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Your presumption is really the issue at hand - is the violence in question in actuality the offspring of 'over-zealous' beliefs? Do people kill really b/c they're obeying directives from a book?

There is a book I've read called the Disciples of Destruction which basically argues where you are coming from. It's not a mainstream book by any means. Much of the book is barely readable, to me, for the premise is based on the idea that religious activity of any kind is just irrational. I used to believe that too, until Christ came knocking ... now, fulfilling the spiritual drive in humans is more rational to me than filling the food and sex drives. I "get" it now.

Anyway, although the author makes lots of mistakes, I can see where he's coming from. The author equally tars the islamic, christian, jewish, talmudists, communists, marxists folks in a single group of nut cases who kill out of religious zeal. What the author doesn't acknowledge is that he is a typical man of faith himself - of the scientist/materialist variety. And he is morally above them all, b/c he doesn't experience, he thinks, the sensation of 'zeal'. (But, those PhD pseudo-Priests certainly do advocate killing - I've heard them do so ... but in their own special, subtle way - that's another story though.)

There's just one problem with his argument: killing during wars, though evil w/ fantastic abuse, has a self-evident result in the way of life we have today. Without war, the USA is a figment of imagination. Without our warriors, we are, put simply, not.

I'm no fan of war. But I would be stupid to ignore the reality that my way of life here ultimately was bought, purchased, sacrificed for, whatever you want to call it. The military cemeteries here and abroad filled w/ U.S. dead testify to the reality.

That all said, I have tested for myself the root cause of evil .... it took a long while, but the single word that serves adequately is "pride". I basically disagree w/ you that over-zealousness is the root of evil.

True, many have used the energy of zeal in an evil manner. But it was their pride in their own judgment that led to that energy's misapplication. Many zealous preachers do wondrous good in our world ... and nary an encouraging word about violence comes from them.

Evil's very essence is pride ... for from it, faiths of all stripes are born; and they all have in common one thing at root; faith in man's abilities. Then, killing in the name of man is not really killing .... it's relabeled as 'justified necessity'.

I suppose the above rambles a bit. Sorry. :)