I'll answer.
Saudi Arabia - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death. Bibles are illegal. Churches are illegal.
Yemen - Bans proselytizing by non-Muslims and forbids conversions. The Government does not allow the building of new non-Muslim places of worship.
Kuwait - Registration and licensing of religious groups. Members of religions not sanctioned in the Koran may not build places of worship. Prohibits organized religious education for religions other than Islam.
Egypt - Islam is the official state religion and primary source of legislation. Accordingly, religious practices that conflict with Islamic law are prohibited. Muslims may face legal problems if they convert to another faith. Requires non-Muslims to obtain what is now a presidential decree to build a place of worship.
Algeria - The law prohibits public assembly for purposes of practicing a faith other than Islam. Non-Islamic proselytizing is illegal, and the Government restricts the importation of non-Islamic literature for distribution.
Jordan - Has the death penalty for any Muslim selling land to a Jew.
Sudan - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death.
I do agree that it is a sad state of affairs. However:
Their culture may have something to do with it. It may also be secular nationalism, trying to defend their nation's sovreignty. I've researched it a little from both sides and that seems more likely to be the case. However, I do agree that they go too far to boost morale and support by invoking jihad. It would almost be similar to "what happened if France invaded us? Of course, we would fight back (and most likely win!).
It is also a investigation of what happens when the government adopts a religion as their own (often known as a theocracy). The official religion may more or less reflect the majority, but it can still cause serious harm. This is the current trend in in most of the middle east. Medieval Europe had tendencies like this, but that is in the past, and we do deserve to be forgiven. It is also interesting how not only do they tend to adopt _islam_, but they are more specific in the branch. Akin to Christianity, islam also has variations, like shi'ite, kurdish, sunni, suphi, etc. In fact, Saddam adopted Sunni Islam as the state religion, and barbarically persecuted all others, even though they were still muslims. This kind of thing was also why the puritains fled England and founded our great country. They believed that the nation should work for everybody, not simply the majority. Fortunately, Iraq's fledgling democracy there more accurately reflects the population, but there is still the danger of a feud/civil war (the shi'ites and kurds have a vendetta angainst the Sunnis). We can see this in the tragic state of affairs when peace keepers are killed by a car bomb. The (now deposed) Sunnis are the branch responsible for this, because they fear a similar persecution by the shi'ites.
PS I am trying to be as objective as possible to enhance our knowledge and understanding. I do happen to be very conservative in my beliefs (I am a libertarian). I also happen to believe that pretty much all the policies adopted by democrats have been either misguided or effected poorly. However, I don't think any point of view is absolutely perfect. Even if you don't listen to me, do perform your own research. You may find something novel to add. However, take everything with a grain of salt, and always investigate your source's motives! At the least, you can use my comments to strengthen your own arguments.