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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Yeah, but we grew out of that forced conversion or death by torture thing about 500 years ago.
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Both you and GH make good points on both sides of the equation, and I have elaborated much earlier at length on my views and do not wish to revisit them.
I would note, however, with regard to this statement, that while it is true that Christianity has become moderate and tolerant among most Americans (US and Latin), Western Europeans, and some others, this is most certainly not true everywhere. Orthodox Christianity in the Balkans, for example, can be just as vitriolic, if not worse, than Islam there. When I first started working in the Balkans in 1991, one of the first things we tried to do was get Serbian Orthodox religious leaders to denounce the acts being committed by Yugoslav soldiers and Serb militiamen in the name of their religion. Some spoke out courageously, but far too many chose ethnic and religious solidarity and became participants, abettors and "tacit supporters, enablers, and apologists" of torture, rape and savage butchery.
We saw similar things in Chechnya, where Russian human rights monitors have documented, among other things, bodies of Chechens with crosses carved into them. There has not been major violence in the past few years, but harassment and vandalism continues to be directed against other sects, including Jews, Pentecostals and other evangelical Protestants, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.
My mother was a Southern Baptist missionary in Africa, so I grew up with an interest and background in that region. In many places, Christianity has been a great moderating influence, but in others, religious hatred has been exploited for violent ends. For example, many Nigerian states routinely experience murders in the dozens or hundreds of Muslims by Christians and of Christians by Muslims.
Christianity and Islam, of course, are not alone. Christians and Muslims have also faced persecution, violence and forced conversions by Hindus in a number of Indian states. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an extremist offshoot of the Hindu fundamentalist movement Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has been implicated in a number of violent acts against missionaries and Indian Christians and Muslims.