Islam: peace or wrath?

Is it just me, or does it seem like the whole western world is giving Islam a giant pass when it comes to holding this religion accountable to what it teaches?

Here's the most recent example: a Muslim man, in America, cut off his wife's head after she asked for a divorce. Ironically, this happens to be the very man who founded a TV station devoted to countering the public perception that Islam encourages violence. Read the story here.

Islam experts claim this has the markings of an honor killing, which is a right of a Muslim man to kill a female relative, (without question according to Sharia Law) if she has done something to dishonor the family name. A divorce request from a wife falls into that category.

This comes after the headlines about the Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who made the anti-Islamic video called "Fitna" - a fifteen-minute film that juxtaposes Islamic texts calling for killing, along with scenes from 9/11 and other violent terrorist acts. This guy is being attacked for hate speech. What did he do? He put together a video with scenes of Imams (Islamic teachers) preaching hate and violence against westerners, and added texts from the Quran (the Islamic religious book) that commands the killing of non-Muslims. The video is almost entirely made up of Islamic teaching and texts, and Wilders is attacked for hate speech against Muslims.

Am I missing something here? Didn't Wilders just connect the dots? The only hate speech in the video is from Islamic teachers and the Quran calling for death and destruction of non-Muslims. There wasn't even any stretching - he packaged certain Islamic ideas all together in one spot. Here's just one article about it.

Don't worry though. There were plenty of Muslims who made a move to prove him wrong by threatening to kill him. He now requires 24-hour security because of all the death threats he's been getting.

There are some other very disturbing teachings of Islam that are hidden away and not discussed by Muslims or the media. Things such as vigilante justice, polygamy, views on rape, and the goal for global dominance, just to name a few. To get an idea of the worldview of Islam I suggest reading Nonie Darwish's book Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law. The author is a former Muslim who spent the first thirty years of her life in Egypt, under Islamic Law.

Another disturbing view is how Islam divides the world. To Islam, there is only two kinds of places in the world. The first is called The House of Islam. This is all the countries that live under Islamic rule and law, called Sharia. The rest of the world is called The House of War. In other words, any country or place that isn't ruled by an Islamic government, is considered a place of siege. You can read more on this in Bernard Lewis' objective book called The Crisis of Islam. (Lewis is a renowned professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University.)

Now, having said all this, I know what some people may be saying: "There has been much bloodshed in the name of Christ as well. All people are evil and prone to use a religious system as justification of violence." I agree. Horrible things have been done in the name of Christendom. Christ never would have consented to it. People are evil and are capable of gross violence for the sake of advancing their own enterprises.

But here's the difference: When people who profess to be Christian commit violence and crime of this type it goes against what their Bible teaches them. But what do you do with a religion that encourages violence? When a Muslim abuses his wife and commits violence against innocent "infidels," his religious texts claim there is reward for the Muslim. He is in direct line with what his teachings call for. He may be violent, but he is no hypocrite.

Even from the very beginning Mohammad set an example for violence. He began his movement by killing nearly 800 Jews in Medina for not converting to his new religion. He and his followers made their living from raiding caravans in the desert. Muslims are quick to point out that he took Mecca peacefully, but that was only because he was marching there with an army intent on attacking. To avoid bloodshed, Meccan authorities surrendered to him.

Compare this with Jesus' life and teachings and the contrast is startling: Jesus condemned violence, taught turning the other cheek, encouraged to give Caesar his taxes, encouraged love and self-sacrifice and eventually died a cruel death for his people.

Mohammad had thirteen wives (his favorite whom he married when she was only nine years old) and fought many battles, taking women and children as booty. Yes, there are people in the Bible who did the same thing, but (a) it was never encouraged, only recorded and (b) Jesus is our example, not anyone else.

The point I'm getting at is, it is the history and texts of Islam that present a problem, and not the Muslims in themselves. People need to understand that something must be done about the teachings of Islam that incite hatred and violence - and until something changes within the core teaching, Muslims will be able to commit violence and claim that it was only in harmony with their worldview.