Islam is a peaceful religion.

The muslim world has been in a dark age for quite some time now and is full of fundamentalists. ~400 years ago people in europe said fuck off to religion and the church was forced to stop with their ritual killings and what not and adapt to what the people thought was right and wrong. Same will happen to islam as well as long as people don't leave it alone.

Religion is a choice just like any other and deserves no special treatment.

I think Islam is a peaceful religion. Part of the reason for Islamophobia is because of tensions between Israel and the other Arab nations in the Middle East. Since America is forced to support and back Israel, we receive some of the resentment and attacks from extremists.

What do you think the results would be if we were to ask people in Lebanon or Afghanistan "Do you think Judaism is a peaceful religion?"

I'd say the answers would be the same if we went to Israel and asked people there "Do you think Islam is a peaceful religion?"

True they may have been indoctrinated, but they were far from slaves. They were paid regularly, wore fancy uniforms which no one else had, and once they completed their service, they gained pension and land. Some of them gained high positions in the government, one even a Vizier. Their parents willingly sent them to become Janissaries in hope that they will bring fortune to the family.

Quick question: Under Islamic law, what is the penalty for apostasy?

As far as I'm concerned the only difference between a moderate and an extremist is that the moderates are waiting for God to annihilate the infidels, while the extremists take this task upon themselves.

One group is waiting for me to die and go to hell, while the other will just kill me out right. How can I truly co-exist with such people?

Death,of course.But before that,according to the law, we must preaches the person
and convinces him about Islam about three times,then if he still wants to commit apostasy,he will be sentenced to death for committing blasphemy.

Actually,both moderates and extremists learn from the same source,The Quran and Hadith.Those who actually understands the meaning will preaches in peace,not through violence.The Quran verified that the muslims said"we hear and we obey".The meaning of the words are muslims that have known truth and accepted faith from Islam will follow the orders and laws of Allah.But the Non-muslims said in the Quran:"we hear and disobey"and"we hear and ignore".These are non-Muslims that have been preached,have been shown the truth of Islam but ignored or disobeyed the truth are the people who need to be killed for denying true faith.

But,in my personal opinion,majority of non-Muslims have not heard the words of The Quran,or shown the truth and compassion of Islam or have been preached about Islam but yet they ignore and disobey are the people who we,Muslims cannot kill them.Because these non-Muslims do not "hear" yet the truth of Islam and they only know Islam from the media.This is where extremists should be blamed because they maybe killed those who fought against Islam but have no knowledge of Islam.In other words,they have not "hear" yet the truth.These kind of acts have completely denied the words of the Quran.

Yet,we actually preaches in peace and compassion.But extremists have gone too far
for being too prejudice toward non-Muslims.They should first preaches them,then the non-Muslim will understand.We give time for you to open your mind and think about the rational aspects of life related with Islam after you "heard" the truth.This is what we learned from Islam in preaching non-Muslims.

Meaning, "We preach in peace, but if you don't convert we're going to kill you."
>convert or die
>preaching with peace
lolno. Is this suppose to be a rational aspect of Islam, or was that a joke?

Those who commits apostasy in Islam must be sentenced to death if he still arrogantly wants to commit blasphemy even after the preach process have been done.
It's a punishment for those who betrayed Allah in arrogance.Unless if he repented,he will be safe and will be reassured with guidance.
For those who're non-Muslim who have been preached about Islam, it's up to him to make decision as the process of enlightment will be quite long.
In other words,Muslim who arrogantly commits blasphemy even after have been convinced about Islam will be punished for such betrayal.
While non-Muslims will be given time to open their mind toward Islam as they still new to the culture of Islam.

Personally,in this world,we have become intelligent enough to decide and I believe
that if Muslims try to make non-Muslims to understand Islam by using peace and non-Muslims coooperating in the process,There will be no violence.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Muslims aren't supposed to force someone else to follow Islam.

Is it apostasy if one who was born into a Muslim family who at birth was thereby deemed a Muslim makes a choice of his own of following no religion?

Yes,we are not supposed to force.That's why I said we give time to those who have been preached about Islam to make their own decision.Of course,if you want to talk about religion, you must be ready to be enlightened.
Yes, that is apostasy and that person must be convinced and reassured about Islam.
This case usually occurs in a Muslim family who does not practices the Islamic way of life.

If a man or woman was born into Islam, but never actually shared those values or beliefs, it's pretty assuring he or she would be considered an apostate.

If apostates are to be "convinced" to follow the muslim ways, or otherwise face death, isn't it also safe to say that they're being forced to be a muslim?

Isn't that actually contradictory to your previous statements, and so-called "values" of Islam?

I don't like the terms of"force".But,you are right.We are firm in our teachings and our laws and cultures sometimes do not synchronize with secular system.But,of course,we need to show these peoples the cultures of Islam as we also responsible for leaving the person to be astray.You don't want a betrayer in your army in times of war,don't you?

And who is Islam at war with?

No.That is just an analogy.What I really mean is you don't want a betrayer in your community.So either you reassure him back with guidance or if he still being arrogant to commit blasphemy,he will be sentenced to death.Oh,don't worry.The process of reassurance usually given a very long time to enlighten him back.We really hope our own brother would not do that as we,Muslims are brothers of faith.And we will try our best to make him convinced back.If he still arrogant,by the law of Islam,we need to sentence him.We never want to do that,but oneself must keep their faith strong and he have to remember his brothers and sisters will do their best to guide him.

A religion who doesent respect other peoples opinions and faith and threatens to kill them if they dont belive the same religion as they do, IS NO BETTER than DICTATORSHIP.

Anything in excess is always bad. The same holds true for religion. There is no doubt in my mind that Islam is a peaceful religion; hell, I took a class on its history last semester. Muslim extremists, just like any other religious extremists, simply take the basic pillars of the religion and run with it to the ridiculous extreme.

Now, the problem is people who base their entire opinion of the religion on the actions of extremists instead of the majority of the peaceful followers. That's a problem a lot of the world has, and frankly the only way to cure the world of that problem is to sit its tush in a class and learn some basic history and the foundations of the religion.

In retrospect, this can apply to almost any religion out there. Almost, because there are just some religions that don't make a lick of sense or don't deserve recognition as legitimate ways to live life.

If everyone goes around committing blasphemy to God and we let them go because of respecting their opinion,this world will be in chaos.That is why we have laws which are strict and firm.What if this world does not have laws?People can go stealing money from other people just like that and we don't do anything because of"respecting their opinion".It is cruel,right?
Same goes here.It is cruel for a person to commit blasphemy.But yet we still give him reassurance and convince him back to return.
As for forcing other non-Muslims converting to Islam,that is not our way.
There is no force in religion.It's their decision.
You accept Islam,we give you our most warm welcome.But if you do not,we shall leave you in peace.

YouTube Ancient Aliens. Enough Said.

Can I just say that nearly every religion has it's own MAJOR flaws, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and more all have fairly bloody histories to say the least. Maybe polytheism would be the way to go. No reason to kill someone over who's God is THE God when you have thousands.

It is difficult to make people understand.But worth my time.