KILLING IN THE NAME OF RELIGION

Nothing gets the inner-violent nature of mankind stirred up more than religion. The 17th century French philosopher, Blaise Pascal put it more succinctly when he wrote, "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."

The Crusades that occurred during the Middle Ages and the Spanish Inquisitions that were conducted during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, both by the Catholic Church, provided solid proof for Pascal's observation, as did the post-reformation wars between Protestant England and Catholic Spain and France. In more recent times, religious violence has proliferated between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, Hindis and Muslims in India, and between Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims in the Middle East and Asia.
What I find perplexing about our world's religiously inspired violence is that all the major religions involved have major tenets denouncing the use of violence and demand that their followers treat fellow human beings with respect and compassion. The world's major religions all have some version of the "Golden Rule", and yet, those rules are so universally ignored that you have to wonder whether most believers know they exist.

Take yesterday's religious killings in Pakistan, for example. In an area known as the Kohistan District, a group of armed Sunni Muslim fanatics unleashed a barrage of gunfire at a bus full of Shiite Muslims. Eighteen Shiites were killed and more were injured. The reason for the attack was religion. Sunni Muslims hate Shiite Muslims. Shiite Muslims hate Sunni Muslims. It's been that way for the past 1400 years, and whenever they can, both groups kill followers of the other with fervor and religious satisfaction. Both sides view their Muslim counterparts as something less than dogs. I guess that's how they get around their version of the "Golden Rule". Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Hindus have been using that logic for years. I guess if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for the Muslims too.