The result is that when religions come into contact, instead of trying to accept each other's differences, one group tries to impose its beliefs on the others. This forced conversion comes in the form of kidnappings, rapes, and murders. An ironic fact coming from groups that claim to promote peace. This forced conversion understandably meets resistance that results in even greater brutality. Forced conversion has always been a problem. Christianity spread through violence dating back to 4th century Rome. (Kwon, 2014) Patricia Limerick describes the effect of one of these Christian interactions in her essay “Haunted America.” The Europeans did not come to kill the natives, rather violence ensued because the natives refused to convert to the European religion and way of life. This meant that Europeans considered them wrong and savage. Seeking to modernize Native Americans, missionaries created divisions not only between Europeans and natives, but also among natives as communities were divided between those who agreed to convert and those who defended their customs; creating even more conflict. (Starkey, 1998) It is not just Christianity that has forced people to convert faiths. For example, in the texts of the Quran the words are written: "But whoever turns away from the Quran, he will have a hard life, and We will resurrect him blind on the Day of Judgment." (Quran, 20:124) These are words, taken directly from a text people worship, that promote violence against non-followers of Islam. Just as forced conversion is not just a problem of Christianity, it is not a problem of the past either. People often think that we have become a more welcoming society, and in some ways this is true, but in many others this is not the case. Take, for example, Christians in Egypt, Nigeria and Indonesia
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