Excerpt:
Friday's failed attempt to bomb Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square has inspired plenty of malice on local blogs and in commentary, inflaming hatred and vilifying Islam. Anger, fear and misinformation have grown exponentially since 9/11, watered by the 24-7 news cycle and instant internet judgments. Suddenly, Oregon's not such a civil place anymore: Somebody tried to set off an explosion in our living room; somebody set fire to a mosque in Corvallis.
Looking for balance, we turned to two Muslim leaders and a scholar about how the words of the Quran, the sacred text of Islam, are often quoted out of context to justify violence. After all, the word "Islam" shares a root with the Hebrew word "shalom" and means -- no matter what you hear or read -- "peace attained by submission to God."
"There's no part of the Quran that says killing people is okay," says Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, professor of Islam at Reed College in Southeast Portland. But it's also not that simple.