We risked our lives escaping from a Muslim country, but Europe keeps bringing in more and more, and this keeps happening.
Yep, when you have a religious text that says
Fight against them (unbelievers) until there is no dissension, and the religion is for Allah.
Fight until no other religion exists but Islam.
We will throw terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve.
Seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and in any case take no friends or helpers from their ranks
I shall cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. Strike them above the necks, smite their finger tips
(In addition to the 160+ verses specifically referring to Jihad...apparently verses above just pertain to everyday smiting of the infidels)
...and the masses in western culture come up with the conclusion that "it's actually a religion of peace", and think that those who act out in the ways described above are "only the extremists", they're deluding themselves.
Twisting a verse to give it a different meaning (or embellishing it to enhance the impact) in order to fit ones agenda would make them an extremist. Following the exact instructions laid out by the holy book literally (as al Qaeda does) makes one a fundamentalist.
When a member of that group captures a soldier, ties them to a chair, chops their finger tips off, then proceeds to slice their head off (just above the neck)...and you compare that to this verse
Strike them above the necks, smite their finger tips...this isn't a person who's "twisting scripture in order to fit their extremist views"...this is a person who's following the instructions of the text literally.
The media (immediately following 9/11) was honest about this for a short while referring to those who engage in these activities as "Islamic Fundamentalists"...however, with in a matter of a year, they changed it to "Islamic Extremists" since calling them fundamentalists would actually mean that they were acknowledging that these kinds of actions were some of the fundamentals of that religion. Dishonesty in reporting.
Since most of the people in western culture who think they're extremists and not fundamentalists haven't actually read the text, it's not surprising that after they watch 2 half hour news shows where someone being interviewed lies and says "it's actually a religion of peace", they're deluded into actually believing that...
The part I find especially odd, is that many of the folks who support Islamists on the false notion that "well, it's only the extremists doing the bad stuff, you just need to be more understanding of other cultures", also claim to be fervent supports of women's rights. Look at how women are treated in Islamic countries...it's not just "a few extremists" who abuse their wives (notice I said wives - plural), if you go into Afghanistan, I'd be willing to be that 80% of the women get treated like dirt by their husbands and other men of the community. Even if they're unwilling to acknowledge that the text actually orders Islamic people to strike fear in the hearts of unbelievers, you'd think at least they oppose it simply for the human rights violations.