Islam is a religion. Being an atheist I am prone to not liking Islam, or any theistic belief system. This, however, does not mean that I dislike the people behind Islam. I hear all the time that Islam is either a religion of peace (they say that), or a religion of violence (the Republican right says that). But I don't care, in the end they are just people like you and me.
Fighting an ideology with brute strength will rarely work. If Islam is a violent religion, then bombs and gunfire will not destroy it, that will only inflame their violence. What will work is fighting hostile ideologies with peaceful ones.
If you find a hungry man with a gun would you break a loaf of bread with him or eat it all in front of his face? What people often forget is that peaceful acts often trump violent ones.
Nothing good could possibly come out of fighting a war of ideologies. It didn't work in the Cold War and it would work even worse with modern religious beliefs.
God or no God, peace or no peace, we should break bread with our neighbors. Our Islamic neighbors are no different and are people all the same. We should extend peace to them and not try to force our ideals on them. For these reasons, our foreign policy should be one of peace towards all people, not of war.
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