The Basic Picture:
Islam confuses people because it has nice verses and nasty verses, relating to the infidel (non believer). It appears to contradict itself, but actually it doesn't...
According to the leading American expert on Islam, Dr Bill Warner, Islam is dualistic. This means it has two modes of operation depending on the circumstance. To be simple, Islam says "Play nice when your numbers and power in the host country is low", and also "Get nasty when you're bigger and can afford to throw your weight around"...
So, the early "play nice" verses get functionally overridden by later verses, when Islam no longer has to play nice. The key in knowing when and where a Muslim should play good or bad, is given through prophet Mohammed's historic example which is explicit. According to Islam, whatever Muhammed did was faultless and righteous. He's the perfect example ordained by Allah.
Islam is a slow-burning expansionist cookbook for global domination - the formation of a global caliphate being its ultimate goal. It's been cranking along for 1,400 years and thus far 1.8 billion have been converted, largely (historically) by the sword, and there's another 6 billion or so to go.
Mohammed was the ultimate warlord, and his brilliantly composed religious machine is still working its magic today.
Muslim versus Islam:
I would like to stress that it's extremely important to differentiate the Muslim from Islam. Maybe most Muslims hardly know their full faith and want no kind of war with the infidel.
Also, there is the private relationship any one individual has with their faith. Certainly, some are true believers and are potentially dangerous. Many more will be believing only in part, and will basically just be playing along to keep the peace with their culture.
The price of rejecting Islam--even in part--for the common Muslim begins with full rejection from family and friends, and ends with the death sentence for apostacy (which is sharia law). So, of course Muslims are never going to be completely open with their personal opinions.
Islam is brutal on any form of dissent. This is, of course, one of the many ways the faith protects itself from reform.
Regardless, this is why I believe it's important to never judge a Muslim by their apparent faith. We have no idea what really goes on in a given Muslim's mind. Judge Islam if you will - but not the Muslim. Muslims are born into incredible pressures.
The danger of Islam:
Brigitte Gabriel, the Lebanese-American activist, grew up in the horrific war in Lebanon in the 1980's. Lebanon was first a Christian nation then devastated by Islamic terrorists "doing Allah's work" like "Mohammed had shown them"...
Brigitte Gabriel commented [paraphrasing] that "Of course there are (harmless) moderate Muslims, but they proved to be irrelevant. The sizable extremists took over and drove the nation to war".
That's a powerful message and an important warning. If your country has a growing number of Muslims then the right thing to do is not beat up on them, or necessarily kick them out. You probably don't need to be that gross. It's best to just keep a close eye on whatever is happening inside the mosques, to be ready to immediately identify and weed-out problems with what we call radicalisation.
Islam, without a doubt, is prone to creating radicals and is specifically designed to do so (sorry!). It's part of the Islamic plan, and as evidenced by history it works.
Every nation has a responsibility to be honest about Islam and take action to make sure radicalisation never happens within its own borders. Islam is a totalitarian machine completely antagonistic to Western freedom as we know it. Muslims are not your enemy - but Islam can be.
