Firstly, I don't want to have another thread simply weighing up the pros and cons of a religion. It gets repetitive and dull real fast. Although there is a discussion as to whether Terrorism is growing as a result of Islam or Islam growing as an excuse for terrorism, please be careful that you are not talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the religion, this thread's topic is mostly just about cause and effect:

Points of interest.

• Are these trends real? What about in terms of severity/amount of life lost?
• What external, possibly previously overlooked factors could be causing this trend?
• Would it be ethical or even possible to reduce or eliminate these factors and how?