Nick Kristof responded to the results of the Pew poll on religion by writing his own test of religious knowledge, which you can take here. Kristof emphasizes passages from religious books that advocate violence or condone things we find offensive, such polygamy and slavery. It's quite interesting.
I would say, though, that Kristof does muddy the waters in one way. Whereas the Hebrew and Muslim scriptures show God commanding violence in some situations, the New Testament never does. Jesus was, so far as we can tell, an uncompromising pacifist. Of course, many Christians accept the Old Testament as divinely inspired, so claims by Baptist preachers or Catholic bishops that Islam is a religion of violence are hypocritical, but none of my Christian friends seem to take the Old Testament very seriously -- "It's just stories," one acquaintance told me.
Which brings me to my real point, which is that Christians, despite revering a holy book that preaches turning the other cheek, are about as violent as everyone else in the world. I can't see that the religion people espouse makes any difference at all to how many wars they fight or how many murders they commit. To continue the point, Jesus said pretty plainly that it is better to be poor and oppressed than rich and powerful, but I have never personally met a Christian who believes this.
Certainly Jesus' message of peace has resonated with many people, and it has led some to embrace poverty and powerlessness. But most people go about their lives in the usual human way in perfect disregard of what is preached at them. Our ancient evolutionary heritage of competition, violence, lust, and laziness trumps the preaching of the prophets. We have godlike dreams, but we remain animals.
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Jesus advises pacifism as far as humans are concerned, but he does this in a context where he is quite free with threats of divine punishment. Jerusalem, he says, will be destoryed in fire and blood, as will any town that spurns his apostles. People are supposed to turn the other cheek because, if they don't, they'll burn in hellfire forever--as will anyone who has ever felt any desire for anyone not their spouse--unless they cleanse themselves. In Acts, the Holy Spirit puts paid to a good many unfortunates, and throughout the Book of Revelation, the saints stamp and howl with joy at the slaughter and torture of the damned. All told, as I read it, the New Testament is every bit as bloodthirsty as the other Abrahamic scriptures. It's just that humans are supposed to wait and watch while God does the violence.
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