From the Mises Institute: With regard to war, Hobbes asserted three principal causes, “First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory. The first maketh men invade for gain; the second, for safety; the third, for reputation.”
Hmmm, I don’t see much related to religion there. Obviously that Hobbes guy had no idea what he was talking about. If only he’d heard of the Crusades, the Thirty Years War and the Spanish Inquisition, I’m sure he would have had a much different list of principal causes.
I do think the Mises Institute has it wrong with regards to the current war. They see it as a war for reputation, I think it is primarily number two, a war for safety. It may be as much in protection of the imperial dollar as it is of the American people – their physical safety if not their liberty – but it doesn’t strike me as a glorious enterprise.