As I read through some of my fellow panelists' comments on this question, I found myself nodding in agreement--perhaps especially with points made by Susan Jacoby, Mike Otterson, the Rev. Thomas Reese, and Bishop N.T. Wright--people I've spoken with at some point or whose works I've read and whom I respect. To say the obvious, each of them stands at a very different theological/philosophical location on the map of human experience, each site with its own history and heroes. I wouldn't try to fit those widely differing traditions into a single box. Somewhat similarly, I can't do that with the vast universe called the "mass media."

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I can't imagine such a discovery being a world-wide faith-shaker. As Professors Paula Fredriksen and Martin Marty point out, the concept of resurrection--as many in the first generation of Christians understood it and as many among their contemporary successors do today--simply doesn't lend itself to a single, easy proposition.

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On one otherwise unexceptional June day nine years ago--a full 10 months before the mass murder at Columbine--the Presbyterian Church (USA) suggested its members might consider "intentionally work[ing] to remove handguns and assault weapons from our homes and communities."

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Reading through some of my fellow panelists' responses, I'm impressed with what Martin Marty says about religions possessing twin capacities for immense destruction and great societal beneficence. Still, I can't help but see the original question at the top of the page as time-bound--the mere fact that it's being asked reflects the particular era in which we live. Secondly, to ask specifically about Islam and violence seems to bypass a rather glaring cultural issue, which is that we (Americans, among others) seem to like violence, or at least accord it value as entertainment.

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