Anne Rice and Christianity

For the record, before I start off on this one, I'm not Christian. I do have a religion, but it is my humble opinion that all religions are man made, and are essentially the same thing anyway. I doubt very much if the Gods really give a shit by which name you choose to call them.

As you may or may not be aware, Anne Rice is the author of the fabulous Vampire Chronicles as well as some recent books on Christ and on Angels. (which I haven't yet read, but reviews say are just as good!) Her style of writing is fabulous and she's one of these few authors with the wonderful talent of creating a reality and transporting you there. Anyway, this lady is Catholic. She has a facebook page on which she is quite active, and recently used it to announce that "in the name of Christ, [she] quits being a Christian" mainly because the Church can't stop bickering. I'd say she's right to do so.
And this brings me on to The Point. Christianity, over the years has actually been responsible fore more deaths than the holocaust. That's quite a scary fact. Religion in general, over the years has been responsible for more deaths than I care to work out or research. Pretty scary stuff. Any why is this? Most religions, if not all preach Love and Forgiveness. Great stuff, necessary stuff if humans want to coexist peacefully. So why do "Holy Wars" happen exactly? Thou shall not kill and all that?
If you ask me, Evangelism is the problem here. And I'm not pointing the finger at the Christians, they're just as bad as the rest of 'em. It's the idea that a certain Religion is "The One True Religion", that's the problem. Bollocks. If you ask me. Utter utter rubbish. Humans are individuals, what works for one individual may well not work at all for another. I, for example, would make an incredibly crap Muslim. The idea of wearing a headscarf rather collides with crash helmets and just wouldn't work. But to some women, it's a proud sign of modesty, and they wouldn't be without one. And That Is Fine. It does not mean I'm going to hell, and it does not mean they should take their headscarves off because I think crash helmets look nicer(!)
Fussing over details. That's all it boils down to, fussing and fighting over silly irrelevant details.
Mankind, for some reason, seems to need religion. If you look back over history it's always been there. I personally think it's a wonderful thing. It gives people a set of morals to adhere to, and a god to talk to if things go wrong. We as a race have some kind of innate desire to put a meaning to otherwise meaningless things. Death is the classic one. It can't possibly be random, because that would be too cruel. So religion gives us that reason. Death is not death, it is new life. Whether in the form of reincarnation, heaven or some other afterlife. It's my personal belief that we need this spirituality. Never mind that mankind has invented the whole damnded thing, it works for us. I don't ask exactly which oil rig my petrol came from when I put it in my bike, I know it works and so I'm not too fussed. In the same way I know some bloke made my religion up, but I know it works for me, so I'm not too fussed that he did!
The bottom line is that all religions are The One True Religion, for the individual practicing them. But that individual's next door neighbour might have a different One True Religion of their own. And for goodness sake, why exactly is that a problem?? Advertise by all means, but don't evangelise. At the very lowest level, it's downright annoying. At the highest, it kills people.

On another note...how silly will we all feel if we get to the pearly gates and Saint Peter turns round to us and says "Well, you're all bloody wrong, God's name is actually Bob and so you're all going to hell"