This seems to be a valid point. However, the history of humanity is one of genocide. This is a human problem, not a religious problem. You don't need religion to have genocide. Look at Stalin's Russia, where millions were murdered in the name of communism, or Hitler's Germany, where Jews were murdered in the name of German nationalism. There are many examples from history if we're open minded enough to look.
Such as Mohammad attacking and killing those within Mecca because they would not convert to his one, true religion?
Muhammad gained few followers early on, and was met with hostility from some Meccan tribes; he and his followers were treated harshly. To escape persecution Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina (then known as Yathrib) in the year 622 CE. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina, Muhammad united the conflicting tribes, and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had grown to ten thousand, conquered Mecca.
URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MuhammadFrom their base in Medina, the Muslims took to raiding Meccan caravans. In 624, they won the battle of Badr and took much booty. Now secure in Medina, Muhammad expelled the Banu Qaynuqa, one of the three main Jewish tribes, and ordered the assassination of the poetess Asma bint Marwan and then the poet Abu Afak, who had been critical of his rule. Subsequently, after each major battle, Muhammad destroyed a different one of the Jewish tribes that had welcomed him and his followers to Medina. After Uhud, he expelled the Banu Nadir, and following the Battle of the Trench in 627, the Muslims accused the Jews of Banu Qurayza of conspiring with the Meccans. They beheaded the adult male members of the Banu Qurayza, and sole the women and children as slaves.
URL:
http://www.mideastweb.org/Middle-East-Encyclopedia/muhammad.htmThese quotes were found from a very quick Google search. None of them were pulled from anti-Muslim sites. However, we see Mohammad, the founder of Islam, attacking and, in some cases, utterly destroying tribes of people. If Mohammad is the founder of Islam and, as some believe, the giver of the Qur'an, then there are certainly problems with the Qur'an. While I personally think (and honest historians believe) Mohammad did NOT write the Qur'an, the Qur'an certainly seems to follow Mohammad's mindset of violence toward those that are not willing to accept Mohammad's message.
This also means not taking things in the religion out of context. Yes there are verses in the Quran about fighting and warfare. However, if you read the whole thing, it becomes apparent that fighting is always in response to aggression. It is not legitimate to go fight, unless there is someone fighting against you already, or some other form of oppression which needs to be overcome.
There are more than verses about fighting and warfare. There are verses in the Qur'an about killing unbelievers that refuse to convert (including Jews and Christians). There are examples in the Qur'an about giving people a chance to accept and then, if they do not, to kill them with the sword. The concept of these verses is not about warfare (as in one nation defending itself against another) but about a different kind of warfare (attacking the unbeliever).
9:111 Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah ? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph.
4:89 They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them,
I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them. Qur'an 8:12.
Sura3 3:64: Verily Allah has cursed the Unbelievers and has prepared for them a Blazing Fire to dwell in forever. No protector will they find, nor savior. That Day their faces will be turned upside down in the Fire. They will say: Woe to us! We should have obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger! Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a very great Curse!
Sura 5:51: O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you that turns to them for friendship is of them.
9.123: O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you
I could go on and on and, yes, some of these verses (and many others) are in the context of fighting and warfare, but the Qur'an seems to speak of a continual war that is going on between the "true believers" of Islam and the "unbelievers" that are opposed to it. It is clear, from the reading of the Qur'an that even the other monotheistic faiths (Jews and Christians) are not accepted and not to be counted as friends, but are to be treated as unbelievers and no help is to be accepted from them. Instead, the Muslim is to fight against them with whatever power he possesses.
I will agree with you that the Bible is a bloody book and that the Bible speaks of genocide in a positive light (read First Samuel 15 as an example). But the Qur'an seems to be no different and, in fact, may be worse. The Christian Bible at least has the New Testament and there is no real war declared therein (within the New Testament) but, instead, the turning of the other cheek, etc. This section of the Bible tends to tone down the Old Testament's teachings of war against the pagans. However, as we have seen from history, these New Testament teachings often were not enough. We have seen many Christian armies flooding the plains as they marched to war. But the Qur'an seems to be filled with bloodshed between its words of wisdom and peace. The concept of "holy war" (Jihad) seems arise from the Qur'an as a sweet aroma to Allah.
No, the Qur'an is a bloody book and a book of warfare against those that refuse to accept its teachings. This is not based just on the actions of millions of Muslims worldwide, but on the writings found within the Qur'an itself. It is not just the oral traditions of the various Muslim sects either, but within the very pages of the book supposedly written by Mohammad.
