You may have read Quran but from what you write it is clear to me that your understanding of Islam is not accurate. If you had, you will not have made the following statement.
"In that sense Islam is just a tool being used to propagate hate, but it is not Islam telling people to blow themselves up, fly planes into buildings, or drive a large vehicle through a crowded area. There is no section of the Quran that tells them to do these things."
Had you read Hadiths and Sira (other Islamic scriptures), you would have known that Mohammad actually did kill innocents. As Muslims consider him perfect model of humanity and try to emulate him, they don't hesitate to kill innocents.
You said,
"I do agree that Islam is a dangerous ideology, but just to reiterate this is not the fault of Islam specifically but of the nature of (most) religions as being divisive/a tool men use to manipulate other men into doing their bidding. In that sense Islam is just a tool being used to propagate hate,"
Islam is not merely a tool. It is a source of genuine hatred. The hatred for non-Muslims and calls for violence has it's roots in Islamic scriptures so yes, it IS the fault of Islam. Lets not exonerate Islam and call it merely a tool.
Islamic scriptures are replete with calls to violence. Also, the violence in Muslim world is very common, especially wherever they live with a significant non Muslim population. In India, Muslims are fighting Hindus, in Myanmar, they are fighting Buddhists, in Nigeria, they are clashing with Christians. Islam is simply incompatible with another ideology. In countries like Pakistan, where non-Muslim population is negligible, Muslims are fighting among themselves. Shias and Ahmadia Muslims are regularly murdered and their mosques are often bombed by Sunni groups in Pakistan.
You are absolutely wrong here and I hate this narrative that is very popular in the west, especially among liberals/leftists . Radical Muslims have been committing violence even BEFORE countries like United States came into existence. Anyone who has studied the history of Islam knows that Muslim invaders went to countries like India over a thousand years ago, destroyed and looted Hindu temples, raped their women and forcibly converted people to Islam. Also, even in countries like Bangladesh, many Muslims hate the West. Why do you think that is? West never attacked Bangladesh or harmed the country in any way. Western influence MAY have caused SOME Muslims to radicalized in SOME countries. But to claim that ALL the radicalization in the Muslim world is because of western influence is simply false because of two obvious reasons:
(1) Islamic radicals existed even before countries like the US came into existence
(2) Islamic radicalism exists in places untouched by western countries
This is simply not true. On the contrary, I will argue that the mainstream media is not doing enough to expose Islam and Muslim world. If you go to countries like India, that are predominantly Hindu, with few exceptions, media acts the same way vis a vis Islam as the western media. They are scared of offending Muslims.
