Background:

A surprisingly good overview by CNN: Bill Maher's Muslim problem

Weighted Muslim Population Distribution Map

Distribution Of The 2 Main - And Generally Opposing - Sects of Islam

Note:  There few thousand (or hundred thousand or so) radical Muslims in a population of 1.57 billion Muslims.

Ben Affleck calls Bill Maher’s views on Islam ‘racist’ and ‘gross’
Chris Hayes examines a heated exchange between the two celebrities on their views on Islam.

Real Time with Bill Maher: Ben Affleck, Sam Harris and Bill Maher Debate Radical Islam (HBO)

2:20 has to be my favorite moment with Bill Maher shrugging and Ben Affleck exclaiming "Jesus.
This was in response to "Islam is the mother load of bad ideas" - Listen to white guy in second video below.

2:50 "people standing up to them like Malala or...' (bunch of other studies not covered in the media as it would be the opposite of smearing which is the media's current goal)

At 4:05 the guy comes with an interesting idea that i might be inclined to agree with (te Muslim world is going through a dark age, not as bad as the Christian dark age with burning of witches and all, but a dark age nevertheless). 

It's important to understand 2 things about that idea 1. He estimates it at 20% which seems fair to me. 2. Holding strange beliefs is normal for large human populations, for example;

One in four Americans think Obama may be the antichrist, survey says - Poll asking voters about conspiracy theories reveals alarming beliefs – including 37% believing global warming to be a hoax 

Quarter of Republicans Think Obama May Be the Anti-Christ 

A5 6:10 the Michael Steele does get it right that the media doesnt cover important stuff making most news a sort of smear campaign (one which Bill Maher has been witnessing for years already and probably doesn't realize it yet).

7:50 Ben Afflek is right we look at Iraq etc. and think oooops we made a mistake and don't even carry out an investigation(the last part is me).

At no point did they cover economic situations of those involved. It's touched upon in the second video below.

I'm very confused where Bill Maher is getting the 90% figure on how Muslims feel about someone leaving thier religion. Oh! Nevermind. Found it. From CNN:

Maher then cited a Pew Research poll that he claimed found that 90% of Egyptians supported the death penalty for those who left Islam. I'm not sure where Maher got his numbers, but a 2013 Pew poll actually found only 64% of Egyptians supported this -- still alarmingly high, but not 90%.


Another useful extractfrom CNN:

More importantly, Egypt does not define the Muslim world. Rather, Egypt is simply one of 47 Muslim-majority nations. That same poll found that in Turkey, a nation that has almost as many Muslims as Egypt, less than 5% supported the death penalty for leaving Islam. Maher also has left out that only 13 Muslim nations have penalties for apostasy, while 34 do not.

So who truly defines Islam? To Maher, clearly it's the worst of our faith. That's something you would expect to hear from a far-right bigot, not a liberal.

Maher's remarks dismayed American Muslims across the country but won applause from all the hosts on Fox News' "The Five." When you're a progressive and a gaggle of Fox News hosts praises your views, you know something is seriously wrong.

Note: On the belief that individual Muslims should be out fighting the rhetoric of fundamentalists... first off, it's a Fox News endorsed belief (with Muslims under death threats from Christians supporting them) and secondly, individuals of any culture tend to be cowards. Only the masses are brave. Bill Maher thinks he's brave because he has free speech in a world where he can speak freely. He would turn tail like a coward if he ever had to face any real difficulties;

On Topic - Political Parties - The Democratic Party: Stephen knows that when someone misbehaves, it's natural to assume that person is a Democrat.

Ben Affleck blasts Bill Maher over perception of Islam
A heated conversation between actor Ben Affleck, author Sam Harris and TV Host Bill Maher highlighted the ongoing battle against ISIS, and the impact the group has on the world’s view of Islam. Michael Eric Dyson, Dean Obeidallah and James Paterson discuss. 

Aslan: Maher 'not very sophisticated'

Related post: The Strange & Unusual Smear Campaign Against Muslims & Islamic States 

Why Bill Maher's Defense of Muslim-Bashing Just Doesn’t Make Any Sense
For all his odes to liberal ideals, Maher's latest effort to demonize Muslims reveals a disturbing, illiberal truth.

