why are these two so often twisted?

Well I think it's like everything else, people inturpet the Bible/Quran as they please. More like inturpet to suit their life.

It is all religions, but it is not necessarily religion. Many people through out history have used the pretext of religion for political gain, monetary gain...etc etc. It is more a difference of opinion then the actual religion itself, for if people were being good proper Christians, which means tolerance and forgiveness then there would never have been the crusades or the Spanish inquisition or a separation from Catholicism into however many hundreds of different sects there now are.

I believe a world without religion will be a far safer, more peaceful one. Any comments/challenges to my statement are welcome. Peace.

It is just my thoughts but I think the geographical terrain might have to do a lot in making the people of middle-east Asia violent towards others. That area is inhospitable in most parts except pockets of oases or the occasional river making the adjacent land fertile and habitable. In most parts, settle agriculture was not possible so people were nomads with cattle-rearing as the mainstay. Now for the cattle too, one needed water and grasslands, which is scarce in the desert. Hence, the various tribes were always fighting amongst each other for dominance of territory. That particular area was also an important part of the silk route and trade was flourishing…plundering the passing caravans was also another means of livelihood and for that too, expert fighting skills were required. I think that the people of that area has been fighting for survival against the odds for so long, that war has become a part of their genes. Any religion born in that are is bound to exhort its followers to fight for their own cause and usurp other’s properties in the name of religious sanction. And YES, most members are peaceful people coz with the progress of human civilization, each era has its own understanding and interpretations of religion. We now know that many of the things written in medieval times can no longer be applicable in today’s world and if we continue with killing others for our own beliefs, one day our children will no longer be there to inherit that over which we fight today.

I do not think a religion can be held responsible for the atrocities committed by so called followers.Jesus preached love and I do not know of any Christian at present using Christianity as an excuse for violence. Have a gr8 time Njoy

Most if not all religions have had either a violent start or a violent period, including the very peaceful buddaism. But understand that most of the violence committed in the name of that particular religion was usually enacted by certain leaders perverting that religions doctrine for their own personal gain. Heres the problem with your question: Im not sure that any other religion should be ADDED to your list, but I am confident that Christianity should be removed from that list. Heres why; The US was attacked by a radical muslims. The US retailiated by going after the terrorists. That is a policy that ANY government SHOULD have regardless of religious affiliation. Understand this, it was NOT the Christians that attacked OR retaliated, it was the US. As an American I support the retaliation, one MUST protect ones self. As a Christian, I support the retaliation, but grow frustrated with how the war is carried out. Im not talking about waterboarding or so called 'torture', Im talking about, get in, get it done, and go home. We should not be nation building. But it was the Muslims that started calling it a 'holy war'. It WAS a war of US v Radical muslims, not Christians vs muslims. So what do they have in common? Very little. As a Christian and an American, I vehementily denounce any act of unprovoked violence, atrocities, and even genocide, by anybody claiming to be a Christian. I've yet to find a muslim who will say the same of the acts committed by the muslims on 9/11 or any following terrorists acts.

The inquisitions were the using of religion for political purposes and advantage.. The trouble between the Irish Catholics and Protestant British is a nation thing more than a religious one. I don't know of any genocides carried out by Christians, though some will claim hitler was a christian, but he was heavy into the occult, and evolution, the basis of his 'survival of the fittest'/eugenics and all.. Religion is not the root of all evil, it's flawed human nature that is, i.e. selfishness, arrogance, etc. And all types of groups of humans are guilty, not just some. There are some disputes between Muslim and Christian, but we cannot expect others of another land to simply lay down their lives and be slaughtered, or submit to violent conversion (as people like liberty). The Israeli palestinian dispute for Israel is a land dispute (after defeating three foes in '67 and gaining land from Jordan, Egypt and Syria) though Israel has agreed to a two state solution many times, but some seem to not want any part of that, but to annihilate Israel, and most nations are not aggreeable to being annihilated.

