On Religion

I have been undertaking a particularly unpleasant task the past few days. Ive been reading various discussions that people have undertaken on topics that have been kicked off , directly or indirectly by Robert Spencer. See for example the discussions related to his books on Amazon or his website. Some have reviewed his book(s) unfavorably with a memorable line 'My God is better than your Allah nyah, nyah, nyah'.
Rather than commenting on the comments which truth be told leave a bad taste(by both sides), there are some general observations that can be made.
Religious right wing characters generally have no sense of humour. I wonder if this also implies that having a good sense of humour means a person wont be deeply religious.
The quality of debate on any controversial topic is extremely poor. Most indulge in ad hominem attacks. There will always be some people who believe that saying the same thing multiple times makes it true.

A question that bothers me about religion is whether it should be judged by what it preaches or whether it is to be judged by what is practised by it's followers. Earlier I believed that it is obvious that it is the latter. But what if the practice is not ascribed to religion?
e.g. If a person says he bombs a place for his religion is his religion to blame?
If a person says he bombs a country A because his country B is threatened by A and not for his religion , is his religion to blame?
What if the religion tacitly approves of acts of war ?
(If you believe that this religion is a euphemism for Islam, you haven't read the Bhagwad Gita or the Old Testament)
If I think about it, I believe that the problem is not with only due to religion. When a person gives up the right to think for himself, and lets other's choose his path for him, it has always caused problems. Someone will probably point out that the people doing the choosing are thinking for themselves and they cause the problem too. Perhaps , but if some leader say's kill those bunch of people who differ from us in X ways, and a mob goes ahead and kills them, who does the blame lie with more? The leader or the mob?
I'd currently go with the mob.
And religion does tell you that it will do the thinking for you. It will lay down the guidelines for you to follow. It will determine the right and wrong. It is perfect, absolute and the only way. There is no doubt, only faith, doubt is a sin.
History suggests that religion or atleast the followers of religion have caused many problems. History also suggests that man atleast is not smart enough to learn lessons from it.
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There was a time when i bought books that would be considered controversial , and usually i agreed with the views that the book promoted before i bought the book. Then i thought, what's the point , i already agree with the book. (e.g. Buying a Michael Moore book). Then i bought books which endorsed a point of view that I didnt agree with. but now I've decided , I shall not sacrifice any of my money on royalties to people who clearly dont deserve it (Ann Coulter , Im talking about you!). I almost bought Robert Spencer's book Why Christianity is a Religion of Peace and Islam isn't, till I saw Ann Coulter singing it's praises. The book was kept back in it's shelf.
Oh and does it matter if the religion is peaceful but the people who practise it aren't?