Atheism, Islam and liberalism: This is what we are really fighting about... The debate raging in American culture boils down to an even simpler divide than you think

Meet Some of America's Most Dangerous Islamophobes—You Might Be Shocked Who They Are

When Ben Affleck and Bill Maher Debate Islam, Everyone Loses

Bill Maher on Paris Attack: 'There Are No Great Religions—They're All Stupid and Dangerous'
"I'm asking liberals to turn toward the truth."

10 of the Worst Terror Attacks by Extreme Christians and Far-Right White Men
Most of the terrorist activity in the U.S. in recent years has not come from Muslims, but from radical Christianists, white supremacists and far-right militia groups.

Hey Bill Maher, Being Liberal Doesn't Excuse You From Islamophobia - A look at why the comedian seems to have so much animus against Muslims.

15 New Rules That Bill Maher Should Adopt When He Talks About Islam on His TV Show
Things tend to get ugly when the Middle East comes up on Maher's HBO show.

Bill Maher and Salman Rushdie Praise Muslims for Condemning Attacks, but Blame Islam’s ‘Bad Ideas’ - The Real Time host continues his criticism of Islam.

The Daily Show discusses the idea that Muslims need to condemn every act done in the name of their religion:

The Condemnologists - Following an insensitive tweet from Rupert Murdoch about Muslims, Jason Jones, Jessica Williams and Hasan Minhaj condemn those responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack. (5:41):

An introduction to the sort of crybabies athiests tend to be. 

The Daily Show: Culture War Update - The Dividening of America - American Atheists vs. Ground Zero Cross - The American Atheists organization files a lawsuit to exclude a steel beam Ground Zero cross from the 9/11 memorial, suggesting a giant atom sculpture instead. (2:56):

My theory, since college, has been that they encountered the various discrepancies between their religion & science and it broke their faith. So they have been throwing a tantrum ever since ... minds completely closed except to the most simplistic explanations. Maybe, in their minds, the hurtful lies of Santa becomes the hurtful lie of religion, with it's primary myth making aspect ignored as "irrelevant". Interestingly enough, I haven't noticed a corresponding pattern in the Muslim world. 

The Daily Show: Discriminatory Diner Discounts - Jordan Klepper investigates claims that a restaurant in North Carolina is discriminating against its atheist patrons by offering a specific discount. (5:47):

Bill Maher On Pakistan:

Maher: Pakistan Punishes Blasphemy with Death, but I’m Wrong on Islam?

Bill Maher is wrong... the blaspheme law was adopted from British Law from it's colonial days (probably not to seem below the mighty British the Muslims in India-Pakistan said 'we will punish people for Blaspheme as well, see we are no less than the British') 

"...But they uttered blasphemy ... if they repent, it will be best for them, but if they turn back, Allah will punish them...." [Holy Qur'an 9:74] (i.e. it's not the Muslim Believers responsibility to punish blasphemers. This misconception is because of a lack of Muslim Leadership - most probably haven't read the Quran like the Christians with their Bible - Bill Maher is neither... technically he's a "Christian Atheist" from the  "Constitutional Era of Human History" as future historians will probably see it. It is not the job of a believer to do God's job for him. That a sign of pride, ego & arrogance to assume to know the will of God.)

Turns out the Blasphemy Law in Pakistan is actually a modern rendition of Ancient British Law!

When were Pakistan's blasphemy laws adopted? What fueled them?

 According to the public policy think tank Jinnah Institute, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws originated in British colonial laws drafted in 1860 to protect religious beliefs and customs.

In the 1980s, under the rule of hardline Islamist and military dictator Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the laws were amended to include life imprisonment and the death penalty.

Zia-ul-Haq accused previous governments of leading the country away from the principles of Islam and openly stated his mission to return Pakistan to a conservative Islamist state. Zia-ul-Haq’s reign is widely viewed as the “Islamization” of Pakistan.

Critics say that soon after the blasphemy law was amended under Zia-ul-Haq, many accusers began misusing the law and exploiting Pakistan’s ineffective justice system to settle personal scores and persecute minorities.

The Jinnah Institute says nine cases of blasphemy were reported in Pakistan between 1929 and 1982. Over the past 15 years, the number of cases has reached into the thousands.


