Lord_of_da_rings
You have raised some very important points, and I'm going to digress from comparing beliefs to answer your political queries, as I agree with you wholeheartedly that things said and done in the name of Christ, are and have been so totally against what the Bible teaches, that they need to be addressed.
Firstly, you know I come from the perspective that God created ALL people, regardless of what their religious/political outlook is. I am fascinated by cultures, religions and other people groups and have lived and do live and will continue to live with an attitude of accepting everyone regardless of their background, are as human as me, makes mistakes like I do, and sin like I do. I am no better, no worse than anyone else. We all share humanity.
You mention that you are not a religious Muslim, however you are and do still identify yourself with Islam. Why? because for the Muslim, his faith is not his identity.. being a Muslim is his identity and it pervades all parts of his life, not just his faith, which is part of his identity and his responsibility.
Christianity is meant to be the same, and believe me, there are many of us who see ourselves as you see yourself in stating you are a muslim. We are not just Christians because we have accepted Christianity as our faith, we ARE a people belonging to God, who live on earth as if we were in heaven.. or at least try to do so.
Unfortunately, Christianity has a history of political gain in the name of Christ. Kings or Governments who are no more Christian than the any non Christian religion, have used Christianity to justify their own political agenda.
Because a nation is considered Christian, Muslim, Hindu etc by what it's national religion is, that identity is transferred to all it's people. This is NEVER the intention of any faith. It is individual responsibility to relate to God.
So when a country calls itself Christian and then acts in a way contrary to the very things the Bible teaches.. God calls it an abomination. Many, many of the places and circumstances Isreal found itself, and the condemnations God cried out against her, was because she was to the world, his witness, yet she acted in ways which "prostituted" her to the attitudes and behaviours of the world around her.
What does this mean. I as a Christian, am called by God to go and share my faith with you. I am commanded to. I can do no other thing. (Oh and by the way, the Islamic missionary force today is growing stronger and stronger as Muslim "missionaries" move around the world sharing Islam, particularly amongst indigenous people.. so it's not a Christian phenomenon). However, I'm equally called to love and respect all people. The apostles respected the religious beliefs of those at their time, but they showed them the inadequacies of their faith and in a sense took them beyond their faith.
There is much in the Qu'ran which is left unexplained and which needs the Hadith to explain. The explanations are man made explanations. By showing you the Bible passages, I can only hope you wll be willing to see the inadequacies in your Holy Book. They explain so much, but they stop short of giving sense and purpose to all you do. No matter how good you try to be, you can never know whether or not you are accepted by God. I on the other hand, KNOW that I am accepted by God.
But.. even though I KNOW and believe this, and desperately want you to believe and know it too, and even though I am commanded by God to go and tell you it, and to be his witness around the world .. I'm NEVER commanded to do it in a way to bring pain and suffering. Infact, Jesus said, we show we follow him when we give someone something to drink because they are thirsty.
Any Christian, or so called Christian, who does not match their words by their actions, is not worthy of being called a Christian. Anyone who calls themself a Christian, yet doesn't bow to His Lordship is not a Christian. Just because the people around you claim to be Christian, yet don't show you love.. never assume they are Christians. Jesus promised you will know them by their fruits, and believe me.. you and all other muslims reading this forum.. there are plenty of us around who love you as much as God did... enough to die for you. I have friends around the world, who are willing to (and are) giving up their lives in order to go and serve Muslim people. I myself, went and worked in a hospital as a nurse, tending to the needs of muslim people in French West Africa. I know am working and have worked for 16 years with another indigenous group who believe differently to me.
Now why do some show hatred.. it's fear! As long as you have Muslim radicals who are the exception and not the rule trying to bring Islam to the world in a way which produces fear and injury and death, you will never have respect. Just as many Muslims hate and fear Christians, because of the history (the crusades, the inquisition), now too, the western world (who are not necessarily christian, even though they call themselves a "christian nation") fear what is happening around the world. Yet, the Bible teaches us that "perfect love, casts out fear". Discover the Love of God, and there is no fear left. May we all learn to do as Jesus commanded and Love our Neighbour as ourself.
Let's keep talking
Carol
I will answer your questions about faith later.. but the purpose of this post is to assure you, I and many other christians here and around the world, respect and value you. Hatred will never show you that you are loved by God in a way you could never dream of in Islam