[Julie Steiner]

I would caution you to be wary of taking them at their word, Mark.

Leaders who delight in encouraging their own radical followers to sacrifice themselves along with innocents certainly don't hesitate to issue statements like this, which encourage Westerners who "take them at their word" that No True Scotsman...er, I mean Muslim...doesn't do X, Y, and Z. In this case, hate Westerners and seek to destroy non-Muslims.

They are actually hoping that their statement will provoke Westerners to seek retribution on innocent Muslims who mean no one any harm. Then the leaders of their own movement can say "I told you so" to moderate Muslims, and point to these anti-Muslim retaliatory acts and policies as evidence that no Muslim is safe, and that their own offensive war is actually defensive.

Not to defend religious fundamentalism, which is repugnant in every faith tradition (including my own), but I think religious fundamentalism isn't the cause. It's just a ready-made tool, waiting for the right sociopath to come along and wield it. Frankly, I don't think most of these demagogues believe in whatever god or gods are nominally associated with whatever brand of religious fundamentalism they're purveying. Would-be authoritarians of every stripe have been exploiting religious and ethnic divisions in the same way for millennia, because doing so is so effective at bringing them into political power, and keeping them there. They don't give a rat's ass about converting anyone, or saving anyone's soul, or bringing them into the bliss of Islam or the joy of Christ or whatever.