There has been a rash of religious based, state sponsored, attacks in Muslim nations over the past few months that have been garnering attention in the US mainly because of the Christians who are being targeted. The attacks however are not limited to Christians as Muslims are also attacking those of all faiths including other derivations of the Muslim faith.
I imagine many Christians find these attacks deplorable and believe that all Muslims are bad or at least this is not something Christians would do in the name of their God. While religious freedom is easier to come by in the US than some other countries intolerance runs deep among American Christians and violence has certainly been part of that intolerance (see the history of the KKK). This is also true of other nations that have Christian majorities like Canada, Ireland, and Russia. The point being that violence towards other religions is not a uniquely Muslim trait.
The biggest difference between the US and the Muslim nations where the attacks are currently occurring, is the separation of church and state. These Muslim nations have laws, that are punishable by death if broken, such as blasphemy. As a Catholic you get off with a few Haily Marys but in Pakistan you die. By not having a national religion we avoid having religious based laws that are by their very nature intolerant of other religions. I don't care how righteous you are or how pure you think your religion is, each individual interprets their religious book differently and those interpretations lead to hate and violence in some followers.
The US is a great country and religious violence is low because of the separation of church and state not in spite of it. Believing otherwise makes you no better than the Muslim extremists that you are fighting against and for those who fear the rule of Sharia Law in America - the separation of church is your best defense against it not the declaration of Christian nation.
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