Over the centuries religion had evolved to be more civilized and less barbaric. Punishment was more a matter of protocol and physical harm was put to rest. Even some of the more extreme views of religion became more moderate. Being too aggressive simply chased people away.
However as we said, all but one religion has evolved out of the dark and barbaric ages of man. The one that remains in the past is Islam. For the most part nothing has changed from the word go. Perhaps from the fear of punishment, Islam has become stagnant while the whole of the world moved on. Any suggestion of change is greeted with violent mobs reminiscent of those darker and barbaric days of more than a millennium ago. Simply fear of standing up has left Islam in a time from before the dark ages.
Even the Muslims that feel change is good in places where extreme forms of Islam is practiced are forced to act in a way that they oppose change or risk being killed for blaspheme. Punishment in those places is still administered as it was and attempts the convert to another religion was met with death. In fact every aspect of violation of Islam laws is met with some form of physical punishment that is not acceptable in today’s world.
If you look at the geographical locations where this extreme behavior is being seen, the first thing that is obvious is there is a complete lack of modernism. Other than some minor changes in building materials like a plastic tarp here and there, things look like they have for a millennium. The feeling that you have just stepped back in time is very real. Afghanistan for the most part looks as rugged and unforgiving as it did in the days of the Roman Empire.
With that thought, it is natural to assume the people that live there must adapt to the land or they will die. Many of the people that live there never heard of political correctness. For them it is raw survival, and if someone’s feelings gets hurt, too bad. Because of the living conditions in that part of the world, it is fair to see that they are similar if not the same as the time of the start of Islam. Because of that people who call those places home respond best to the harsh punishment.
On the same note, when Islam exists in modern cities like New York or London, the Muslims are much more moderate. They have adapted to the living conditions and seen that the need for extreme Islam punishment is not needed. The acceptance of living with non Muslims is also not a problem. So simply put where Islam is found in time via geographical location, seems to be in direct correlation with their views. The nastier the area, the nastier and more extreme the views.
So it is no coincidence that Seventh century Islam thinking exists in the Twenty First century. The most intolerant Muslims are in those areas. It may be too difficult for someone to make the jump from the Seventh century to the Twenty First century. When they leave those places and experience the modern world, it is easy to see that they would go into some form of overload or meltdown seeking some Jihad for tarnishing Islam. That would also support why any encouragement to change is met with violence via terrorism or whatever. For these people Islam is stagnant and mired in the days of barbaric behavior.
