There's a long history of people using religion to justify their desire to commit acts of violence, just as there's an extensive history of people seeking to blame religion for all of the world's ills.
In a bid to address the latter, or more specifically, the widely held view that Islam is a violent religion, a company carried out a textual data analysis of the Quran and the Bible. The research was in response to the regular media coverage which portrays Islam as an inherently violently religion, and Muslims as violent too. Conducted by OdinText, it serves a similar purpose to the viral vox pop videos which feature members of the public being read passages from the Bible and the Quran and then being asked to give their opinion on the origin of the extracts.
In light of negative attitudes towards Islam and the fact that this research was conducted by a company whose modus operandi is to analyse textual data, it's clear to see the motivation behind this task. But can we really learn anything from a textual analysis of religious texts? And is research like this more harmful than helpful?
One of the most obvious issues that presents itself with a study such as this is that it in an attempt to highlight that the Quran may not be as violent as many perceive it to be. Tom H. C. Anderson of OdinText said that the analysis represents "only a cursory, superficial view of just the texts, themselves". He added, "It is in no way intended to advance any agenda or to conclusively prove anyone's point." But regardless of Anderson's proclamations, it's inevitable that those who want to use the data to further their own agenda will do so. As Mark Twain put it, "Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable."
The problem with a purely statistical analysis is that it doesn't allow for the observation or interpretation of any nuances. Without evaluating these references of violence, anger and the rest of the themes in context, we lose the meaning and this leads to a skewed view of the nature of these texts.
The prominence of violence does not necessarily equate with incitement or the encouragement to carry out violent acts. Jesus' death is a physically violent event but it is representative of the greatest act of love. This is something that a textual analysis would be unable to pick up on.
On the other hand, it's hard to say whether such research will have a lasting impact on how people perceive these two religions. After all, this is one study and in the age of the internet and 24 hour news, people are effectively bombarded with messages which lead them to other conclusions.
A more effective way to illustrate the accurate nature of a religion is through a more balanced evaluation of the acts and character of its true followers. That, and a deeper, contextual analysis of the principles of the individual belief system.
