I for one (pun intended) would rather acknowledge Highlander 2 than the latest atrocity known as Highlander: The Source. Lets all just agree that the series was far superior to the movies and leave it at that.
 The only thing I was doing by posting this was to offer you clarification, something religion in general is in dire need of today. I agree with you that whats practiced is ultimately what matters. There have however been several instances of Muslim leaders criticizing extremists such as Bin Laden and Hamas who have their own agendas. The fact that the media coverage is sorely lacking when it comes to events, announcments, etc. that condemn monsters like Bin Laden should tell you something about corporate media in general. You said you've never heard of an extremist imam being declared an apostate. Well, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I've seen it happen several times in multiple locations. But it just isn't newsworthy. Don't get me wrong...I place the blame squarely on myself and Muslims in general for our own shortcomings but the blame lies with several parties, not just with Muslims.
There are several Muslim intellectuals like Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir, Charles Gai Eaton, Martin Lings (who passed away recently) who are doing some good outreach work with Muslims and non-Muslims both. The fruits of their labor will take a while to be seen, hopefully in the form of a much more well-educated Muslim population as well as a more understanding non-Muslim population.
I'm not going to get into a discussion about the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict because that situation is most definitely not a black/white issue. You asked me whether I'd be willing to go to Gaza and convince Hamas. I know Hamas is an extremist organization but its a complicated issue. The fact that they kill innocent Jews...is that wrong? Of course it is. It makes them murderers just like anyone else who goes about doing the same thing in the name of "freeing their people." By the same token, its not defense when Israeli forces "accidentally" kill a bunch of kids during an anti-terrorist operation. I know its a naive way of thinking but I don't buy the idea of "casualties of war." If an operation involves innocent people, and you go in knowing someone uninvolved is going to die, that makes you a killer even if its just one innocent life lost. It doesn't matter if the killer is Muslim, atheist, Jewish, or Christian, etc.
There are so many factors that contributed and are still contributing to the ME coflict that the paragraph above just doesn't do it justice. Hamas isn't going to listen to some guy trying to convince them what Islam teaches which I guess is the point you're making. But changing realities on the ground can be convincing. By that I mean the US at least TRYING to talk to the group. Maybe not giving an insane amount of cash to Israel for weapons, etc. while ignoring more important domestic and international issues. Not too mention backing the Fatah movement which everyone knows to be completely corrupt. These types of actions aren't going to gain any sympathy with the Palestinians. Hamas will only be weakened if the Palestinian people are given a reason not to trust the group anymore. And the only way that happens is if you give them a better option and Fatah isn't it.
Lastly, this post wasn't at all about Muslim solidarity. It was a purely intellectual point cautioning against interpreting and using something the wrong way. You sound like a reasonable person so I figured I'd just let you know:)
While I agree that many "Islamic" countries as they claim to be use the death penalty as a punishment for conversion to another faith, I would advise you not to use hadith as partial/whole proof of the practice being a historical norm in Islam. And yes, I am a Muslim:)
Hadith science is an extremely complex field mastered by very few people, specially today. I barely know much about it but based on what I do know, English translations (especially ones that simply list the hadith w/o any background, context, commentary) cannot be fully trusted. Bukhari is considered to be one of the most authentic hadith collections but w/o property explanation and commentary several hadith can be extremely misleading. This is something that happens all too frequently among Muslims. They'll pick up a translated copy of Bukhari, read a hadith out and simply use it as law w/o any research.
Now I'm not saying that the hadith example you gave above definitely falls in this category, but it is fairly likely that the hadith is not a standalone. It probably had commentary and explanation around it and perhaps even referred to a specific case at a pivotal moment in history for the parties involved. I personally don't know but thats exactly why I can't draw any conclusions from it.
Lastly, to give you a more serious example, there are hadith listed in what are considered authentic hadith collections (such as Bukhari) that are actually false. They are not listed so that people can use them. They're specifically mentioned with proper warnings that under no circumstances should the hadith be used for legal cases or even personal issues. The narrators will highlight these hadith and give reasons for why they are prohibited. These reasons can include things like it was fabricated, one of the transmitters of the hadith was a known liar in his/her time, and so on. It is of course the fault of the translator of the hadith collection for not doing a good job and this in turn can have dire consequences, specially in tribal regions where there is a patriarchal social structure and so-called scholars rule in a hardline manner using a literal interpretation of hadith literature as law.
Hopefully this wasn't too heavy-handed:)
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What? No BattleField Earth?
