No reasonable person could look back on human history over the past two millennia and not think that an awful lot of murder and mayhem has been committed in the name of religion. Violence has been done, not just in conflicts between two different religions over basic tenets of faith, but in matters so petty as how many fingers to use when crossing oneself.
The problem with religion, as I see it, is that it tends toward absolutism. If you take the guiding principles of your life on faith, reason doesn't enter in, and that doesn't leave much room for shades of gray -- at least not in many people's minds. When you're right, you're right. Right? So far too often, despite the fact that all major religions teach tolerance, the actual result is the opposite: intolerance.
And thus we come to terrorism, or at least the main brand of terrorism prevailing in the world today -- that of Muslims who get a little too wrapped up in the "rightness" of their faith and aren't willing to tolerate the faiths of others. Hence the case of "Jihad Jane," whose target allegedly was the Swedish artist Lars Vilks; his offense was to depict Allah with the body of a dog. Surely an offense to Muslims, especially conservative ones -- but cause for murder? Get a life, guys and gals. Get some tolerance.
Not that the shoe isn't often on the other foot, as we can see when upstanding (?) politicians of the Virginia state assembly object to a Muslim imam's giving the opening prayer as that body opens its session next week. It isn't violence yet; it isn't terrorism; but it's the same idea.
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