It all started with two brothers who just didn't get along.

Because both of them, and most others, believe that they are the holders of the truth, and the ONLY holders of the truth. In that sense both are evil, since both have a very fundamentalistic view of the world and life in general. If you belong to a religion you usually have to believe its tenants, which includes the belief that all other religions are wrong. It really scares me. I like Roman-Catholicism, and I sometimes pray to the virgin mary, but technically I´m not even a Christian, since I don´t believe in Christ's resurrection. It's just that this religion has very intelligent tools, like all other serious self-development techniques. And that's what I believe religions should be for, to teach us how to live better. But tell that a fundamentalist, any fundamentalist, and you'd be called a heretic.

Both religions are in COMPETITION to win the minds of people. And COMPETITION lays the foundation for conflict and war. Where there is explicit human CO-OPERATION, there is harmony, not conflict. Some believers can manage the appetite to convert others, while others find themselves out of control in their effort to spread the so-called "good news" so that their "god" can win against the "gods" of other religions. That's why you have clashes of civilisations: Both religions want to have more followers than the other. And some people will engage in violence in an effort to "ensure" that THEIR "god" wins the war for people's minds. It's as simple as that! And that's why religion will continue to fail humanity because the mainstream religions are based on competitively increasing the portfolio of followers. The mainstream religions are not comfortable with low ratings reflected in how many followers they have. If the ratings are low compared to another religion, an effort is made to catch up with the other religion. And that's a ... ... perfect recipe for conflict, violence, hatred, and war. The whole situation then becomes a giant tug-of-war, with world populations becoming the rope.

As opposed to Buddhism, Taoism and any other religion including Atheism? Every religion can, and has been used as an excuse for violence. It is not even remotely limited to Islam and Christianity. In fact Atheism has killed more people in the last 100 years than any other religion. Most members of all religions are peaceful too. Not all Atheists run around forming Gulags like the USSR did. Here is the real answer. Humans are inherently sinful and evil. They rationalize every evil deed they do, with whatever excuse is most convenient.

1.Islam and some forms of Christianity are considered as Fundamentalists. Fundamentalists live by the stories in the Bible. In the Old Testament, they preached an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. So, if it was good for them then, it is good for them now. It wasn't until the Christ came did the instructions on life change - turn your cheek away from violence and hatred. 2.In the Old Testament, they fought for the territories that were given to them, therefore they are still doing that today.

