I would like to point out that given the correct circumstances, it's very easy to turn any group of people extremist. In any conflict, what you really want to avoid is creating that us-against-them mentality that taps into something tribal in the human instinct. Anger fuels anger. Hatred fuels hatred. Suddenly you have angry mobs on both sides going at each other's throats. It can get really, really ugly.
Well thank you very much for pointing that out, this is crucial..
We better focus on possible solutions than to have pointless argument about who is better than who, and full ourselves with that prejudice that destroys rather than build anything, that's why I basically dropped out of the discussion in this post on the first place..
I speak from first-hand experience: we had a political situation that divided the nation. People were angry. Emotions were high on both sides. Then someone in the midst of an angry crowd threw a rock. The next thing we knew, people were dying. And you'd be shocked at the number of normal, respectable good people who said "Well, they deserved it." A few voices of reason spoke up and reminded us not to abandon our humanity, but were quickly ridiculed for their rose-tinted glasses and drowned out by angry shouts. The violence continued, and more people died, and people got angrier and angrier. Then even more people died. I saw it happen, and it taught me a valuable lesson: when you're afraid, you're angry, and when you're angry, you cannot listen to reason.
This happened in every where in the world, WE ARE PEOPLE that's what people do, they conflict fight then learn a lesson then make peace.. And extreme troops have appeared everywhere in most of the religions, and the fact that Islamic troops gain so much power is because there are many circumstances aside from the religion and culture etc. that helped in that, and these factors are what we should work on..
I think the best thing to do right now is to not propel anymore of this us-against-them atmosphere that is going on. I think it's more important to stand united with non-violent sects and work with them against the violence. Throwing out blanket criticism of Islam as a whole is not going to achieve that.
I'm 28, I live in the Middle East, I've never been out of the Middle East in any point of my life, ( I wish I would never have to) I survived 3 wars and hoping to survive this 4th one, at least I'm in a better situation than those who live in the core of conflict..
I never met any terrorist or people with mass killing ideas in my whole life! I think many people outside Middle East are not understanding what's going on (neither do I to be honest)
But I can tell you from my experience from what I was taught and what I was brought up to believe, so we can make a better idea of what's going on, we never been taught at school that Islam is about killing others, never in school never at home, never in the Mosque, never at the media;
We were taught that we should respect other peoples' religion and they should respect our religion,I remember memorizing that chapter when I was at 1st grade
We were taught that a non Muslim living in our country is a citizen and to be protected, and we are all responsible for their safety because they fall under the minority's rights (ahl aldhimma)
We were taught that Abu Talib Mohammed's uncle never became a Muslim but we have a deep respect for him because he's a wise and generous man and with high ethical standards, I remember being taught that when I was 7th grade
We were taught that human beings are equal in humanity whether they're male or female, no matter what tribe they are from or ethnicity, and God created diversity so we could get to know one another, and the best of us is the closest to God (only God can decide that)
We should believe in Moses and Jesus as much as we believe in Mohammed..
We've been taught that different opinions within the religion is a mercy that God put upon us, because it enriches the society and should not been taken into a conflict or violate the main teachings of the religion..
We've been taught that killing is one of the seven biggest trespass
We were taught that smiling is the least good you could do to others..
We were taught that Muslims were refugees under a Christian African king who Mohammed told his fellow Muslims to go to him because he's a man that no one will be treated inequity under his terms, and those Muslims stayed there without making troubles..
We were taught that Jihad had specific limitations, and the biggest Jihad is fighting your inner evilness, and we should always avoid harming a life of any man or cause him a fear, because if you're killing a human being is killing the humankind, and if you give a life to a human being, you're giving a life to humankind, I remember exactly when I taught that at school at age 14 in the 8th grade..
Given that I'm a pretty good reader specially before I got married, but until I was 17 I've never heard of the idea of bloody Islamic history until some atheists and other non Muslim extremists minority's members brought up the subject on some websites and forums, and their stories is a complete opposite of what I've been and most average Muslims has been taught all their life, I of course started a journey of searching and reading and questioning my belief and arguing with my family who never heard about it and occasionally Islamic scholars until I was able to come to conclusions that made up my belief system..
Anyway the bottom line, I can comfortably say that I'm sure if I argue with the next Muslim sitting beside me about it he would have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm talking about, thus bringing those issues up specially that these are not from trusted sources is actually what popularize the aggression and spreading the ideas of violence and revenge etc. and if these Non Muslim people who are claiming Islam to be violent is just stop bringing that up, probably no one would ever have known about them..
And let's say the history is full of blood, OK? Now what's the best possible way to keep people away from it evilness? The best way is focusing only on good aspects and that's what we are doing at schools and society (though it seems to be not enough since there are 0.004% something of Muslim population are terrorists) and that's what some Islamophobics keep destroying by keep insulting the religion and bringing so much anger and racism on the surface..