With all the reported violence in the world caused by some of the Muslims over the cartoons and 
terrorist deadly actions, it is no wonder the world’s perception of Islam is growing very negative. Granted not all Muslims are to blamed, and there are some peace loving Muslims, the violence against humanity is occurring in countries under control by Islam.
According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll:
The poll found that nearly half of Americans — 46 percent — have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when Muslims were often targeted for violence.
These same sentiments were expressed in a recent post in Jihad Watch:
A handwringing article from the Bandar Beacon, otherwise known as the Washington Post, bemoans the fact that more Americans in 2006 think that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence than they did in 2001. According to various people named Cole and others quoted in this story, it’s all the fault of politicians and the media. And gee whiz, there are some swell Muslims out there, so that means that the Americans who believe that Islam is violent are wrong, doesn’t it?
Sometimes I wonder if the Post writers believe they are writing for adults. Of course there are millions of wonderful people out there who are Muslims. That is actually irrelevant to the question of whether or not Islam teaches violence. And while the assembled experts in this article spend a lot of time talking about how politicians and the media can improve public perceptions of Islam, no one mentions anything about what Muslims might be able to do.
So here are a few suggestions. If Muslims don’t want Islam to be perceived as encouraging violence, they should:
1. Stop committing violent acts.
2. Stop justifying those violent acts by reference to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
3. Stop saying violent or hateful things in private when you think no non-Muslims are around.
4. Begin comprehensive international programs in mosques all over the world to teach against the ideas of violent jihad and Islamic supremacism.
5. Actively work with Western law enforcement officials to identify and apprehend jihadists within Western Muslim communities.Do these five things, and you’ll find, voilà, that perceptions of Islam will begin miraculously to improve.
With all that said, let’s hope the world wakes up and see that Islam in not really a ‘religion of peace’ or the Muslims who have remained silent during the violence speak up against all the turmoil.