[Faceman]

Religion is not the root of the problem - Fanatically misinterpreted religion used as an ideology is.
Religion (even if fanatically misinterpreted) is also a way of increasing personal contentness and quality of life.
Loss of religion makes people unhappy (unless they have a substitute like rationalism or their own philosophical ideology).
On a sidenote: Even Atheists are religous in some way. They do BELIEVE that there is no god (opposed to agnosticists who just don't care)
So where was I? Loss of religion (which is partly socially forced on them)makes many people unhappy in the Western countries -> so they go compensate by buying something or they try to reaquire religion and fall easy victims to a cult.
But I am getting off my point which was: Religion makes people happy (on the average) so it is the perfect instrument to transport an ideology. It's not that the Islam is a bad religion, it's that there are people who misuse it to transport their evil agenda. After a while this agenda can become attached to the religion and many followers will still practice it even if the originators have long since gone and the religion was not intended to be that way in the first place.

P.S.: Hope you get my point, if not I should clarify it in a later post I'm to tired to think now (4AM at my place)