I know this is probably a rude question, but I've always wanted to know why certain people are so prone to being brainwashed into blindly following any religion. So the media is known for hyping up a lot of stories and whatnot, but there is no way that Islam is coincidentally the most violent religion out there. How can all these violent attacks and slaughtering of people - done by people who say they are Muslim - not be due to the nature of that particular religion? People are going to say that I'm ignorant and whatever, I don't really care, but I want to know, WHY these people? What specifically in their genes or environment made them this way?

I realize my phrasing in the above paragraph is weird, so basically I'm trying to say this so-called "religion of peace," Islam, causes a lot more destruction than good, so I posed the question, why?

So in my other post about my crazy Muslim roommate, I discussed the fact that her parents are first cousins. I still get very sick to my stomach just thinking about it, but incest is a serious problem in many Islamic countries. It is such an outdated way to think and live one's life, I just can't even imagine going through that. There are so many congenital disorders caused by inbreeding, it makes you wonder then, maybe this violence occurs because those people have genetic cognitive defects?

There are tons of other reasons I'd be interested in researching further, like the effect of living in a hot and dry climate. Or living in extreme poverty (illiteracy), dietary issues, etc. This is kind of a nature vs. nurture thing, but I definitely believe that both play a huge role in why these specific people act the way they do. I guess the weather argument is pointless, because there are radical extremists all over the world. And people live in the deserts of California, yet most of them aren't lunatic zealots causing destruction in the world, so maybe that is a moot point.

Anyone care to discuss?

-SR