we know about Satan is he is a deceiver and a destructive being. Adam didn't mention the serpent he mentioned Eve as giving him the fruit. Eve realised she had been deceived so she wasn't "stupid" she knew she'd been lied to by the devil. Usually when someone lies they do it deceptively, often premeditated with cunning craftiness and subtlety, the plan out their lie, often one lie to cover the other and so on. Why would the devil lie? Why not rather repent? Some people simply live off one lie after another they forget what truth is. It is as if the mind gets warped, disobedient to God and that life force in that person is simply destructive wherever they go, the typical sociopath breeding and making more sociopaths. God punishes them for disobedience, this shows an aspect of the character of God and more subtly mankind, justice. Implicitly because Satan deceived Eve there was enmity. This whole action and consequence from choice could have been what made Satan that way in the first place. Some people have no understanding or concern over their actions regarding the harm it causes to others, in the concept of religious war this is very ironic as we assume a belief system would be pro-life. That belief that a belief system will be pro-life is actually a deception, since we see Satan's belief system is to deceive and destroy, much like those terrorists that did 911. As a kid growing up as a Catholic one false assumption I made was everyone was nice like the people in the mass mostly pretended to be, nothing could be further from the truth. People often pretend to be nice to be accepted, they dress and act a certain way to be social, yet what they are really like often is only revealed when living with them. The connotations of listening to the serpent were only realised later, that momentary seduction quickly came to nothing but tragedy. People might blame God for the fall, but in that aspect do they value life and obedience to God the creator of life? There are plenty of regrettable consequences of actions regardless, sadly in a fallen world full of sin and deceptions, people think about suicide such is the bad things that happen to them due to their actions or others actions. Life can become not worth living, often relationships career and money being a major factor in a capitalistic system. The typical even religious scenario being the woman looking for the rich man and marrying an selfish abuser, since he abuses others to selfishly get his position in society or religion.

The concept of God giving mankind "commands" and direction shows God cares to give his creation such guidance and direction. He didn't create mankind and abandon them, the command not to eat of that tree is just one command they could obey or disobey. Later comes the famous "10 commandments", some react to commands as controlling or dictatorial, while others appreciate the guidance. Dictatorial upbringing or neglect has consequences, kids can't wait to rebel against unloving dictatorial parents others feel they aren't loved or guided at all and fall prey to wickedness in the world. The consequences of Adam and Eve disobeying God were laid out in Genesis 3, pain in childbearing, hard work. "Traditionally" in the past the man would work and provide for the woman while the woman would bring up the children, sadly these days due to the worsening evil economy often both have to work long hours and kids often get neglected and left to wander. The side effect of this is depression, stress and other problems. Next God sends them away from the garden of Eden, away from the tree of life. Later we see through Christ the way back to paradise ( Luke 23v43 ) is through him. Putting the "tree" aside, there is "fruit" of the "knowledge of good and evil" and "life". Deception is certainly knowledge of evil, something the serpent had planned premeditated about to cause Adam and Eve to disobey God. Satan in effect "converted" Adam and Eve to becoming like him in disobedience to God. Satan was even with Adam and Eve kingdom building. These aspects of the first three chapters of Genesis expand later to more complex and larger scenarios, ultimately ending with Armageddon, involving not 4 characters but probably over 7 billion souls! The concepts laid out in Genesis show some very important basics, deception and consequence. Chapter 4 shows Cain killing Abel over God's favour, 4v5. This new dynamic over God's favour echo's the current conflict between Jews and Muslims in one aspect and also wars between protestant and catholic. Sadly in many long wars over centuries it becomes about generational revenge, doctrine simply being used as a weapon by people intent on killing each other oblivious of the bible. With conflict over doctrine often the name of the game is "literal or symbolic" interpretation of scripture, or "spiritual" or "physical". The bible does have some literal passages and others that are symbolic, the parables, the psalms, the dragon, the beast. Some people hence claim certain literal passages as symbolic and others symbolic passages as literal. So how will things conclude? The fall of mankind leads to some going away from God while others turn back to God through Christ, heaven or hell. God promises he will make a new heavens and a new earth.