England

How quickly we degenerated in the first few comments on this thread from Februs's well-spoken and accurate depiction of the problem (Islam & liberal ideology) to the personal attacks posted by someone else.

It's the same pervasive liberal ideology which makes it politically correct for this person to attack and characterize anyone with conservative values as being guilty of "hated, bigotry and discrimination."

And to answer this person's 1st question, I'd say "No." There are undoubtedly people raised in a Muslim country or family who (out of fear) give lip service and follow the outward trappings of Islam without being a true follower. But I believe for anyone who embraces the ideology, there is basically no difference between "Islam" in general and "radical Islam." The only difference I see is that "regular" Islamists are biding their time until they have the numbers and strength to take over and kill all of us who resist; while the "radicals" are too impatient to wait and will kill a few of us now.

People, please don't get bogged down with the religiousness of terror attacks.

As an ex-serviceman (serving 25 years in the British Army) I have been in close contact with quite a few terror incidents, including Northern Ireland (NI)

It's not so much group or society ideology that's the problem but the actions of INDIVIDUALS that need to be addressed. HOW it's addressed is another matter.

For example, in NI, there were individuals who wanted to force others to their way of thinking and used violence and terror to accomplish their ends. But at the same time, some of those individuals were simple criminals who used the same tactics to extort money from businesses.

I think everyone should forget what religion or ideology people have when committing 'terror attacks' and concentrate on identifying and stopping them.
How this may be accomplished I will leave to people a lot smarter (and more influential) than me!.

Oh, that was a bit harsh, wasn't it? No matter how strongly I dislike religions, I have not found that in any of them. I have lived among Hindus, Buddhists, different kinds of Christians (I write different because it's extremely important to some Catholics and Anglicans what type of Christian you are and have often heard that I'm not a true Christian because I was born a Lutheran) and Muslims and I have never met that. Like everybody else, 99% of the Muslims just want to do their lame traditional induced praying without putting too much thought into it. It's the one percent that is the problem and that problem is the same in the whole world. It is low educated young men without a future in society. Before, they could serve in some army and die on the battlefield, be sent on a crusade or work as slaves in mines, but the world isn't like that any longer. So, in my view, more education, better social welfare, cut education costs for students, promote education, ensure that young people from difficult areas get support to get away from their situation and get a job, work against drugs, have more cultural interaction, make everybody a part of society. It's easier said than done I know, but I think it's the right road ahead. If we all isolate us in our own nations and have borders drawn up following religious beliefs, we'll end up just like we always have - vicious nationalism, all problems blamed on the other nations, all out war and hundreds of millions of people dead.

I couldn't disagree more. I've no axe to grind in terms of political outlook or religious beliefs myself but the cold hard facts are that the root cause of nearly all the atrocities we are witnessing is based on a vile ideology that seeks to subjugate. Why people feel the need to tiptoe around it baffles me... maybe if we stopped calling it a religion and called it an ideology or cult people would be less defensive about it.

And if you want to stop something (i.e. repeated terrorist acts in the name of Allah) you need to understand what's causing it. I'd recommend that all those arguing that these terror attacks are 'nothing to do with Islam' spend some time to familiarise themselves with the Quran and then they might be less surprised as to why we have ISIS and all that surrounds it. I'd also recommend looking at the history of Islam and it's total and absolute intolerance to all other religions, belief systems and ideologies. Islam is never going to assimilate or moderate. Anyone that believes that it is, I would suggest is seriously misguided.

I'd also echo what Ryan Rowland said in regards to 'radical' Islam. I don't see any distinction between so-called moderate Islam and radical Islam, they are one and the same. The only difference is the extent to which one carries out the edicts outlined in the Quran. It's shades of grey not black and white.

It's pointless and unhelpful to argue on the basis of what some other religion has done in the past or whether some other poisonous ideology killed lots of people too. The fact is [insert whichever descriptive term you prefer] Islam is here and now and fuelling terrorist acts on almost a daily basis. I can't speak for other countries and cultures but I feel my own country is never going to recover from the blight that is currently affecting it.

That was the personal slogan of police Sergeant Stan Jablonski [played by Robert Prosky] on "Hill Street Blues."

--C.K.

If so, it's because the truth is sometimes harsh. I think the mistake that many people make is to look at Islam as if it was a "religion" and believe that we must respect it for that reason. Actually, for devout followers (who go beyond their "lame traditional induced praying," as you put it), it's a combination religious, political, & judicial ideology that is barbaric and completely incompatible with civilized nations.

It's true that atrocities have been committed in the name of other religions, e.g. Christianity, but that has been by people who have perverted their religion into something that was never intended. Christians are told to proclaim their message and, if some people reject it, "shake off the dust under your feet" and move on. It's not the true Christians who are the problem. No one can be made a Christian by force.
With Islamists, on the other hand, the problem is with those who follow literally its teachings to conquer by force and kill unbelievers.

Not so sure about that. Surely there are moderate Muslims who wish to live in peace and to some extent at least, integrate with us. I can't see much of a link between the guys at the local curry house and those who go around killing innocent people in the name of Allah. Nothing wrong in religion as such, although I did choke on my Horlicks when I heard some chap say on Newsnight the other day that he loved Allah more than he loved his son. Doesn't he ever think that there might not be anyone there? No Allah! No God! Maybe even no tooth fairy! I am an agnostic so I keep an open mind. There is no cause however noble that doesn't become corrupted when blood is shed in its name. If people could only remember that the world would be a better place. Something radical has to be done about Islamic extremists. We can't go on pussyfooting around and pretend that Islam isn't a huge part of the problem.

Thanks, looked it up seemed cool prog, some weird characters in it, dammit sounds like biopic of my friends/family

Very true. The BBC is the main culprit with all this "We are one, We are strong, get a tattoo, light a candle" crap. It annoys me beyond words.

The issue is not whether we call it a religion or an ideology. The issue is that the religion that it is being ascribed to doesn't actually profess that ideology, except in a small radicalized subgroup. 99% of Muslims do not seek to subjugate, and seek to live peacefully with their neighbors.

Saying that Islam is all about subjugation and terrorism is as wrong as saying that all Christians want to obliterate homosexuals. Some do (and some exercise that desire in terrorist ways) and they get it straight out of the Old Testament, but 99% of Christians reject that ideology despite it being written in their holy book.

There's plenty of horrible, racist, misogynist, homophobic, etc. stuff in the Christian and Jewish holy books. It's not just the Quran. How many times does the Old Testament talk about wiping out the enemies of God's "chosen" people? Have you ever read the Book of Esther? It's horrific. The problem isn't with any of the religions that hold these books holy. The problem is the radicals who take any of those books literally and don't evolve with the times.

The Muslims I know in real life are lovely, kind, peace-loving people who are as horrified as the rest of us (more really) at what a few radical do "in the name of Allah"

Moderate Muslims do not follow literally what is in their holy book any more than most Jews or Christians follow literally what is in theirs.