Do you think Islam really hates us like everyone says?

The people that are saying that probably have not deployed within the last fifteen years. If they had, there is no way they could have missed all of the Soldiers, both ours and host nation that were Muslim and fought beside us. What about the linguists that make operations possible? What about all of our allies throughout the world fighting our common enemy? To say the terrorists represent the whole of Islam is like saying the most ignorant and hateful of our citizens represent us.

Well said. Islam hates no one no more than Judaism or Christianity does. Going a step further, Muslims in general that practice Islam don't hate America. Extremist hate groups that distort their religion are the only ones I'll declare as the enemy of any society. it is ashame some media and politicians prey on fears with such rhetoric.

The short answer is no. And it is unfair to label an entire group.

There is a tendency to hate, dislike and/or fear things we do not understand. Unfortunately the media and social media can distort things. Likely worse is the "I heard from so and so..."

ISIS and Al-Qaeida are bad, and so were many of the conquistadores in the Americas. We can't judge an entire race/culture/religion... on the bad ones. This is where I ask, "Are we taking steps to educate ourselves and if possible experience a bit of their world".

I lived in Cairo, Egypt for 18 months. I loved seeing men at the local shisha bar and coffee place talking. Some were Muslim, others Coptic, and often I was in the mix with them. I enjoyed the celebrations of Ramadan and the many iftar meals in different cities with our coworkers. I always felt welcomed.

Living and working in 8 countries for over 10 years has shown me and taught me how similar we all are but also how different we can be from each others cultural/religious point of view.

SSG Jesse Cheadle, Your statement "Extremists exist in every religion and culture" is on point.

This is not excusing what terrorists do. Throughout history, people have come under the sway of evil men and done evil things.

I served on diplomatic security duty in Eastern Africa for 2 and a half years. I made friends with a lot of locals. There were a lot of Pakistani Expatriates in Kenya. Once over a beer, (yes some muslims drink beer, even though they are not supposed to.) a man I considered a friend, then and now, explained to me that one day the 12th Imam would arrive. The 12th Imam would demand a cleansing of the infidels, and that I and my son would be put to the sword if I would not convert and my wife and daughter would be placed in servitude. He smiled the whole time he was saying this. He then announced that the 12th Imam was not here today, so it was time for another beer. I strongly suspect that he was making a joke. It may not have even been scripturally correct, but he never cleared it up.

Abraham believed that the Lord wanted him to sacrifice Isaac on an altar, and in the end he was prepared to do it. We admire Abraham for his faith. I've never heard a sermon castigating him for entertaining the idea of killing his son. If a Christian believed he was directly called upon by God to do a horrible thing, what would he do?

I believe the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace and raise their children with the belief that things can be better for the next generation. I also suspect that virtually every older religion has passages in its holy scriptures that directly tell believers to kill/oppress non-believers, or passages that can be twisted that way.

Beware false prophets.

Do all Muslims hate the US and the Western World? No. Do they want to be us? No. Would they be happy to convert us by argument or force to belief in Islam? Yes.

Islam is a religion. Muslim is the name for a person who submits to that religion. Islam teaches the supremacy of laws and beliefs that are incompatible with the basic beliefs on which the United States and most modern Western nations were established. The teachings of Islam are incompatible with the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Their long-term goal is to convert all people to Islam and establish a 7th Century style theocratic government (Caliphate) over all the Earth. Their god (Allah) is not the same as the Jewish YHWH, or the Christian Holy Father, and they do not accept Jesus Christ as God and Savior. Unlike the immigrants from non-Muslim countries, most will not fully assimilate into the culture of the United States. They may become US Citizens, but never true believers in our form of government, commerce, and liberty.

I have a simple saying I believe fits most cases in life..."Fear is the absence of knowledge". People often hate because it is the unknown. Every religion has or had extremists.

Islam is one of the worlds largest religions. There are over a billion practicing Muslims. If even a small fraction of them are radicalized you are still talking about a lot of people relatively speaking.

