To be quite honest and to say this in the cruellest possible fashion, both faiths are like a cancer, only difference is, one is benign and the other, malignant, with roles shifting between the two constantly. Christianity has an unnameable sum of past sins and atrocities, all in the name of spreading the word and expanding the empire, but at least it has generally been reduced to a society of reasonable citizens with the occasional harmless fanatic.
Christianity continues to thrive, but as a viable threat to society, it’s pretty limp, usually the scapegoat of governments with erectile dysfunctions striving to make their decisions seem slightly more solid in the face of public scrutiny. It may seep into politics, but whether or not these men of power genuinely believe the ‘in the name of God’ sentiment as in the crusades and such, is questionable, but at least individual Christians are no longer taking it upon themselves to cleanse the world of whoever they deem unfit for their utopia.
Unlike fundamentalist Muslims, who quite literally ruin the entire religion for the vast majority of Muslims who just wish to live in a peaceful co-existence with the rest of humanity, despite terrorism tarnishing that dream.
Truth be told, Islam and Christianity do share cornerstones of faith, the belief systems are very similar in some aspects, albeit by no means the same. Problem is, according to our natures, we seek to colonise and compete, so despite similarities with other empires; it’s the differences that separate Islam and Christianity which inspire conflict and nurture the desire to expand at the cost of the other; to convert or destroy. And unfortunately, the radicalised fundamentalist Muslims are fighting a losing battle against the Western world, which is literally much of their intention as recent anti British solider propaganda highlighted when fundamentalists labelled dead troops returning home as ‘murders, rapists, baby killers’ at a small town ceremony paying tribute to local soldiers. Protesting such with banners stating Islam will take over, which is also a point of the religion itself, I’ve been lead to believe, that domination is encouraged? Telltale signs of a disease in need of cauterising to protect peace if you ask me.
My point is while similarities exist, it’s the differences that pit one against the other, creating warring factions competing for ground and influence. My post is probably off point slightly, but I’m approaching this from more of a socially relevant angle than say, biblically or the origins of both faiths.