Hi Gabriella,
Deep faith can have many positive outcomes such as we have seen among Christian Missionaries. But if it always has only negative outcomes in the form of destruction, killings and so on...there is something amiss there.
It is not as if such atrocities by Muslims have been isolated incidents or specific to a region or a period in time. No! They have been almost a natural part of Islam from its origins till date, across the world.... regardless of what the Koran may or may not say.
Individual terrorists and organisations like ISIS are only symptoms of a deeper problem. What the problem is, is something only those Muslims who are free from this destructive mindset can and should analyse.
Hi Sriram - yes if you choose to be ignorant of historical context, I can see why you would reach that conclusion.
If Muslims were the only people empire-building in certain parts of the world during the periods of history you are referring to then you would have a point about Islam. If 7th century Arabia was a a peaceful place and there had not been an ongoing war between the Byzantine empire and the Persian empire on its borders for most of the 6th century and early part of the 7th century, your theory about warmongering Muslims would have some credibility.
Also, coming to modern times, if oil had not been discovered in the Middle East, if European colonialism and the Cold War hadn't happened, your above opinion might be worth considering.
But given the historical facts, your sweeping generalisations about Islam e.g. "it always has only negative outcomes in the form of destruction, killings and so on" has nothing of any substance worth discussing. That you feel this way about Islam and Muslims is your problem, which you will have to take responsibility for and see if you can tell yourself to not be so silly in future.