Update - Jan 16 2015:

Although I'm right about the origin of the law in the 60 year old Pakistan, turns out the blaspheme law is even older than I thought (which makes sense, given some of the saints stories I remember). It's a remnant of the medieval age, a period I haven't studied much. Dealing with this tradition has to come from within the Islamic States themselves. Just keep in mind that the main thing the Quran has to say about the other "people of the book" is that their religious texts have been corrupted... so allowing a medieval interpretation to subsume the facts is bad for Muslims - from the Quran's point of view. 

Has Islam been interpreted incorrectly?
Does Islam have a problem with blasphemy? Mustafa Akyol says interpretations of the Quran that punishes blasphemy with death are purely “man-made.”

Another translation mistake (it's 72 raisins NOT 72 virgins):

The Daily Show: Fareed Zakaria says suicide bombers get 72 white raisins, not 72 virgins. (6:41):

For a while Fox News has been maintaining an all out smear campaign against Muslims which began with George Bush's 'Crusade' speech, right after 9/11 (amidst thunderous applause) , when the population was most traumatized and least able to think clearly. 

First an outline of the basic hypocrisy of the smear campaign, followed by a scriptural comparison to show the religious hypocrisy and then a look at the smear campaign in it's current form.

Note: Most Muslim Countries have "Islamic State" in their title, though it's not on the commonly used world maps.

 In the Name of the Fodder: The Fox News rapid-response team distinguishes violence in the name of a religion from the practitioners of that religion -- as long as it's Christianity.  (05:17) ... 

It gets better...

O'Reilly declares... "Andre is not Christian as you don't kill in that faith"

Yet... from Andre: "Considering the fact that my martyrdom operation draws ever closer I decided to bring one to enjoy with my extended family at our annual Christmas party in December."

Even historically...

"Augustine Gave the policy of persecution his personal approval, supplied theological justification, concern heresy and schism rather that paganism. We ought to be careful about those converted through the sword, those who accepted Christianity for political or social advantage. Scarcely ever is Jesus thought for His own sake."

[Note: Accusing someone of heresy means death in the old world, if believed. Augustine condemned a whole sect, i.e. he authorized genocide] 

Other famous terrorists from a Christian background (i.e. "Christian Terrorists" or "Radical Christians") include Timothy McViegh & Hitler, i.e. no matter how much Christians try and distance themselves from Muslims, their histories run parallel to each other... both are Abrahamic traditions form the desert & desert tribes are notoriously savage. What Christians have to do to keep their sense of righteousness is simply ignore everything, including their own scripture, that contradicts their anti-Muslim worldview.

Note: I know this bothers some Christians but I don't see why. After WW2, Nazis, as white Christians, blended in perfectly with American communities and now there are Neo-Nazis all over the country who are not only Christian but vote Republican. Christian history, like Muslim history, is a very bloody one... both amoungst themselves and with others.


Related articles:

10 worst examples of Christian or far-right terrorism - Conservatives claim that all terrorists are Muslim, but most violent attacks in the US are carried out by white men

Non-Muslims Carried Out More than 90% of All Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Soil

Moving on.

Religious Hypocrisy In News Report Links

On one side... Islam...

Memo: Containing Radical Islam: Now all over the world, extreme Muslims believe they're allowed to kill people with whom they disagree. They even kill each other. Thousands of people are dying and the world's response is largely silence. Remember, the Sudanese government is allowing killers to slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur. As China blocks action in the U.N., the world just stands by and watches.

There is no question that Muslim killers are a threat to the entire world. Iran is funding and arming Hezbollah, which may start a war in Lebanon any time. Pakistan is allowing the Taliban sanctuary so it can kill Afghans and Americans at will. And Al Qaeda is actively seeking ways to kill just about everybody. With Pakistan already having nukes and Iran on the way to getting them, you'd have to be a complete moron not to understand the danger here.


On the other side... Christianity...

To Peter King: O'REILLY: It is wrong. I agree. I've known you for a long time. You're not a racist. And Mr. Rush and Miss Dukes are cheap for playing that race card against you. But the timing of what you said — what you said was harsh. It was harsh. And you know, the man just died. He has people who love him. In hindsight, might you have waited a week? Read more. 

Who is Peter King?

Article 1 on Peter King: 
But according to experts in counterterrorism law, if the tough-on-terror policies King trumpets today had taken effect a few decades earlier, King himself might have been subject to prosecution. Over parts of three decades, from his days as an aspiring politician in Long Island through his early years in Congress, King was one of the nation's most outspoken supporters of the Irish Republican Army and a prolific fundraiser for the Irish Northern Aid Committee (NorAid), allegedly the IRA's American fundraising arm. The IRA waged a paramilitary campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland for decades before peace accords were signed in 1998. Part of that effort included bombings and shootings that resulted in civilian deaths in England and Northern Ireland. During the period of King's involvement, the US government accused both NorAid and the IRA of links to terrorism. 

