I continue to be amazed at the brutality that occurs in Iraq. I looked at the wikipedia definition of the differences between them. This is what I got. quote ""On a practical daily level, Shias have a different call to prayer, they perform wuzu and namaz differently including placing the forehead onto a piece of hardened clay from Karbala, not directly onto the prayer mat when prostrating, as the majority Sunni do. They also tend to combine prayers, sometimes worshipping three times per day instead of five. The Shias also have some different ahadith and prefer those narrated by Ali and Fatima to those related by other companions of the Prophet (pbuh). Because of her opposition to Ali, those narrated by Aisha count among the least favored. Shia Islam also permits muttah - fixed-term temporary marriage - which is now banned by the Sunnis. Muttah was originally permitted at the time of the Prophet (pbuh) and is now being promoted in Iran by an unlikely alliance of conservative clerics and feminists, the latter group seeking to downplay the obsession with female virginity which is prevalent in both forms of Islam, pointing out that only one of the Prophet's thirteen wives was a virgin when he married them. Quote"" The above is a joke, isn't it? Can anyone here tell me how these differences can have evolved into the mess in the Arab world today. Hundreds of murders every day in the name of a different way to Pray. You're kidding, right? Are the wiki entries wrong? here is the wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Shi'a-Sunni_relations
I think you might have picked chit chat for this thread (and it will soon be there). Consider the differences between a Papist and a Baptist. A similar number of letters to that between Sunnite and Shiite and enough for centuries of wars