The following is not intended as serious political analysis or a serious comparison: the world of 2002 is radically different from the world of the year 30, or 600, or 1500. It’s simply intended to provide a tiny bit of context.

For the sake of discussion, let’s date the founding of Islam to the year 610, when Mohammed began preaching, and the founding of Christianity to the year 30, when Jesus began his ministry. This means Islam is now 1,391 years old.

In the year 1422, Christianity was the same age as Islam is now...

In 1478, Pope Sixtus IV authorized the Spanish Inquisition
In 1541, John Calvin, founder of Calvinism, took control of the city of Geneva, banning theater and requiring the reading of psalms in taverns. In 1553, he burned Michael Servetus at the stake for heresy, deliberately choosing partially green wood that took longer to burn and therefore caused its victim even greater agony
In 1542, Pope Paul III in 1542 established the Roman Inquisition; in 1633 this organization condemned Galileo for teaching (among other things) that the Earth circled the sun
In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials began; 19 people were hanged, one was pressed to death, and up to 13 died in prison

So, if Islam can get past intolerance in the next couple hundred years or so, that’ll be pretty darned competitive...