On the Gaza strip more innocent lives are claimed in the name of religious intolerance.

Israeli jets pounded Hamas targets in Gaza for a third day Monday, continuing an operation that Palestinian security sources said has killed more than 270 people.

Hamas militants, meanwhile, had launched more rockets into Israel on Sunday. Israel has said its airstrikes are a necessary self-defense measure after repeated rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel.

The U.N. called for a halt to hostilities, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at a Cabinet meeting Sunday that the operation "is liable to continue for some time, perhaps more than can be foreseen at the present time."

Palestinian security sources said Sunday that at least 277 people, most of them Hamas militants, have been killed and hundreds more wounded.

If you were to compare the DNA of an Israeli to that of a Palestinian you would be unable to detect any substantial difference. For all intents and purposes they would be virtually identical. And yet they kill each other as if they are stepping on a bug, not a fellow human being.

They kill without regret because though they essentially worship the same God, they worship him in different ways, believe in different prophets, and selfishly accept that God has chosen to elevate their people above all others. Like two children fighting over the attention of their mother, these two destroy and kill to pay homage to their creator.

Is it any wonder that there are millions of us who are repelled by the actions taken in the name of God? When we think of religion we see divisiveness, prejudice, ignorance, homophobia, and sexism. I know that is not fair, but the examples which support that are all over the morning papers.

Gandhi once said "There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no cause that I am prepared to kill for". Gandhi was a great believer in the existence of God, but he did not feel that his faith allowed for him to take the life of another human being. If more people had the kind of faith practiced by Mahatma Gandhi this world would be infinitely more peaceful and substantially more religious.