I&#x27;ve encountered this explanation before (most notably from Sam Harris), and I don&#x27;t feel qualified to disagree with it, but I wonder how you account for the difference between the actions of Muslims and those of other religious traditions whose holy texts contain comparable passages.<p>If language advocating violence in a religion&#x27;s scriptures were in itself sufficient to motivate its adherents to commit acts of violence, I would expect comparable levels of violence from these other religions. Given that this is clearly a problem unique to Islam in the modern age, it seems that the proximate cause can&#x27;t be the Islamic scriptures alone.<p>Even if I&#x27;m not convinced, I disagree that you deserve to be downvoted. You&#x27;ve voiced an unpopular opinion, but it isn&#x27;t rude or inflammatory (except possibly for the Santa analogy) and doesn&#x27;t advocate inhumane behavior toward Muslims.