What part of “across the globe” is unclear? The other examples you cite are isolated incidents that contradict the mainstream teachings of the perpetrators’ religions. The Muslim terrorists are acting in accord with Islamic teachings.

All four schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence teach jihad as holy war to spread the faith. The Koran is the immutable word of Allah and the command to fight the infidels until the whole world submits to Islam is ongoing, not limited by space or time. The violence in the Bible, on the other hand, is either understood metaphorically or seen as historical events (despite the fact that we can find an example of a crazy Rabbi in Minnesota who would say otherwise). Furthermore, Jewish texts have been interpreted, debated and reinterpreted over thousands of years. In Islam, the gates of ijtihad (interpretation) have been closed since the 10th century. Anyone seeking to reinterpret or ignore the jihadist commands in the Koran, Hadith and Sira is deemed an apostate. And the penalty for apostasy is death.

I can hear you saying, “but what about the peaceful verses in the Koran?” Well unfortunately, they have been abrogated by the more violent verses. Andrew, you really should learn about Islam. I don’t mean relying on what the friendly Imam at the local mosque, your Muslim neighbor tells you and the apologists in the media and academia (Esposito, Armstrong, Aslan) say, but instead reading the great scholars of Islam–both Muslim and non-Muslim–and perhaps you will better be able to make sense of news events involving religion. You might become a little more skeptical about the “two-state solution” when you learn about the treaty of al-Hudabiyya and how it plays into Muslim treaty-making today. When you understand how Muhammad, who said “war is deceit,” is considered the perfect man and the example for all human behavior, you might be comprehend why the Arafats and Abbases say one thing in English and another in Arabic. Repeating platitudes and engaging in wishful thinking is no substitute for a realistic appraisal of Islamic texts, attitudes and history. Islam’s solution for world peace doesn’t include a Jewish state of Israel or a non-Muslim United States of America.