>"It all depends on what part of holy texts you want to emphasize."<
Blind Eye,
There are hundreds of thousands of verses that pertain to the advocation of violence in the Islamic religion. The thrust of Islam is violence.
The thrust of Christianity is peace. Violence was NOT advocated by Jesus, and the fact that he drove the money changers out of the temple? He didn't harm them physicaly, in any way. Look it up.
In the case of Muhammad, he killed and tortured his enemies on a regular basis. Here is one such instance where he had some ex-Muslims (unbelievers) hands and feet cut off, then he poked out their eyes with red hot spikes:
Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Number 261:
-"Eight men of the tribe of 'Ukil came to the Prophet and then they found the climate of Medina unsuitable for them....
...and they became unbelievers after they were Muslims. When the Prophet was informed by a shouter for help, he sent some men in their pursuit, and before the sun rose high, they were brought, and he had their hands and feet cut off.
Then he (Muhammad) ordered for nails, which were heated and passed over their eyes, and they were left in the Harra (i.e. rocky land in Medina). They asked for water, and nobody provided them with water till they died."
Dennisw; I know you know all this info on the subject, but I disagree with you on one point: Muhammad started out preaching Christianity only as a vehicle to conquer the the various tribes, and bring them into his control. The only peaceful verses in the Quran are those that are in fact stolen from the Old Testament.
The Quran is a jumbled up mess of scriptures, difficult to translate from it's Arabic, and is in fact doctored and altered in mny cases.
Blind Eye;
Here are some links to stories and documentation from some ex-Muslims, who know what it's all about. I'll take the words of those who were in the religion, whose families were in the religion, and have lived their entire existence in the Muslim culture, over someone who merely knows a few Muslims, and therefore thinks they know something about Islam. Ibn Warraq and Dr. Ali Sina are both Arab experts on Islam, as they grew up in the Islamic world. You, my FRiend, did not.
Regards
Dr Ali Sina; "Why I left Islam"
http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/why_i_left_islam.htm
Ibn Warraq: "Why I am Not A Muslim"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/549787/posts
http://www.prophetofdoom.net/
Ibn Warraq: "The Totalitarian Nature of Islam"
http://www.secularislam.org/humanrights/totalitarian.htm "Bolshevism combines the characteristics of the French Revolution with those of the rise of Islam." "Marx has taught that Communism is fatally predestined to come about; this produces a state of mind not unlikethat of the early successors of Mahommet." Among religions, Bolshevism is to be reckoned with Mohammedanism rather than with Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism are primarily personal religions, with mystical doctrines and a love of contemplation. Mohammedanism and Bolshevism are practical, social, unspiritual, concerned to win the empire of this world." ~ Russell
Ibn Warraq:
"Perhaps it was Charles Watson who first described Islam as totalitarian in 1937, and proceeded to show how: "By a million roots, penetrating every phase of life, all of them with religious significance, it is able to maintain its hold upon the life of Moslem peoples. "Bousquet, one of the foremost authorities on Islamic Law, distinguishes two aspects of Islam which he considers totalitarian: Islamic Law, and the Islamic notion of Jihad which has for its ultimate aim the conquest of the entire world, in order to submit it to one single authority. We shall consider jihad in the next chapter, here we shall confine ourselves to Islamic Law.
Islamic Law has certainly aimed at "controlling the religious, social and political life of mankind in all its aspects, the life of its followers without qualification, and the life of those who follow tolerated religions to a degree that prevents their activities from hampering Islam in any way"