Alright, it seems it's come to this. Again.
As someone who lives in a Majority Muslim country, from a 'civilised Western society', I feel my experience may have some sort of value. Please hold off calling me a 'leftist' or 'liberal' simply for having a bit of compassion; how this trait has become an insult I'll never quite know.
Everyone. I mean literally fucking everyone that I've met in this small country where
78.8% are Muslim do not agree with ISIS. They do not condone ISIS' actions. They do not think that the imposed restrictions on other religions here are fair.
To blatantly say "Muslims aren't a race,
simply a large group of people who have an outdated, barbaric and logically incoherent set of beliefs which are incompatible with a civilised society" I feel is incredibly brash and to be honest, a bit offensive (oh no! Here's the special snowflake!). Because yes, whilst I do agree that the fundamental building blocks on which Islam was built - the Quran and 7th century society - have aspects to them that aren't appropriate or acceptable to a contemporary audience, we have to remember who this contemporary audience is.
People are more than capable of educating themselves through the internet and media to decide what values they hold. There's more to their lives than a book. There's school, news, western influence in the form of TV shows and movies
Just like those who consider themselves Christian, who believe that they should "love thy neighbour" but not that gay people should "surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.", there are millions of Muslims who will also follow the 5 pillars of Islam (faith, prayers, charity, the fast during Ramadan, pilgrimage) who live harmoniously with Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and all other religion even though their book states that "[they] cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers".
Because, how many of us whom consider ourselves Christians - if we had to, such as in a census - have read the Bible through and through? I know a couple miracle stories like water-to-wine, the reason behind Christmas/Easter and the Lord's prayer. That's my Christian knowledge done. Yet I was Christened, so... I'm technically a Christian. Just because I now know about the scripture which preaches intolerance for homosexuals, does that mean I'm going to join Westboro Baptist Church? Of course not, because I'm an educated individual capable of making my own decisions.
From this argument then, surely it is plausible that, just as most Hindus know why they celebrate Diwali/Holi and don't eat red meat, not every Muslim reads every passage in every holy book, absorbs it and thinks "you know what, fuck the world".
If we're looking at the same research as given by that video,
68% of Indonesians - the country with the highest Muslim population globally - do not believe that their country's laws should strictly follow the Quran.
And please, don't come out saying "if they don't follow the passages, they're not real Muslims", because honestly, who are you to say that? To determine who's appropriate for your conception? Is it because they undermine the convenient thought that all 1.6 billion don't fit the image of a knife-wielding, exploding Jihad screaming 'Allah Akbar"? From that, it just looks like you're out to hate, and that's truly saddening.
That's my bit done, ciao.