I agree with a lot of what you say, Jerome.
Muslim apologists are always quick to point out the bad things Christain's did as if that is some kind of justification for their own barbaric behaviour. As you said "two wrongs don't make a right".
Putting aside whatever bad things Christains have done in the Crusades, blah, blah, blah... let's focus on Islam for a second. Islam is a very violent religion. Yes, I know, most Muslims aren't violent people, I'm not even trying to suggest that, but to deny that the Koran has as much "bad" scriptures as it does "good" scriptures is to be naive(to me, the "bad ones cancel out the "good" ones. You can't simultaneously respect and disrespect people who aren't of your religion.). If you truly believe that the Koran does not sanction wanton violence, then you need to be educated (don't tell me "the bible does too", I already know that, and it's irrelevant to the topic).
The real problem with Islam is that fundamentalism is the orthodoxy. Every word, every sylabble from the Koran is thought to be the direct speech of God(through Gabriel) for most Muslims. Whereas only the most brain dead fundy Christains, or the most ultra orthodox Jews believe the same for their religion, most Muslims believe this garbage for their's. In an Islamic country, to vary even a little from this axiom could result in your death. A man in Pakistan was sentenced to death for declaring that Mohamed's parents were not Muslims since they died before his prophetic calling. Despite this being a statement consistent with fact, the man was said to be "insulting the prophet and his family", a crime punishable by death in Islamic law. This wasn't done by a fringe group "perverting Islam", as apologist like to say, but this was sanctioned by the government! How do you expect people to develop clear thinking skills when growing up in such an environment (I'm not talking about people who are "smart", because obviously the middle east produces many brilliant people, but anytime your not allowed to question something, this retards a certain amount of your reasoning)?
Now, I'm not some "muslim hater", I have several friends who are Muslim and I'm definitely not trying to plug Christanity. However, I am tired of the west being so guillable on the Islamic issue. The Islamic world needs to wake up and realize that they need an overhaul. Christains and Jews have offically reformed their religions, but Islam has not. Muslims need to realize that the Koran has all too human origins and has undergone some change since its original compilation :
. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99jan/koran.htm
and that it (gasp!!!) contains errors:
. http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/denis_giron/islamsci.html
We do Muslims no good by patronizing them in their ignorance. I don't need Muslims to let go of their religion, just to get it under control and for them to "get real".
Yes, all religions have screwed up, and if some Christain's had it their way, we would be living under some theocracy. However, this is a smaller number than the amount of Muslims who would want it so. What the Muslims need most is education (both about their religions and other cultures), and a ton of this idiotic militancy would end. Some more money wouldn't hurt either .
Go therefore and baptize the people in the name of the father and of the son... what the hell, we just need to bring up the yearbook numbers!