For over 400 years the Muslim people of the southern Philippines have been at war. They have resisted the Spanish occupation of their ancestral homelands, the American colonial presence, and the current Christian government. To understand what motivates the Moro people to such conflict, it is necessary to study their history, religion, and the ethnic fabric which makes up their various regional groups. The fundamentals of their religion require a homogenous Islamic government. In the Philippines this would require separation, or at least total autonomy for the Muslim areas. This has never been allowed by the Christian government which has perpetuated the cause of the Moro insurgency. Conflict will surely continue as long as Christian authority is imposed upon the Moro people. (Author)