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"I have read the Koran and am aware that there are some violent passages, however, the Bible itself contains harsh messages too..."

Nowhere in the New Testament of the Bible does it direct a follower of Christ to slay unbelievers. In fact, it states the greatest love one can show another person is to give up their life for another.

This stands in complete contrast to what is found in the Koran.

Those that kill in the name of God and call themselves Christian cannot justify their actions anywhere within the New Testament. However, those that kill in the name of their god and call themselves Muslim can point to a multitude of dictates in the Koran. There is no moral equivalency no matter how much you wish to believe it.

That is the problem the Islamic world must deal with it if it wishes to avoid all out war with the west. The world of Christendom was able to undertake a reformation and rid itself of the blood-thirst that took it over. Luther and company were able to do this because the New Testament CLEARLY demonstrated that the leaders of the Church were no longer following true Christian doctrine. Islam is in dire need of a reformation. The problem is that those who wish to reform it will be very hard pressed to point out where the fundamentalists are not following true doctrine.

You may wish to ignore the fact that over 90% of the military conflicts on the face of the earth involve believers of Islam; tens of millions have been slaughtered in Islams name; and the Middle East is dominated by Islamic governments abating and supporting terrorism. Yes, you can ignore it but I won't; the religion plays a large role in why we fight today. Islam conflicts with the western ideals of freedom and equality; the very values that I cherish most.

I harbor no ill feeling toward people of peace regardless of the religion they choose to embrace. However, we are seeing a rise in Islamic fascism that is unparalleled in human history; even Nazi Germany takes a back seat to this form barbarism and brutality. To ignore its rise, to ignore the root cause and the violence it motivates, is to be irresponsible and naive.

We are at war with a culture inspired by Islam. I see it as a form or evil incarnated. You may not, that's your decision.

As stated previously; I hold no animosity against those who wish to live in peace. I welcome them by my side in the war against this evil form of fascism. Unfortunately, I don't see many standing to join the fight - their silence is deafening.

If the form of Islam you follow supports freedom of religion and its practice; freedom of speech; the separation of government and religious institutions; total equality among races; and total equality among the sexes than you have no argument with me. Unfortunately, for the average follower of Islam, that is the exception, not the norm.

So what, exactly, do you propose? Baptizing every Muslim in the hope that in finding Jesus they will repent and be saved? BS. It won't happen--ever. You are using your religion as a comparative source for something that doesn't apply to religion, essentially. Sure, these men operate under the guise of serving Allah. However, the "good guys" are not made up entirely of Bible thumping Christians who enjoy elevating themselves above the rest of the world under their OWN guise of morality and justice, modesty and truth. My problem seems to be that if they are taking the "godly" defense, so are you. We are not fighting this battle on a Christian battlefield, but a Western one, and even more specifically, an AMERICAN one. Hiding behind a man-made and man-imposed set of beliefs and rules is what you condemn them for....yet you are doing it yourself. I agree that freedom is cherished most by people in our country, however, you fail to mention them in the AMERICAN sense... but rather a Billy Graham-esque viewpoint which does more to glorify your religion than it does to demonize theirs. The WESTERN ideals are not necessarily CHRISTIAN ideals, proven so because there are many people living fruitful and happy lives in the Western world who are not Christian.

Also let me clarify. I am neither Muslim nor Christian. I do not subscribe to any set of beliefs that puts restrictions on arbitrary things in order to create meaning (such as fasting, original sin, meatless Fridays, and the like from ANY religion). Meaning for me comes from the heart, which, if it is pure, is a one way ticket to heaven or whatever it is that lies ahead.

I had only come across this website researching the latest beheading information. While these images provoke anger, rage, and even hate and want of violence inside of me, to resort to that state of mind is, to me, as bad as being one of the terrorists yourself. It is sad, it is a shame, but even if you kill every Muslim in the world it won't do any good. Violence is violence is violence...no matter who commits it. My worry is that those that are not as informed, or intellectual, will take these messages put forth by many of the posts I have read on this site to heart, and foster the growth of arrogance and hate without understanding. There have been SEVERAL hate crimes committed just in my area against Middle Easterners...and for no reason. Do they get the same, if any, coverage as a hate crime related to a member of another group? No! It's because of the collective mentality all Americans have adopted where hating what you don't understand because the news and everyone around you tells you to is the norm. I am in a college environment now (a senior thank you very much! here I come world!), and you would be extremely surprised how many of our youth that will be entering the workforce and society soon have been programmed to form an analogy between the word Muslim and the word Terrorist, the world Islam and the word HATE. If Jesus is your God then you should know...an eye for an eye is not the answer, and interpreted correctly, connotates that hating those that hate you is as immoral as any one of the myriad of sins that occur daily.

My question, then...
Are you defining this epic battle in terms of Christianity or American patriotism? Do you use your religion to supplement your belief in peace or justify your submission to hate? Do you feel militant Islam is a direct attack on Christianity, or on Americans collectively? And does Christianity define the Western world for you??