Western Religion And Its Brutality Toward 'Enemies'

Now this is scary (from the Daily Beast):

Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist who set off an international uproar in 2007 by drawing the Prophet Mohammed’s head on the body of a dog, was attacked during a lecture at a university in Stockholm on Tuesday. "The man sat in the first row and suddenly he rushed at me. He punched me in the head and I lost my glasses," said Vilks, who was lucky to escape, by his own description, as only a “little bruised.” Police said that up to 20 people tried to attack Vilks, and they eventually resorted to tear gas to break up the protests. Al Qaeda has offered $100,000 to anyone who murders Vilks.

I guess one could say it's nice for people take their faith seriously. But there seems to be, below the surface, a certain willingness, in every Western faith particularly, to resort to violence in defense of the faith.  (I write this as a Methodist pastor of 33 years, who has taken his faith very seriously.)

I was debating fundamentalist Calvinists recently online, and as a part of that, I did some reading in Christian history to refresh my memory.  I read about John Calvin and his followers in Geneva, Switzerland in the mid 1500's, who defended Calvinist orthodoxy by executing opponents and heretics like Michael Servetus, a Christian who took issue with the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity.  Servetus was arrested after attending Calvin's church service (where Pastor John was preaching) and was burned at the stake there in Geneva, with Calvin arguing for leniency by recommending beheading instead.  Kind of boggles the mind.  But we forget how brutal Christianity has been toward its enemies and perceived detractors not that very long ago.