“It is important that no religion, Christians included, be praised or condemned, in total, as there is evil hiding in the dark corners of them all.”
There is merit in your words. They contain more than a grain of truth. No group is perfect. However, I must disagree with your conclusion that no religion should be condemned. Islam should be condemned. Not all Muslims, but Islam.
There are many good Muslims. Most good Muslims accept the behavior of Muslim murderers. The problem is the religion itself. In Islam, Mohammed was the perfect man. He beheaded 350 Jews. Today, beheading infidels is ok. Mohammed had many wives, some very young. Today having many wives and pedophilia is ok. Mohammed expanded Islam through military conquest. Today, expanding Islam through conquest is a duty.
Reagan loved the Russian people but hated communism to such an extent that he called the Soviet Union the “evil empire.” He set about to defeat the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union fell. The current consensus seems to be that these are unrelated events. However, I think it was the result of clarity of thought and action. We pushed; they fell.
Islam is worse than communism. Right now, Muslims are doing the pushing.
Thanks for your insights, most of which I agree with, but I don't think these statements completely add up. Take for example the Mormons, who claim to be a form of Christianity. Just because I don't spend every waking moment condemning some of them for their immoral behavior, such as having multiple wives you referenced in regard to Islam, doesn't mean I accept that behavior. I think the same is true of the many "good" muslims. Simply being silent does not mean they condone the evil behavior of some who are labeled Muslims.
As hard as it may be to admit, Islam does have many tenets that teach peace and actual love, and many muslims adhere to those principles, alone, in their faith. That doesn't mean that Islam doesn't teach immoral and ungodly behavior as well. But so does the Talmud, does it not? Are all Jews therefore to be condemned as well? Of course not. Some say only 30% of Jews even follow the Talmud, for starters. There are so many various sects of all these religions that you simply cannot lump them all together under one singular roof.
I am a committed Christian myself, and believe Christianity to be the rightful and true religion of our most Holy Father, and by the words of the Bible believe it should be our goal to convert others to Christianity. In order for us to do that, there must inherently be good people in other religions. I believe those other religions are inferior, if not possibly evil in their dereliction from Christianity (your point), but all humans must be judged individually, and not collectively.
I think we mostly agree - not all members of other religions are evil. Where we slightly disagree is that despite that, you still feel other religions can be completely condemned, whereas I say you necessarily can't do that as not every lesson in that religion is evil, and not everyone who is labeled part of that religion is worthy of condemnation. Some are simply naive, misguided, or lost. Our job is to love them, have mercy on them, and ultimately save them, not condemn them to hell on our own.