Originally Posted by
May90
The problem is, religion of Islam historically and geographically collided with some of the most ruthless cultures this planet has to offer. Long before Islam, Middle Eastern region was an apex of violence and corruption. Then Islam appeared in the same region; it was only logical that the teachings would be twisted and perverted by power hungry zealots, much like Christianity was twisted and perverted during the period of Inquisition - only to a higher degree, due to the specifics of the region. There is a lot of peaceful Islam practitioners on this planet (living mostly in First World countries, for apparent reasons) that believe in gender equality, in pacifism, in separation of religion from the government, etc. This indicated that it is not Islam that causes problems; rather, it is people using perverted versions of Islam to control the crowds that are to blame. EVEN IF there is something in Quran justifying violence and sexism (I wouldn't know, since I've never read a single word from that book), people don't have to take it literally; Quran, Bible and other such books can be used just as a general moral guidance, people have to understand that the books were written very long time ago, when the world was completely different - and some do understand that.
So no, it is not Islam that is a problem. It is not Arabs that are a problem either. It is just the way history went in that region. If, instead of Islam, Middle East was dominated by, say, Christianity, or Buddhism, or Atheism - do you really think it would be in a better state now? All religions and lack of religions can lead to horrendous regimes: Islam (Iran), Christianity (Inquisitor Spain), Buddhism (Burma), Atheism (North Korea)... It is not about religion, it is about history and society.