Now, after more than 100,000 dead and hundreds of thousands more uprooted from their homes or taking refuge in Turkey and Jordan, the muddled situation is becoming clearer.

Despite myriad conflicts, religion at its core was created to foster peace. Considering the ever-present challenge for human survival in a hostile world, it is understandable that religions would occasionally remain silent on the verdict of war or fail in their missions to promote peace.

In the short term, Chris Stevens' killers should be brought to justice. But stopping religious warfare requires heirs of the Enlightenment, in Europe and America, and advocates of tajdid, in the Muslim world, to convince their peers that such warfare is wrong

A comedy about dire consequences, Where Do We Go Now? takes a look at the ease with which humanity slips into war, and the sometimes insurmountable difficulties that arise as people struggle to avoid it.

Chaplains working with our warriors can be vital to mission readiness including their spiritual preparation. All wars are religious. All conflicts are spiritual.

History simply does not support the hypothesis that religion is the major cause of conflict. The wars of the ancient world were rarely, if ever, based on religion.