Does it make sense to say "religion has nothing to do with violence"?

I often hear the argument that “it’s not the religion, it’s the people”. This goes hand in hand with “all religions are fundamentally peaceful; religion is only used as a justification for violence”. While these arguments may seem valid, I have to question them a bit, especially in regard to Islamist extremism.

While it might be easy to blame politics or social factors for the violence that occurs in Muslim countries and then say that extremists/terrorists are only using their religion to justify their own selfish reasons for violence, it doesn’t seem quite accurate. In many of these Muslim countries, religion is a fundamental part of how the nations run. In fact, much of their politics is derived from religion. So to say that the religion has nothing do with it doesn’t seem quite right.

Now the anti-religious people will say “religions are violent, especially Islam”. That’s not right either. It seems more like an interplay of various factors, religion being one of them. It contributes to violence in the same way that being in a marginalized group does or being economically disadvantaged does.

Anyway, my thoughts are sort of all over the place, so feel to contribute as you see fit.