Alot of things influence murder these days but I do not believe that Religion is one of them!

For example: This was on the news quite a long time ago - A film called Chuckie was wathced by two ten year old boys which then influenced them to snatch a 2 year old boy and beat him to death.
These Deaths are influenced by our own media and films and through many other things in life, and it is too late for people to realise it until something terrible has happened.

On the other hand religion has helped people who were in the wrong to be set straight again.
For example: A boy of 16 was a a serious drug addict and found himself into trouble with the police many of times. He even came close to death and at which point a priest was visiting the ward on the hospital and came into the boys life. The boy from then on did not touch a single drug and became a loyal Christian. He even talked to those who were recovering from such addictions like himself to share how he recovered with 'Gods' help.

i think a lot of it has to do with tradition and the way people have done things in the past.

although most western people view honour killings as barbaric and out-dated, most of the people that do go through with this practice these days are deep-set in their traditions and the old way of life.

what may have been seen as the way of life many centuries ago is still practiced in the present. it doesn't mean it is right or wrong, but that is how these people view it.

you will find that a few of the african and middle eastern countries still practice honour killings.

It's not the religion thats the problem but it's the people and traditions.

We have a serious problem with sex being a taboo in Turkia. If a girl would have sex without marriage and if she is living with her family then many Turkish families would have a huge problem when finding out about this.

For some very traditional families protecting a girls virginity before marriage is a matter of life and dead. You might think that a girl might have sex without losing virginity. This is very true and if it would happen then it wouldn't be a problem as big since it is easy to cover up as long as this information isn't public and on everybodies mouth.

The intellectual and aesthetics level among some locals is not very high unfortunately. They are considering girls as a gift to buy for their sons. Some time ago it was a common practice to pay money for this gift to the selling party. Usually the girl wouldn't even see the boy or the old man she is going marry. In some instances families have sold their girls to married and old men even if the girl was in love with a local boy. This is a common theme and we have many movies where these two run away.

Of course you can imagine what would happen among such mentalities if the gift turned out to be rotten. The buying party would get crazy. In some instance they would return it. I know all this sounds unbelievable but it is true. Again returning the boys gift is a theme of a movie and is well know. Of course this would be the biggest shame for the selling party.

I lived a few years in East Turkia in these small mountain villages far from any town. I know these people. You need to understand their mentality. Once I asked a farmer the number children he has and he said eight. I asked how many of them were girls or boys and he said these were only the boys. I asked about the girls and he said girls don't count but said that he had three girls.

Among some locals a girl is less valuable than a cow. They would not think twice if they have to kill to clear their name. In prison these killers are very welcome and highly respected.

Returning to the previous example of buying a gift and getting it delivered unrotten, after the trade now it becomes the buying parties business to protect the black box. What this means is that the girl might be beaten by her husband but should never run away or divorce since they need to have control over boxes.

Some time ago, there was a woman who got beaten continuously and she run away and wanted to divorce. But they didn't let her. Her husband found her in another city, she was in İstanbul and shoot her in the middle of the street. The woman recovered and told her story to newspapers etc.

I remember a man stabbing her wife in the middle of the street and there was a police officer and a lots of people and everybody was just watching. The man was stabbing her, and shout for a while and stabbing her again. The police, altough armed (all police is armed here) was just trying to persuade the man to stop. This continued for a few minutes and at the end there was only blood on the street and a dead woman. Some people thought she deserved.

In other ethnical groups in East Turkia these mentalities are common. Interestingly many foreign women find themselves these type men.

As we can see...it doesn't matter what the religion, it is people's attitudes, thinking, and traditions...

Whether it be Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, etc...