Why So Much Hate?

I'm the last person you would expect to take up for Islam. I'm a Polytheist with an extreme dislike of Monotheism in general. I think missionary work should be outlawed. The phrase "do you have a moment for Jesus?" or "Allah is most merciful!" gets you the middle finger from me most of the time. Still, I think Islam is being portrayed in an overly negative fashion. You hear about terrorists, jihad, and suicide bombings so much that you forget there are many more nice, kind, law abiding Muslims all across the United States and Europe. Another thing I've noticed is many Christians and Jews regard Muslims simply as "copying our religion". To them, Mohammed didn't come up with his own religion or have a vision from God, he just ripped off the Bible. This is an unfair point of view to say the least. Others yammer on about how Allah was the name of a "pagan moon god" so he's not the same god as Yahweh or Jehovah. When you take into account how basically everywhere has a different translation of the word for "god" (itself a Germanic word in origin, meaning a head carved at the top of a post) and the fact that the Arab moon god was actually called Hubal, this argument falls apart rather quickly. People need to chill out about Islam. It's a faith with good and bad parts just like any other.