Article 2 on Peter King: "The British government is a murder machine," King said. He described the IRA, which mastered the car bomb as an instrument of urban terror, as a "legitimate force." And he compared Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing, to George Washington.

STEPHEN COLBERT ON PETER KING; As an IRA supporter, Peter King understands the violent radicalism among American Muslims.

Peter King is the perfect example of how weird GOP/Fox-News presentation of "facts" really is. He shows up for his views on all the three major media channelsto scare people of every single potential "Muslim" they meet as potential terrorists... but no one ever mentions that he is essentially a supporter of terrorism when this is one of the most important biographical facts about Peter King! 

There is allot of confusion between Islam and Christianity because Islamists assume the Christians follow thier scripture exactly and because Christians don't understand what having life dictated by scripture rather than a collection of endorsed beliefs is like.

To a Muslim the Quran is the word of God so religious tolerance (i.e. tolerance for other peoples beliefs that are not outright insulting the Muslims beliefs) is actually easy because once you say that'the Quran says this' if it is written there it is 'written' and that is that. For example to protect your religion all you have to do is quote these verses to a Islamic Religious Scholar (not a mob... you can't talk to a mob of any religion, for example; the Salem witch hunts).:

 "There is no compulsion in religion" (Quran 2:256)


Surah Al-Ma'idah verse 48 states:
If Allah so willed, he would have made you a single People, but his plan is to test each of you separately, in what He has given to each of you: so strive in all virtues as in you are in a race. The goal of all of you is to Allah. It is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute. (The Quran 5:48)

Surah Al-Ankabut verse 46 states:
And dispute not with the People of the Book, except with means better than mere disputation, unless I be with those of them who inflict wrong and injury, but say to them: "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him that we bow." (The Quran 29:46) {Note: People of the book are Jews and Christian AT THE VERY MINIMUM}


By seeking to make the Muslims world stable, the US over-engaged itself in that region (mostly due to the cold war) and managed to make the one clause in the Quran viable i.e. 'if a Muslim is oppressed he is commanded to fight back till they are no longer oppressed' and although some reasons for fighting against 'western oppressors' lack logic this lack of sanity is even more common in the West as the right in the US has proven beyond a doubt the difference is simply that there is no RELIGIOUS persecution as the Muslims reason for fighting, i.e. the Muslims would like to convert others to Christianity, especially when they see missionaries constantly babbling at them, but they won't make it thier life's mission because that's not allowed... but if they OR any of thier fellow Muslims are attacked THEN they are allowed to defend themselves. A Christian will always say, 'well, we are more evolved of a religion cause Jesus said Turn Thy Cheek' that's a silly assertion as Genocide is actually a more common occurrence amougnst the Christians and except for the early Christians who really did 'Turn thy check' as Jesus commanded and were thrown to the lions I don't think any Christian Nation on the world stage has EVER done such a thing. Constantine literally used Christian symbolism to give credibility to his Empire and during the Dark Ages the Pope started a Crusade long after the Muslims assault was over. So while Muslim leaders may have been as cruel as Christian one, outright extermination of people with other beliefs is a more Christian tradition than a Muslim one so when Christian think Muslims are persecuting them for thier faith they are really just imagining the Muslims are like them which is a fallacy.

Why this dichotomy? I has to do with the Christians lack of belief in thier scripture. While a Muslim follows scripture a Christian follows thier leader that's why they emphasize being a 'flock of sheep' cause that's how they have historically been taught to function. When you ask 'why it is OK to eat Pork or get tattoos or weave two types of cloths together which is forbidden in the book of Leviticus'he/she gets a reply 'because Jesus came and abrogated past laws' ...

but when you ask 'so why do you persecute gays when that's also in the Book of Leviticus AND Jesus said nothing about gays especially when you aren't following the other laws of the Book of Leviticus' you draw a blank. The question simply doesn't penetrate. To a Muslim this is very confusing as they follow scripture so they think the Christians scripture has been corrupted and they have gone made when in reality the answer is simpler than that... Christian NEVER read thier scripture. Is is read for them by a 'chosen one' who then guides them from thier. These MAJOR cultural differences causemajor problems in International Relations.

