this article does, "Islam was mainly spread through Arab territorial conquests (Sudo, 4)." However, upon examination, it is not fair to make the generalization that Islam is a religion of violence, and one notices when

Perhaps the religion which has perhaps shaped the world, for better or worse, more than any other religion, has been Christianity. This is not to deny the roles of the vast numbers of religions in many parts of the world, nor which is to say that Christianity has been particularly unique. Despite the fact that the Western world likes to set European man and Christians apart from the rest of the world, their connection to imperialism, mercantilism, and social conquest is undeniably real. While Islam is seen by many as a violent religion because of its origins and the popularization of the term 'jihad,' they have never had far-reaching imperialistic goals, nor have they preceded their soldiers with missionaries. Christians, however, as we have studied, were instrumental in the undoing of Africa, and in fact the seeds that the pious missionaries of Europe planted into African society eventually lead to the destabilization of centuries of culture and hierarchy. The missionaries poured into Africa, only to be followed by soldiers and company men - it was the foothold of the missionaries that allowed Europeans to eventually dominate the continent all of which was done in the name of "saving enlightening the heathens." Christianity is certainly not without its bloody conquest, as the most blatant example is that of the Crusades, which the very symbols of their faith were, to Christians of the middle Ages. The Christians ventured towards the holy land with the sole purpose of killing the 'infidels' and ridding the holy land of all Islamic influence, bringing it back into the light of Christianity. However, the Muslims in the holy land provided important technology for the Christians. In all truths, Christianity was spread to Latin America in a most brutal fashion. The Spaniards murdered millions of Indians, and wiped out civilizations of peoples not for the purpose of not only religion, but gold! The primary reason that Christianity remains the ubiquitous religion in Latin America is because the Spaniards forced conversion of their Indian slaves - something that Islamic conquerors rarely did. In fact they charged a tax on their non-Muslim subjects, which eventually lead to conversion by choice rather than by force. Christians in the Americas came to dominate the continent by using their superior technology to forcefully overwhelm, enslave, or force conversion on inhabitants, in contrast to the Islamic people, who attracted converts from an economic ezdpoint, but also came to absorb many conquered peoples, as evident in the cultural blending of South Asia, which eventually fell apart for secular reasons (Ahmad, et. al., 186). Spaniards burned books, temples, and sculptures, and quelled all rebellion by the once mighty Americans (Ahmad, et. al., 46). The Spanish enslaved the Indians of Central and South America, while the British, Dutch, and French enslaved the Africans.

r to say that religions are not fundamentally violent, nor does it do justice the study of history, which indeed proves to us that often religion had a far nobler purpose. Would our world perhaps have been a better place? That question can never be answered. We do know, however, that religion was both violent and beneficial - to classify it as one or the other would not do it justice. However, we will continue our search for the universal conezt, and perhaps the study of religion will someday bring us closer to the truth.

Islam has, throughout the centuries, been somewhat a victim of circumezce - indeed it has been perceived by many as oppressive and cruel. This belief originated over a thousand years ago, when Islamic peoples first threatened the western world. As they slowly undermined Byzantine au

Some topics in this essay:
Islam Koran, Spread Conquest, European Christians, South Asian, Truly Islam, America Aztec, Sydney Harris, India Africa, Mohammed Islam, East Islam, et al, ahmad et al, ahmad et, religion islam, al 186, holy land, throughout centuries, forced conversion, latin america, middle east, 622 ad, et al 186, pagans middle east, south asian subcontinent, mohammed islam 1,