i don't mean to cause any offense with what i say:
the discussion between freddie and kendor is interesting.
religion is the cause of nearly every major conflict, and i will agree with freddie that if you look at things on a global scale, islam is nearly always involved. israel, america, chechnya, kashmir (india), sudan, are the most recent examples of major world conflicts, and they all involve islam. in all but one of the above examples, islamic terrorism is involved, in the last example its ethnic cleansing by arab muslims. these are just facts.
i grew up with a lot of muslims. from first hand experience i can say that most of the muslims i grew up with in school, truly believe themselves and their religion to be superior to any other. they have tried converting people, insulted jews (just for being jews), insulted the religion i was raised on, and would basically love to impose islamic law on this country. its from here that it all starts.
i don't think it'd be correct to say every muslim is a terrorist and i don't think anyone here is suggesting that. i have had many 'modern' muslim friends, but i would also say that although there may be only a few extremists doing the dirty deeds, there are many many more who support it in private but show a face of moderation.
just because islam is a religion, people are quick to defend it, calling it peaceful etc.. how do you know?? what if islam is a fundamentalist religion, propelling racial hatred?? you can't rule these statements out until you have learnt about the religion and decided for yourselves:
http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Wood/two_faces.htm
main site:
http://answering-islam.org.uk/
its a christian website, it acknowledges the flaws within the bible, the arguments seem very reasonable, and the writers are well educated on islam. ie i don't think it's views are that biased. but its a good start if you want to learn more about islam and forge an educated, balanced opinion.
im atheist, and thus don't believe in any religion. my personal opinion is religions were created by people in an attempt to impose order on society. they may have done this to help society by encouraging morals, or for personal gain (ie power from followers). but i certainly don't think they are the 'word of god'. i accept the views and beliefs of others, but think islam is intolerant towards other religions and incites racial hatred from its own religious text. a racist religion???
