or justification or tool used to subvert in most cases.

Religions have always been used by ruling powers, as have race, gender and nationalism.

Religion has caused far more damage and misery, death and destruction, than succor and benefit to the human race.

Okay so we got some pretty great music out of christianity . . .

religion is a tool, along with media, education and a slew of other things, used by ruling classes in power to divide and to maintain power.

That is far from your statement that it is a cause.

That IS my point. Thus, the cause. . .

If the government wanted to take your property, your home and your job, and they said it was because you're Jewish, would you say that religion is the cause or the excuse?

an ethnicity.

Depends on the government, doesn't it?

Though to answer your question, I'd say both. If it's the excuse, then it's the cause, n'est pas?

Though if you're trying to trap me into saying the Jews were responsible for what's happening to them, you're being absolutely ridiculous.

Hitler was a manipulative madman who also persecuted gypsies, gays, and anyone else he didn't like or could use to his advantage.

What do you think was the cause of the dissolution of the monasteries in 16th century England, religion or political power?

power - political and otherwise, lust - coulda been a soap opera!

and well - religion was necessarily involved. A deeply rooted cause and effect.

Who had the money power land, etc. who wanted it. where loyalties lay. where dispute and differing opinion collided.

a horny and son-less king with a shrewd Protestant (soon to be headless) wife.

Religion. Religion. Religion. Catholics. The Church of England. Protestants. . . . Religion. all intertwined.

What are your thoughts on Ireland's history - religious or political? . . . can't separate them, can you?

After the occupation, vast tracts of land were given to English and local supporters of the Crown turning Ireland into a nation of tenants. The wealthy incipient capitalists of the industrial north allied very closely, economically, politically and culturally with the English industrialists as the Industrial Revolution developed.

The Anglican Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church became the orange and green colors of the disputants and not much more.

the war between the Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, have you?

The politics were a side-effect of religious affiliation. It really was all about the religion. Though those with the wealth and power were certainly disposed to use the religious fervor of the poor to do their bidding in their centuries long war.

Is terrorism just a natural human response to people being in a politically impotent position in which they are dominated - and brutalized - by some other group? Do politically powerful groups engage in terrorism? Are we any more likely to find a cure for terrorism than we are to find a cure for war?

Personally, I think the large nations engage in state terrorism, both internal and external, frequently.

This article addresses what is usually desperate acts by small, disenfranchised groups that explicitly organize. After the Boston marathon bombing there was an interesting article describing traits in terrorist groups across all sorts of ideological lines. The two most prominent traits were social isolation and social powerlessness. If I can find it again I'll post it.