Here are a variety of Biblical quotes that will either A) Get a denial from a Christian 'it's Not in the bible' or B) silence with possibly some of the schizophrenic nonsense of Jesus having made ignoring that particular law OK while not others all for random reasons EXCEPT for the believer him or her self... who believes what they do without question OR research.


Christian Scripture 

1. Leviticus 19:27 “‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

2. Leviticus 5:2 "'Or if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean--whether the carcasses of unclean wild animals or of unclean livestock or of unclean creatures that move along the ground--even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty

3. Leviticus 11:7 And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

4. Leviticus 11:9 "'Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales.

5. Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled

6. Deuteronomy 22:11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.

7. Leviticus 19:19 "'Keep my decrees. "'Do not mate different kinds of animals. "'Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. "'Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.

Hosea 13:16 (King James) Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Numbers 31: 17-18
17. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
18. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Deuteronomy 20:16
However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.

1 Samuel 15:2-4
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

Psalm 137:8-9
8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.
9 O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!


Basically what a Christian "leader" does is pick and choose which laws he or she will follow by using the quotes below to make his chosen obsoletes valid while he is never questioned on what he or she chooses to implement as questioning is not allowed within the Christian institution itself (unlike the Muslim one where is not only allowed but encouraged and only during educational dark ages does it get out of hand like when the Christian Nazi movement took over Europe, ex 'the pen is mightier than the sword'):


The following quotes make it possible to allow pork, tattoos and making different kinds of cloth but somehow - mysteriously - doesn't apply to gays:

Matthew 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (ex. thou shalt not kill)

Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.



Notes on Commonalities: 

Where a Christian and Muslim fundamentalist or hate group find common ground is in the 'seeking escape from ones-self that is necessary for 'true belief':

This is from the preface of his book, The True Believer;

"All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; all of them are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity in certain departments of life; all of them demand blind faith and single hearted allegiance." 

To start a fundamentalist religious group (or a non-religious one) blind obedience without question is necessary. If people are educated with history and the sciences in a way where it becomes integrated with their perception then lying to them becomes very difficult. If someone with religious authority lies to them, it will hurt to have someone they like lying to them but they will do what is right...eventually, once they are sure. 



2. American Foreign Policy of the Bush Era can be summarized thusly:

"The ideal devil is a foreigner. Hitler—the foremost authority on devils—found it easy to brand the German Jews as foreigners." (pp. 92-93)

3. Lets remove the 'we have free speech' and Muslim world doesn't nonsense from the debate as this is typically an old world VS New World - and educational - phenomenon.  The religious right in the US is working hard on removing the Constitutional divide between Church and State with the help of traditional Evangelical orthodoxy (who operate beyond the teachings of Jesus) and in the old world the meaning of 'sacred' means something that is holy. Whether is be the scripture of a Muslim OR a decree of the emperor such as displayed in Shanghai Noon where Jackie Chan bows helplessly before another palace guard reading him the Emperors decree and then Wilson says 'this is the New-World/America we are free from such things'. That is what people don't often understand i.e. the split between the old and new worlds goes back millennia and included all of Europe as well (remember the Inquisition? or WHY the people fled Europe for America in the first place?). So no more Glenn Beck or Bill O Reilly logic that Christian America is somehow more tolerate than the Muslims. If 30% of the future of America weren't Atheist I shudder to think where America would be today.

In the New World, to allow the various sects of Christianity and other cults such as Quakers or the later Mormons and other various Christian groups who are more often at odds with every other Christian group around them and the Constitutional separating between Church and State helps these different sects to co-exist.

The new Western trend towards free speech is not as developed as people like to think - especially since lying to the American People was made legal by Fox News through it's conservative allies in the Supreme Court - and is allot more fragile than people like to think (except for some reason when it involves members of ones own religious group who can say stuff they would never allow others to say). Especially when you take into account the almost continuous media blackouts on important issues of the day. How long before a GOP President returns to power, claims to be doing God's work and proceeds to destroy American society with their lies and false wars and thier ability to remove science from the mind of it's Journalists (and thier ability to scare them into silence WHENEVER they so choose) so that all they know is what they hear from thier preferred "echo chamber" but not around emotional issues that they can't face (especially involving how architecture works for example: How can a Modern Skyscraper fall from a light fire when even heavy fires can't make a modern building fall like a pancake - it's unprecedented, or it was till everyone knew it was possible and were told so -  and this is just concerning the building that wasn't hit by a plane. A closed mind or worse)?