I for one (pun intended) would rather acknowledge Highlander 2 than the latest atrocity known as Highlander: The Source. Lets all just agree that the series was far superior to the movies and leave it at that.
 The only thing I was doing by posting this was to offer you clarification, something religion in general is in dire need of today. I agree with you that whats practiced is ultimately what matters. There have however been several instances of Muslim leaders criticizing extremists such as Bin Laden and Hamas who have their own agendas. The fact that the media coverage is sorely lacking when it comes to events, announcments, etc. that condemn monsters like Bin Laden should tell you something about corporate media in general. You said you've never heard of an extremist imam being declared an apostate. Well, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I've seen it happen several times in multiple locations. But it just isn't newsworthy. Don't get me wrong...I place the blame squarely on myself and Muslims in general for our own shortcomings but the blame lies with several parties, not just with Muslims.
:)
There are several Muslim intellectuals like Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir, Charles Gai Eaton, Martin Lings (who passed away recently) who are doing some good outreach work with Muslims and non-Muslims both. The fruits of their labor will take a while to be seen, hopefully in the form of a much more well-educated Muslim population as well as a more understanding non-Muslim population.
I'm not going to get into a discussion about the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict because that situation is most definitely not a black/white issue. You asked me whether I'd be willing to go to Gaza and convince Hamas. I know Hamas is an extremist organization but its a complicated issue. The fact that they kill innocent Jews...is that wrong? Of course it is. It makes them murderers just like anyone else who goes about doing the same thing in the name of "freeing their people." By the same token, its not defense when Israeli forces "accidentally" kill a bunch of kids during an anti-terrorist operation. I know its a naive way of thinking but I don't buy the idea of "casualties of war." If an operation involves innocent people, and you go in knowing someone uninvolved is going to die, that makes you a killer even if its just one innocent life lost. It doesn't matter if the killer is Muslim, atheist, Jewish, or Christian, etc.
There are so many factors that contributed and are still contributing to the ME coflict that the paragraph above just doesn't do it justice. Hamas isn't going to listen to some guy trying to convince them what Islam teaches which I guess is the point you're making. But changing realities on the ground can be convincing. By that I mean the US at least TRYING to talk to the group. Maybe not giving an insane amount of cash to Israel for weapons, etc. while ignoring more important domestic and international issues. Not too mention backing the Fatah movement which everyone knows to be completely corrupt. These types of actions aren't going to gain any sympathy with the Palestinians. Hamas will only be weakened if the Palestinian people are given a reason not to trust the group anymore. And the only way that happens is if you give them a better option and Fatah isn't it. Lastly, this post wasn't at all about Muslim solidarity. It was a purely intellectual point cautioning against interpreting and using something the wrong way. You sound like a reasonable person so I figured I'd just let you know
While I agree that many "Islamic" countries as they claim to be use the death penalty as a punishment for conversion to another faith, I would advise you not to use hadith as partial/whole proof of the practice being a historical norm in Islam. And yes, I am a Muslim :)
Hadith science is an extremely complex field mastered by very few people, specially today. I barely know much about it but based on what I do know, English translations (especially ones that simply list the hadith w/o any background, context, commentary) cannot be fully trusted. Bukhari is considered to be one of the most authentic hadith collections but w/o property explanation and commentary several hadith can be extremely misleading. This is something that happens all too frequently among Muslims. They'll pick up a translated copy of Bukhari, read a hadith out and simply use it as law w/o any research.
Now I'm not saying that the hadith example you gave above definitely falls in this category, but it is fairly likely that the hadith is not a standalone. It probably had commentary and explanation around it and perhaps even referred to a specific case at a pivotal moment in history for the parties involved. I personally don't know but thats exactly why I can't draw any conclusions from it.
Lastly, to give you a more serious example, there are hadith listed in what are considered authentic hadith collections (such as Bukhari) that are actually false. They are not listed so that people can use them. They're specifically mentioned with proper warnings that under no circumstances should the hadith be used for legal cases or even personal issues. The narrators will highlight these hadith and give reasons for why they are prohibited. These reasons can include things like it was fabricated, one of the transmitters of the hadith was a known liar in his/her time, and so on. It is of course the fault of the translator of the hadith collection for not doing a good job and this in turn can have dire consequences, specially in tribal regions where there is a patriarchal social structure and so-called scholars rule in a hardline manner using a literal interpretation of hadith literature as law.
Hopefully this wasn't too heavy-handed :)