Ladies and gentlemen, we are living in an age when terrorist armies occupy large swaths of entire nations, commit heinous crimes daily, advertise their raw depravity proudly, cite a unifying explanation for their actions in Islamic texts and history, and inspire followers in every country, including Canada, but let us ignore these hundreds of thousands of individuals. They, after all, are the extreme, who do not represent Islam.
How does the mainstream look? In mainstream Islamic society, apostasy is a crime often punishable by death; minorities, which often represent the indigenous populations of these societies, are robbed of equal citizenship; and dissent is equated with treason. A Pew Research poll taken in Egypt, a moderate Islamic society, showed that 62% of Egyptians said that law should strictly follow the teachings of the Quran. One-third sympathized with Islamic fundamentalists, and only one-third believed that Christians should exercise their rights.
I will end with an incident that I hope is still fresh in your minds. Four days ago, a young Coptic Christian priest was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in the middle of the day in a busy street in Cairo as the crowd watched. Egyptian Christians are resigned to the likelihood that his attacker, although apprehended, will not face justice, because none of his predecessors have. In a mainstream Islamic society, no Muslim will face due punishment for killing a Christian.