For every vile sura or hadith you can show me I can show you one of peace and love. I'm also pretty sure I could hold an argument with you on your claim the old testament no longer applies, or maybe we can talk about why jews aren't doing what the OT commands as they have no NT.
I'm not sure of your current religious beliefs or lack thereof, but you really do come across as a life long atheist who has no experience in understanding the nuances of religious belief. As a believer/former believer you know perfectly well how people shape religion through their own eyes. My point with the KKK and Westboro (I won't go into the crimes against humanity christians are currently committing in the middle east and Africa and holding up a bible in justification) was to point out that, just as there is no such thing as christianity (singular) there are christianities (plural), there is no such thing as islam (singular), there are islams (plural). I've tried to communicate why being against "islam" isn't the way to go, and is indeed counter productive.
They lump all muslims into a catagory the same way islamists do "the kaffirs". Islam is a threat to the west no matter what and are absolutly no ally
Any muslim who stands up to islamists, insists on freedom of religion. the right to live your life as you see fit so long as you're not harming anyone and inside the law, is someone worth supporting.
It's also the reason I personally don't have a problem with "islam" (quotation marks intended
). The reason I feel it's not a threat is that islam isn't one thing. It is, as all ideologies and philosophies are, in the eye of the beholder.
Islam is no more or less a threat then any ideology, and having this anti islam/muslim narrative does nothing but leave the muslims we should be supporting feeling they have nowhere to turn and that they have to choose between being American/British/whatever and being muslim, and indeed plays directly into the hands of the villains.
And of course you yourself agreed with me that islam isn't something to worry about.
I also acknowledge that there are many wonderful muslim people who
have somehow found peace and enlightenment via Islam. Yusuf Islam (former Cat Stevens) is a lovely bloke and there are millions like him.
I really don't understand why someone from a christian background, especially one in America who lives with some very twisted people, justifying their perversions through the exact same book you have, is struggling with the idea that islam isn't a concern, and certainly not something to rally against, but that specific extreme discriminatory interpretations of islam are.