Most of religious people would deny or reject what you say. They will try hard to prove their religion is peacefull, but the otherone is agresive and .. they have to defend. To start understanding an effect, first you must isolate the cause. First step is to know WHAT happen. Mean the effect. That is clear: agressions, killing, conquerers, violence, lyings, cheatings, in order to gain and maintain .. control and power. Mean POLITICS. side-note: please first be awared that any of this 2 religions you mentioned have a solid background of violence. Both comes out from direct the hollybooks. "torture, burnings" and similar stuf, toward "enemies" and "sinners", while sinners may be people practicants of that religion. From here to practical violence toward anybody is against even slightly, is less than a step. But why ? There is only one answer: need to have POWER, need to have CONTROL. end of side-note Once you understand the effect (WHAT), is simple to find out HOW, which is the activities and actions leading from cause (WHY) to effect (WHAT). So, How ? Well, simple. While the goal is to have control and power, there are only 3 ways to reach there. - violence and all that imply - murders, torture, killings, exterminations, wars, holly-wars, poisoning, mass destruction and so on; - make belive - lying, cheating, inventing, announcing "divine laws" that must be unconditionally obey, faking, building up big misteries and so on; - gain respect - build an image, gain trust, being honest, supporting the truth no matter consequences and so on. Is obviously for anyone really want to really understand things that the third way is the most difficult and - very important - require a good answer to the fatal question : "why you ?". Now, let's watch the other 2. Take a shallow look around you and watch only parents. How do majority of them get along with theis childs's missbehave ? First, they LIE, CHEAT, MAKE BELIVE: "be quiet or the ugly man will come and take you", "be nice or big bad wolf will come and eat you", "if you are obedient, santa claus will bring you nice toys, if you are not, you won't get nothing" and so on. C'mon, all are LIES ! CHEATS ! Enforcing FEAR in the childs's mind, instead of self-trust and will to progress .. But things won't stop here. Same parents using those above are also using violence against their own kids. Beatings, reprisals, punisments. Very good parents .. indeed .. but yet they are not guilty, they are the product of .. education. Made by them parents. Which - somewhere at begining were educated by .. PRIESTS and RELIGION. Because THAT is what priests and religion proclaim: Obey and santa claus will bring you eternal life. Disobey and you will burn in hell. Up to now, all is HUMAN things which only connection with GOD is that they USE the name of GOD, without actually respecting will of GOD. Because religion is just a form of politics and, if someone doubt, just take a look in history at small circle of people around leaders: the big leader, 2-5 counselors and advisers, wife/husband, very reliable guards and .. a priest. It's now easy to "see" the cause, the WHY: NEED FOR POWER AND CONTROL. /// Phylosophy is the art of thinking. For the sake of understanding world around. Beliving in God is the art of see things as they are, for the sake of understanding world and respect life. Politics is the art of thinking in order to LEAD others. Thru lies, cheat, make things up, kill enemies, enforce thru violence .. Religion is the art of enforce beliving in God in order to LEAD others. Using lies, cheats, violence, punishments, false promisses, kill enemies .. I love phylosophy and I belive in God. I hate politics and religions. For more details and more refferences, I suggest to see why were crisades, why treaty of Saragossa and some prior to that was made, why muslims attacked and conquer along Europe, Asia, Africa .. All are "holly wars" but the hidden reasons being greed, need of power, economical reasons ... Anything but not God.

I think the answer is idealism. This two religion had been competing for their ideals way way back never realizing the other thing that they have in common was God. Religion could really not be held responsible but the followers who have succumb to their ideologies. Always trying to prove something to outlast the ideologies of each other:)

What You Say IS Somewhat Right .. I Don't think You Can Compare Islam With Any Other Religion .. It Is Governed By A Set Of Rules Which A Common Muslim Will Surely Find Confusing .. The Leaders Of this Religion Do Have A Say In Every Act Of the Whole Community Irrespective of their Nationality .. They Are More Committed to Their Religion Than Anything Else ..

Islam and Christianity have one thing in common as I read on the Internet, In Islam Abraham was asked by God to cut sacrifice his son for him and in Christianity Jesus sacrificed himself for his people so there are sacrifices and also blood.

Hi friend, i come here for supporting. i am not interesting in any religions, although some religious teaching are very meaningful and helpful to our peace. But i respect every religion, as long as it offend the world massess of people. Go back to your question. Why some religions are violent? Mostly they do atrocity for the benefit of the high level leaders. Happy mylotting!

Well, my first stop is with Freud and the human ego..the 'I am' of human existence. I'll add in a bit of bibliology with God defining Himself as 'The great I am!'...and as we were created '..in the image and likeness of..' I guess we are the lesser 'I am's. OK, foundation's done.. We all want to believe that we are on the path to truth. We even quote text to prove it, even when such text is taken out of context, which is quite often I've noticed (with christian folk). And with these misinterpreted quotes we decide that God is on our side and supports whatever we do. Folks tend to overlook the fact that God is constant and we are fluctuating. He does not drift with the tide, we do...And because of that drift it is for us to be on His side, convenient as it might be for us to expect otherwise. It is our duty to match our stride to that constant. Until we learn that it is not for the world to be in obeyance to Freudian ego but rather for us to be obeyance to God, religion will be a hateful, abusive sword in the world..wielded by fools who think themselves gods.. ENJOY!