In this case, the relevant common belief is the violence is not to be promoted unless absolutely necessary and under certain conditions (Juergensmeyer 13). Unfortunately, this small but important detail is often left out of literature explaining the violent aspects of religion. The perception of society of any given issue is a direct reflection of the state of knowledge and literature about that issue. In this case, the general perception of society is that religion promotes violence, and any association with religion is an almost direct association with violence (de Vries 189). This perception reflects that the state of literature on religion displays religion as violent and extreme. However, through adequate research, there seems to be a lack of literature amplifying the peaceful points of religion. Academic literature as well as common literature apparently concentrates on the very few and minute violent characteristics of the major religions, when in actuality the major religions promote peace and harmony among all people and creations except for specific conditions of war and self-defense.
The current situation of the world has focused the eyes of the majority of people on "fundamentalists", or rather; those who claim to follow religion properly and in an extreme manner. Fundamentalists are often associated with those who may take any specific points of religion out of context and make a big deal out of them. All of the major [Abrahamic] religions of the world, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all share one common identity: those who may claim to follow the religion with excessive emotion and activism are looked upon by the rest as "extremist" or "fundamentalist". However, the dictionary explanation of the relationship of violence and religion, often referred to as terrorism, is described by Mark Juergensmeyer in his book entailing the history of religious violence, Terror In the Mind of God: .