Religious Killers

What do you call someone who kills in the name of his or her faith?

Some are called "terrorists." Others are called "heroes."

The words you choose to use depend a lot on the religious faith of the person committing the act of violence and your religious faith. It is significantly easier to call someone of another faith a "terrorist" than to use that same label for someone of your faith.

With the second violent attack taking place within the last two weeks - the murder of George Tiller in Wichita and the murder of Stephen Johns at the Holocaust Museum - this should cause us to consider how people use religious faith to justify violence. That might be a good discussion for the members of your faith group to have.

What do I call someone who kills in the name of his or her faith? I call them what they are - killers.