It's not an either/or situation. Both the godless atheists and those who kill in the name of God are doing evil. There is one thing which you overlook, however. An atheist whose heaven is in this world and who believes in nothing beyond, can be intimidated by the threat of weapons to postpone or abstain from his evil desires by the prospect of anihilation. A religious fanatic, on the other hand, who believes he will be eternally rewarded for his bloodletting is not so easily dissuaded.
My .02 is that the atheists and Islam are in fact, two different sides of the same coin for the west. Specifically, that Islamic terror is what we reap from our own embrace of secularism and atheism and our abandonment of the Christian faith.
Nobody is blaming Islam for everything which is wrong in this world. It is a threat and if you rewind 40 years and compare the situation then to what it is today, it is clear that the threat is increasing.
From your writing, I think you believe that the fanatics are the exception and the majority are peaceful and moral people. Here's another take on that picture. It's put forward rather eloquently in this essay:
To summarize, the author's thesis is that those of us born in the west between 1919 and 1979 were born into what he calls the "60 year gap". A period when Islam was in retreat and we falsely assumed that this was the real Islam. Have a read. It's an interesting essay.
My .02 is that the atheists and Islam are in fact, two different sides of the same coin for the west. Specifically, that Islamic terror is what we reap from our own embrace of secularism and atheism and our abandonment of the Christian faith.
Nobody is blaming Islam for everything which is wrong in this world. It is a threat and if you rewind 40 years and compare the situation then to what it is today, it is clear that the threat is increasing.
Dear Mr./Ms. Mallow,
Thank you for expressing what I had not the energy for this past weekend. Well done.