“Allah or Jesus?” The truth can’t always be found in chain email messages

Though it's several years old, I've received a chain email message from many people recently titled "Allah or Jesus Christ?" which gives the impression that every person of the Islamic faith believes in holy war (jihad) against non-believers (infidels.) I've replied with this link from Snopes.com, which debunks the story about a prison imam, or priest, being questioned about beliefs inherent to Islam. Read to the end to get the full effect: it might take a few minutes out of your day, but it could shine some light on how you view other people not of the same belief system.

Though I don't by any means condone hatred or death perpetrated by Islamic radicals — or radicals in any other belief system for that matter, whether it be political or religious — I think it's unfair for people to assume that everyone involved in a religion adheres strictly to every "belief" in that religion no matter how crazy, in this case jihad. Islam is a far-reaching, vast religion, with many different types of adherents, much like Christianity; spreading chain emails such as this basically amounts to gossip, polarizing people further to one side or the other. Stoking the fires of ignorance-based hatred only serves to endanger everyone involved: more danger and terror is something this world does not need right now.