Islam is a Religion of Peace as Preached and Practiced.

The proposition on offer is that, as preached and practiced, Islam is a religion of peace. There are several points that counter this view, and I shall present them here in broader terms for both the audience and my opponent. It has been said that the Qur'an is a collection of verses that teach peace except when provoked, and that any violence attributed to Islam is portrayed out of context, and is incorrect. However, there are two fundamental problems with this proposition. First, even contextualized, the violent nature of Islam goes beyond simply "an eye for an eye." Second, the notion that that has in practice produced a peaceful climate of international relations (or intertribal at the time) is laughable, and obviously false in light of the expansion of the Islamic Empire in the 600's. Here's just a few examples of the violence that is preached and encouraged. 9:5 - "Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. " 28-62 "On the day when He will call unto them and say: Where are My partners whom ye imagined ?" [Concerning taunting Christians and Jews on Judgment Day] 39:24 - Is he then, who will strike his face against the awful doom upon the Day of Resurrection (as he who doeth right)? And it will be said unto the wrong-doers: Taste what ye used to earn." [Allah encourages you to taunt wrongdoers as they suffer their painful doom.] 5:38 - "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise. " 5:41 - "Those are they for whom the Will of Allah is that He cleanse not their hearts. Theirs in the world will be ignominy, and in the Hereafter an awful doom" 2:7 - "Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be an awful doom." 2:48 - "guard yourselves against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be received from it, nor will they be helped." 2:191 - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers." 2:193a - "And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." 3:195 - "So those who fled and were driven forth from their homes and suffered damage for My cause, and fought and were slain, verily I shall remit their evil deeds from them and verily I shall bring them into Gardens underneath which rivers flow - A reward from Allah." *************************************** Just a smattering of the violence riddled throughout the Qur'an... The mentality of this religion goes far beyond, as I said before, merely an eye for an eye. Even equal remuneration seems to be a foreign concept - the Qur'an commands instead total destruction for the most minor of transgressions. This, combined with the rapid spread of the Islamic Empire shows that the supposed peaceful ways of early Islam are clearly a sham conceived to make Islam seem more palatable to those Muslims wish to convert. Lastly, in practice, it is obvious from the most cursory of glances at a list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations that Islam is not peaceful as practiced.