------------------------

Notes:

On Sep 13: I heard some woman on Hannity say 3:15 of the Muslim's Quran was about killing people for fun (or something in that context). Here are the verses from 3:15 & 3:50 (in case I misheard it).


3:15

Say, "Shall I inform you of [something] better than that? For those who fear Allah will be gardens in the presence of their Lord beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and purified spouses and approval from Allah . And Allah is Seeing of [His] servants -

&

3:50

And [I have come] confirming what was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you. And I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear Allah and obey me.


This verse is often cited by people as the reason the Muslims are terrorists:

9:5 - And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

First off, this is for polytheists not for 'people of the book'  i.e. Jews & Christians, so this doesn't apply to Christians in the first place (the war of the Palestinians & Israel is territorial in nature not religious, despite rhetic contrary to that on both sides)

Surah Al-Ma'idah verse 48 states:
If Allah so willed, he would have made you a single People, but his plan is to test each of you separately, in what He has given to each of you: so strive in all virtues as in you are in a race. The goal of all of you is to Allah. It is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute. (The Quran 5:48)

Surah Al-Ankabut verse 46 states:
And dispute not with the People of the Book, except with means better than mere disputation, unless I be with those of them who inflict wrong and injury, but say to them: "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him that we bow." (The Quran 29:46) {Note: People of the book are Jews and Christian AT THE VERY MINIMUM}


Second, in it's proper context it is during a time of war and specifically exempts anyone who was under treaty with the Muslims of that time. 

9:1 A declaration of immunity from God and His apostle to the idolaters with whom you have made agreements:

9:2 For four months you shall go unmolested in the land. But know that you shall not escape God’s judgement, and that God will humble the unbelievers.

9:3 A proclamation to the people from God and His apostle on the day of the greater pilgrimage:

God and His apostle are under no obligation to the idolaters. If you repent, it shall be well with you; but if you give no heed, know that you shall not be immune from God’s judgement.

Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers,

9:4 except to those idolaters who have honoured their treaties with you in every detail and aided none against you. With these keep faith, until their treaties have run their term. God loves the righteous.

9:5 When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is forgiving and merciful.

9:6 If an idolater seeks asylum with you, give him protection so that he may hear the Word of God, and then convey him to safety. For the idolaters are ignorant men.

9:7 God and His apostle repose no trust in idolaters, save those with whom you have made treaties at the Sacred Mosque. So long as they keep faith with you, keep faith with them. God loves the righteous.

9:8 How can you trust them? If they prevail against you they will respect neither agreements nor ties of kindred. They flatter you with their tongues, but their hearts reject you. Most of them are evil doers.

i.e. any "polytheist" who wanted peace with the Muslims WITHOUT conversion would have just have had to make a treaty and keep it.

I have yet to find a verse that doesn't prove to make the Muslim religion a civilized one in our global context. (Compare war crime documents below with those of Hitler, and what we know of Constantine, and compare with Old Testament scriptural quotes above) 

I have heard people quote numbers but I have yet to find any of those numbers quoted to correspond to whatever they were talking about. It's a result of an extensive, GOP wide (including Rush Limbaugh & Glenn Beck) smear campaign against all Muslims and Islamic States, i.e. all Muslim Majority countries call themselves "The Islamic State of" (whatever), so emphasizing "Islamic State" slanders ALL Muslim COuntries, which fits with past & present Fox News rhetoric.


Another translation mistake (it's 72 raisins NOT 72 virgins):

The Daily Show: Fareed Zakaria says suicide bombers get 72 white raisins, not 72 virgins. (6:41):

Right after Bill O Reilly slanders Muslims on his show (using general descriptions that can apply to anyone, like he has done before), Megyn Kelly pops up with how bad a Christian had it in a broken down Muslim culture in the backwaters of civilization

Exclusive: Mariam Ibraheem opens up about harrowing ordeal

Some backgwards illiterate nation/group persecutes a Christian in defiance of thier own religion and Megyn Kelly doesn't even mention this (& this is supposed to be a "news" organizsation). Above there are some Quranic verses which support Mariam's right to practice her own religion so I won't go into it again.

