Is Islam a religion of love and peace?

Yeah Crimson point taken, I'd forgotten that! but there is a Christian fundamentalist element in America that is bordering on barmy! However, it was contained to the States and I don't think a fatwa was taken out against John Lennon, nor did he have to go into hiding as Salman Rusdie did even if the FBI did have a file on him!

Mind you, remember what happened in America when John Lennon said The Beatles were more popular than God. So you'd think the Americans [more so than us; think of The Life of Brian for example] would be more sensitive to he muslim mentallity.

It appears that reactionary Muslims will look for any excuse to be insulted and I for one find it really boring watching these regular kicking off fests that seems to be occurring all over the globe. They know that this film was made by some shadowy agitator in America who took it upon himself to stir things up and has been heavily criticised by Obama and Hillary Clinton, but of course that's not good enough for them any excuse to have a go at the Great Satan and Western allies. Yes the West has a lot to answer for we shouldn't have gone into Iraq and they also know a lot of us didn't want our respective governments to do that. Although I have to say they are quite selective in their condemnation of their "brothers" being slaughtered, I haven't heard too much Muslim criticism of the appalling goings on in Darfur, where I think a Muslim militia was responsible for the slaughter of many of their fellow Muslims. I'm a sort of on/off Catholic, Christianity can be criticised and pilloried, and quite rightly in some instances, without it's followers going raving nuts. Can't remember who said something along the lines of "I hate what you say, but I defend your right to say it" We do have free speech and we have to continue with that we can't always pussyfoot around the sensibilities of minorities, particularly if they choose to be insulted all the time. They choose to live in a free Western society with all the benefits of free speech then they should also be prepared to accept the way certain things are enshrined in our laws.

All major faiths teach love and tolerance. Unfortunately they also have ambiguous verses in their Holy Books that can be translated to mean whatever someone wants them to mean.

Nick Cohen is right in this article: Nothing, however vile, justifies censorship

No religion is a religion of love and peace only. All of them have some stupid and/or restrictive rules, and all of them contain members who seem to be ever on the look out for opportunities to take offence at something or other.

sorry for bad typing. shoudl be doing other things!

Agree with jane. It's the individuals practicing the religion who mya be inclinded to love and peace - or not.

But Sharia law doesn't exactly strike me as being loving, or even sensible. (I think that's part of muslim-ism, isn't it?)

I think you have pin pointed the big problem, absent - we don't understand the Muslim mind. All of us would resent insults to our family, but we would not murder the perpetrator.

Although the three so-called great religions have much in common, I think for both Jews and Moslems their religion has a greater immediacy than Christianity does for Christians. Certainly for many Jews when they talk of Abraham and Isaac, it is as if they are discussing close relatives who have recently died. I think most if not all Moslems bitterly resent insults to the Prophet in exactly the same way as they would resent insults to a member of their family. I know there have been instances of extreme offence taken about what Christians view as blasphemy – that Martin Scorsese film, for example, and that talk show opera thing on the television – but generally they just shrug their shoulders and ignore it. While I am far from condoning these acts violence spreading across the Moslem world, I think we actually fail to understand the strength of genuine feeling generated by such things as the Danish cartoons and the American movie trailer.

Come on, Lilygran - do give us the benefit of your thoughts - otherwise, why bother posting? We are not mind readers!

Lost for words!

Reactionary Muslims are to love and peace what Tony Blair is to socialism! Digressing her but just reading in the Times about his big fat property portfolio.

Could education be the answer?

The reasons are probably similar to the reasons why for many years Protestant and Catholic Christians have butchered each other in Northern Ireland.
I think the real question is why some individuals are more easily indoctrinated and manipulated than others.