Undercover Nun commends to your reading this excellent piece by Father Frank Pavone.  I also encourage you to set aside any preconceptions you might have about the good Father or his work, when you read the piece.  Take it on its own merit.  A couple samples for you to taste:

Religious violence is an assault not only on the immediate victims, but on all humanity, because it takes a sacred dimension of our existence and abuses it as a tool of destruction.

and

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the commandment “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” … means that we should not invoke God to justify doing things that God abhors. Violence against human beings is in fact one of those things.

and

Entering a house of faith should never demand that we leave our minds at the door. Religion does not call for the shutdown of reason. Religious beliefs can and do transcend human reason, but they must never be allowed to contradict it.

and

Ultimately, people abuse religion because they are suffering. Someone has written that the false god transforms suffering into violence, while the true God transforms violence into suffering. True religion, rather than doing violence to the other, suffers with the other. This is the root meaning of the word “compassion” - “to suffer with.”

Undercover Nun finds herself in complete agreement with Fr. Frank’s statement on religious violence.  Violence is an abuse of religion, and violence should be intolerable to Christians.  I know that this world is not perfect, that violence happens and will continue to happen.  But we are charged by Christ to help bring about God’s Kingdom here and now: Thy kingdom come on earth, as in heaven.  This means that is the responsibility of every Christian — including those in elected office — to cry out on behalf of the abused, to stand up and say, “This is wrong, and I will not tolerate it.”

Now.  In the comments on this post, you will see a number of detractors.  Some address the violence that the Church has perpetrated on people, throughout centuries.  To these, I can only say this: I am sorry.  Yes, some of these incidents are indeed vile and abominable.  There was no excuse for the Church to violently stamp out heresy, including the Crusades against Islam (which was seen at the time as just one more new heresy).  There is no excuse for clergy to abuse those under their care.  There is no excuse for anyone representing the Church to give injury or suffering to another person.  I can offer only two things.  First, we are mere humans, and we make mistakes, and I hope you will pray for us.  And second, not all Christians are power-mad abusers; the vast majority of us go quietly about our own lives and work, loving God and trying not to mess things up too badly. 

Other detractors write about abortion.  Let me say clearly here that the moniker Pro Life means many things, including opposition to abortion; however, this term is not synonymous with “anti-abortion.”  Rather, pro-life means an opposition to suffering, violence, and death, and it requires an entire orientation of being that is very taxing to mind, body, and spirit.  Many who call themselves pro-life do not understand this, and thus they take on over-simplified positions that don’t take into account the effects on multiple lives.  My invitation to you is this: Please don’t throw out Christianity because a minority of Christians are abusive.  And please don’t refuse to thoughtfully consider a true pro-life orientation because some who claim the title use it exclusively to mean anti-abortion.

Undercover Nun is not going to express her views on sexuality, contraception, pregnancy, and abortion at this time.  They have absolutely no bearing on this excellent piece of writing by Fr. Frank.  I ask you to consider these questions as red herrings, and to consider the argument against violence based on religion as one area that expresses support for human life.