ntensive propaganda for alliance of the Islamic world and for “jihad” against the Western world. This is a sad example of how such a supreme and spiritual concept as the religion can be turned into a weapon for destruction. All this should not make us consider Islam a violent religion because its nature calls for love, not for war. Certain concepts and ideas are misinterpreted and as religion traditionally has strong influence over Muslims many people get a wrong impression of the essence of Islamic religion. On the other hand, Christianity has been generally considered as a very peaceful religion. Indeed, it really promotes supreme moral values and ethical behavior. Let us not forget what Jesus told to his followers: “if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also”. However, this was not the case for Christian Europe in the Middle Ages and even later. Leaders often justified their cruel conquests with religion and the will of God. The most striking example is that of the Crusades. For many years they served as an emblem of the power of Christianity and the desire to make the world Christian. Christian forces killed people and destroyed villages to bring “enlightenment” to these lands. They did just what Jesus taught his disciples not to do. Instead of enlightening the rest of the world through higher culture and a developed system of virtues and morals, they brought death and devastation. The idea of spreading the influence of Christianity might have been good but they did this by wrong means. The religion absolutely rejects slavery but this did not change the attitude towards the conquested lands. The Spaniards destroyed civilizations of people in Latin America and even forced conversion of the Indians to Christian faith. This is one of the main reasons why today most of South America is Christian. British and French forces, on the other hand, enslaved most of Africa. In fact...
