Abu-Afak, I applaud your open-mindedness.

As I asked in another post...if Islam is the "religion of peace," where are the outraged Muslims who should be denouncing terrorism? Every day, we are bombarded with images and stories of roadside bombs, children wearing suicide vests, and Islamic clerics spewing hatred that Adolf Hitler couldn't even imagine. We have countries under Islamic, theocratical rule who have openly expressed their desire to destroy other countries, simply in the name of their religion. They HATE in the name of their religion. They KILL in the name of their religion. They instruct their children to do the same.

The problem is that the religion of Islam is a severely outdated ideal. While other societies and cultures have advanced, and changed through the years, the religion of Islam is still stuck in the age of the crusades. Their ideal are the pretty much identical to how they were in the middle ages. This outmoded "live by the sword, die by the sword" ideal is what puts Islamics in the position they are in now. Perhaps that's why the rest of the world views them as "backwards." Not the people themselves, but their way of life, and their attitudes towards other religions and cultures.