In my “Great Decisions” study group last night, we discussed the rise of terrorism in Africa. While the discussion was centered on the rise of “Islamic terrorism”, I objected to the pairing of the word for a world religion and an act of violence perpetrated by an extremist person. I stated that the relentless pairing of the term “Islam” and “Terror” led uninformed people to perhaps associate every Islamist with being a terrorist or a supporter of terror.

The world’s adherents to a particular religion, by denomination and %, is:

Christianity 33%
Islamist 21%
Non-religious 16%
Hinduism 14%
Primal-indiginous 6%
Chinese traditional 6%
Buddhism 6%
Sikhism 0.36%
Judaism 0.22%

If any person, of any religious persuasion (like Timothy McVeigh and Christianity), were “tagged” with their religion affiliation any time they were mentioned, people might begin to associate their individual terrorist acts as an a result of their religious beliefs. I understand that there are Islamic extremist who couple their interpretation of the teachings of Muhammad with the elimination (through terroristic acts) of “westerners” and “Americans”. I also know there are “Christian” extremist who lynched negroes or, today, believe in “correcting” homosexual through mental terrorism. The press does not refer to them as “Christian Terrorist” but rather aberrations, radicals or deviants.

My objection is the seeming inability of the press to be careful how they discuss these extremist in the context of the millions of law abiding and caring Islamist. If unsuspecting children hear their parents declare “those Islamic terrorist” daily–lashing out, though anger, fear or ignorance–then they are likely to have imprinted on their susceptible minds the notion that all Islamist are terrorist.

Major Religions of the World
Ranked by Number of Adherents

(Sizes shown are approximate estimates, and are here mainly for the purpose of ordering the groups, not providing a definitive number. This list is sociological/statistical in perspective.)

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism: 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
6. Buddhism: 376 million
7. primal-indigenous: 300 million
8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
9. Sikhism: 23 million
10. Juche: 19 million
11. Spiritism: 15 million
12. Judaism: 14 million
13. Baha’i: 7 million
14. Jainism: 4.2 million
15. Shinto: 4 million
16. Cao Dai: 4 million
17. Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
18. Tenrikyo: 2 million
19. Neo-Paganism: 1 million
20. Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
21. Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
22. Scientology: 500 thousand

Source: http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html