What I find most fascinating is that Megyn Kelly/FoxNews keep repeating the fact that some backwards cultures who happen to be "muslim" practice female genital mutilation. Why? Because this is a cultural thing not a religious thing (there are n Quranic verses about female genital mutilation) as any first year religion student would know. Here is a video of female genital mutilation by Christians

The Terror of the Female Circumcision in Christianity (Kenya) - Also see Christian Scripture on Rules of Marriage below

Basically by leaving out essential information and pretending that the horrible thing they are talking about is solely a Muslim thing & not a remnant from an ancient & more barbaric past only practiced by the uneducated with such a CULTURAL tradition, they smear the religion as "barbaric" or "savage". A decade of this and people believe that's true but this is America etc. 

The reason why this sort of smear campaign works is because they hunt for those isolated cases in a culture of 1 billion where a Christian in particular had a bad time then they amplify this person's story in a way to try and make all Christians watching think that this could happen to them

In reverse, if the Muslim media were to ONLY play stories of Christian atrocities in the Muslim world they would create a panic against Christians. 

Here are some sample stories of Christian crimes in the Muslim world that Fox News wouldn't play because it goes against their smear campaign.

Greenspan admits Iraq was about oil, as deaths put at 1.2m

Apology, but No Explanation, for Massacre of Afghans

One Day After 2007 Attack, Witnesses Describe US Killings of Iraqi Civilians

BBC-Guardian Exposé Uses WikiLeaks to Link Iraq Torture Centers to U.S. Col. Steele & Gen. Petraeus (Christians torturing innocent Muslims!!!!)

The Iraq Effect: New Study Finds 600% Rise in Terrorism Since US Invasion of Iraq (Really?!? I wonder why?)

PDF Documents Of UN-Publicized Events:

War Crimes In Iraq 1
Illegal War in Afghanistan
War Crimes In Iraq 2
War Crimes in Afghanistan

Now another example of a smear against Muslims after Bill did his setup (which was followed by a very strange interview indeed) on his show the hour before it was time for Megyn Kelly to push her smears...

Controversy over freedom of speech

At 5:30 Megyn Kelly makes it clear that "radical Islam" and Islam are the same in her opinion and that if someone wants to slander Islam they should be able to while NEVER mentioning that that view is incorrent i.e. it's a smear by Kelly. The Muslim dude is just as clueless of his religion as any Christian (or so it seems) or he should have countered with some more educated remarks about scripture etc.

The point of this video isn't that one is speaking incorrectly and should be allowed because of free speech but that she went through genital mutilation (not an Islamic thing) and Muslims are trying to shut her up.

One person from the Muslim Association in Yale wanted to stop this speech and Kelly made sure that it was smeared all over the entire Muslim community. 

What Kelly is doing is a basic smearing tactic of taking a specific event and pretending it applies to EVERY SINGLE PERSON in that category. Such as calling drone strikes in the tribal regions of Pakistan (at 4:50) a sign that Pakistan itself is a terrorist country (a Bill o Reilly favorite tactic to smear Pakistan for some peculiar reason, that he used on Sep 15th 2014).

BTW, calling a particular part of a group "radical" allows fox news to keep the person attached to the whole group, for example; If you are a Fox News conservative... how does it feel when I compare Muslim & Christian "radicals" above? 

That's why GOP "conservatives" are VERY careful not to call Andre or Tim MC Vigeh a "radical Christian" because they don't want to smear/slander Christians ONLY Muslims. I'm sure Sikhs getting killed with their generalities by some veteran driven crazy by Fox is just a bonus. 

Often a GOP "conservative" will cite Muslim treatment o women as their reason for getting involved in other countries. For them you can start by citing Leviticus

Leviticus 15:19 "When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening."

... then, talk about the strange Christian marriage practices as prescribed by the Bible (something which  Muslims couldn't even think of is a Christian law!!!)

"Definitions of marriage in Deuteronomy (An Old Testament Book)"... 

At approx 3 mins 40 secs: “If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives” (Deuteronomy 22:28–29).

Update: The Daily Show discusses the idea that Muslims need to condemn every act done in the name of their religion;

The Condemnologists - Following an insensitive tweet from Rupert Murdoch about Muslims, Jason Jones, Jessica Williams and Hasan Minhaj condemn those responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack. (5:41):