The faithful like to offer qualifiers. Thats not what [insert religion here] stands for. True believers would never engage in [insert incident of maniacal slaughter here]. And sometimes they offer the hilariously un-ironic
they had it coming.
Those who want to defend their own religions violent spasms are right to distance themselves. A careful, intelligent reading of any of the Big Five will turn up appeals to consider the needs of others, exhortations to peace, and an insistence on the basic humanity we all share.
The closest Ive ever come personally to being killed by terrorists was an incident in London perpetrated by Irish Catholics. Nevertheless, I am fairly comfortable boarding a plane with a priest, even if he has red hair. I understand Catholicism and Irish culture well enough to recognize that the IRA does not represent the values of all Catholics or Irish.
We all recognize the highest values in our own faiths while putting our own more troubling passages into some philosophical perspective. Your cultures violent rampages are representative of your faith. My cultures violent rampages are committed by lunatics and outliers who represent no one.
The most violent religion on Earth is any that have people in them. Those who are trying to win elections or ratings by telling us scary Muslim stories are playing a dangerous game. They are calling into question the basic humanity of others, making it easier for us to tolerate their persecution. Theyll get as far as our ignorance and cowardice will allow.