Hmm, doesn't seem any odder than Christian snake handling as a religious practice - or the huge market for fragments of the "true cross" or the bones of saints that used to be common in Christianity. In the Middle Ages there were even a number of churches who claimed to be in possession of Christ's foreskin - and that it had magical powers.

For war in Christianity you just have to look to the crusades - or the longest war in history, the Thirty Years War, which all started with Protestant/Catholic squabbling.

As far as that goes, Buddhism in Japan has a long history of armed military conflicts.

Shinto was never really organized enough to get into conflicts on that scale - but played a major role in the ultra-nationalist movement of pre-war Japan.

Omoto-kyo itself dabbled quite a bit with the far right wing before the war - and of course, Deguchi's plan to invade Mongolia really wasn't all that peaceful either, if you happened to be Mongolian.

Best,

Chris