OK, I apologize for the long post and I don't mean to perpetuate the religious discussion here but I do have to bring up a couple of points and ask a question. I'm not trying to preach or evangelize, but rather I'm trying to draw a distinction between the Bible and the Quran and understand how that distinction may play a role in radical Islamic behavior, especially as it relates to terrorism.
Picton mentioned that Christianity is just as violent as Islam based on violence ordered by God in the Old Testament. There surely was violence ordered by God against other people in the Old Testament. That said, to my knowledge, that violence was directed at people who were real and legitimate physical threats to the Jewish people. When the threat was ended the violence stopped. It wasn't random and it wasn't directed at anyone and everyone that wasn't Jewish. There was never a standing order to kill anyone who wasn't Jewish or who refused to convert to Judaism.
I have not really studied the Quran carefully so I am open to correction here but from what I can see the call for murder in the Quran does apply to any and all people who will not convert to Islam, regardless if they are an actual threat to Islam or not. It is not to deal with a specific threat then stopped. It is a standing order.
So then we have the New Testament where God sent Jesus to be the Savior. Jesus did not abolish Old Testament law, it is still valid except where specifically repealed for lack of a better word. He did outline a new way to deal with life, religion, interpersonal relationships, etc. This verse from Luke chapter 6 is Christ speaking about that:
27 "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either."
Christ came to show the world that even His own Jewish people could not live up to God's law (and were therefore in need of a Savior and He was there to be that Savior). Jesus preached to treat all people the way God had intended it from the start, with love, not hate. Unfortunately mankind has a way of screwing stuff up pretty quickly. Not surprisingly people have managed to pervert Christianity and kill in the name of God but that is a departure from Christ's instructions, not an adherence to them. Christ's words are to love your enemies and pray for them, not kill them.
So my question. In the Quran, is there a point where something changes and the standing order given by Allah to murder all infidels is reversed/stopped the way Christ came and told people to love their enemies, etc? Is jihad and the murder of anyone who isn't Muslim and won't convert to Islam a departure from the Quran or a fundamentalist adherence to it?