As for the comment below about if they all hated us there would be zero Solders coming home from say Iraq or Afghanistan. Let's compare numbers. 150 - 175,000 Soldiers vs the 30 million people population of Iraq. IF that 30 million people hated us so bad and we did provide them some incentive to given the carnage, destruction and chaos we have brought upon their country, maybe all us us wouldn't have been killed but certainly many, many more than the approximately 4,500 that did die over there.

My job in Iraq was to build the Iraqi Army. I spent a year traveling to remote FOBs where our Soldiers were outnumbered as much as 400 trainees vs 8 of ours. Thirty minutes at least from the nearest QRF. If they wanted to kill us it would have been too easy.

I found the majority of Iraqis to be peace loving people that just wanted the same things that most American want; to live, work and worship in peace and safety for their families. Outside their direct contact with Coalition forces they could care less about what is happening outside of their country, they have enough problems to worry about internally.

And many of the Iraqis I have talked to were very knowledgable of the stories of the bible and their country's part of it. The Garden of Eden, Babylon, the birthplace of Abraham, Nevideh, and on and on. It must be killing them to see the destruction the ISIS is doing to their heritage.

Keep in mind that before we invaded Iraq and deposed of Saddam that Iraq was home to one of the largest Christian populations of all the Muslim countries, and that they lived there in relative peace and without persecution. Not so much anymore.

ALL religions have their good and bad. How many people have died over the centuries in wars based mainly on religious differences?

When I asked the question as to why the Sunnis and Shia can't get along, I get asked what about the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland?

Any religious tenant can be interpreted for good or bad depending on who is doing the interpretation and their intent to do good or evil.

The Old Testament was one of the most violent stories ever told, to the point where an angry God wiped out most of mankind for their sins.

Jesus Christ changed all that by taking the sins of the people onto himself, showing love, grace, humility and forgiveness for mankind. I often wonder of what he would think about how many so called Christians practice his religion today?

As in so many things in this world, a "little" knowledge is a dangerous thing. The basic tenants of Islam is a Global Theocracy that is Islam. People talk of Muslims as if they are a Race of people, that is horseshit, anyone who believes in the Koran as their bible and claims to believe in that religion is Islamic. The same as a person who may claim to be a Christian. Jews are Hebrews and can be classed as a Racial Class but are not a Race. Now as I understand the Islamic Religion, if you want to go to heaven you have to swear diligence to the Koran and follow its edicts, some of these include making a once in your life Pilgrimage to Mecca and other "Religious" things. The Koran as it is interpreted can have many belief groups just like most religions. The Extremists often bend the wording to fit their agenda not unlike many other religions followers do. It is also my understanding that there is no way to interpret the Koran other than the literal translations on some very important subjects. Like the Global caliphate. If you truly believe in Islam you must do something with your life that will further the growth of Islam and its march to the Global caliphate. Period. You have to or you are not a Muslim and you will not go to heaven. You as a Muslim must not submit to any other form of Religion or Government other wise you are not a Muslim and you will not go to Heaven. These things fly directly in the face of the American belief system and defies our Government and our Constitution. There have been a couple of surveys done across the USA that asked so called moderate Muslims directly if they believed that as an American they should acclimate to our society and submit to our governments laws and set of rules and the majority of them said they would not and could not because they believed in Islam, the Koran and that they would always be Muslim and must work at installing Sharia Law as the Law of the land in the USA and the whole world. So, as to the question of 'Does Islam HATE us'? No, Islam does not hate us. Certain Muslims hate us. Islam just wants to wipe us from the face of the earth so they can have their caliphate and frankly does not care if they have to kill us quickly as the Extremists want to or simply over populate every country in the world thus slowly overwhelming us and forcing us to become part of Islam or chocked out like weeds do to grass. So, lets see, no Islam does not hate us, Most Muslims do not hate us, I do not hate Muslims, I do hate Islam because its core tenants are to dissolve my beloved Country and put an end to my Society and I gladly went to Iraq to fight and kill to stop these people and I will gladly do it here too.

Islam is a religion no a person or even a group of people. Thinking all Muslims are the same is racism. Islam isn't a race, but racism is a good term.

No, only radicalized groups make up the members of Islam that you are addressing. They are the one percent that is making people judge the entire religion. Think about if all Muslims thought that all Christians act like the people from Westburo Baptist . I know it is not as extreme but you get the concept.