As I have often observed, the root of semitic words are the consonants: salam (peace) and islam (submission) have the same root, slm. The “Islam is a religion of peace” and “Islam means peace” are not lies to a Muslim but rather betray what from the perspective of a Christian, Jew or Western secularist is the severely defective conception of peace held by Muslims: there is no analogue of “the peace of God which passes all understanding” in Islam; there are no negotiated peaces in worldly affairs, only “hudnat”, pauses in warfare; the only peace Islam understands is the peace between the conqueror and the conquered, between master and slave — to the Muslim peace always involves submission.
Thus a Muslim can assert either “Islam is a religion of peace” and “Islam means peace” in good conscience, and is only being deceptive if he or she says this to hearers whom the speaker knows will misinterpret the statement because they hold a non-Islamic understanding of peace. Muslims being remarkably resistant to understanding non-Muslim points of view, it is unclear how often these things are actually said as deliberate deceptions. I suspect less often than most FReepers think is the case.
One is reminded of the Russian “mir,” which means both “peace” and “fortified city.”
You are correct but the intricacies don’t really matter ,, it’s going to be “us or them” in the end.