I think you go too far in labeling Islam as evil. Your rationale for such label can be applied to the United States, to Communism, Judaism, and even Christianity.
As far as the Bible-- if that is your classification of the Bible as empirical…it is a contradiction of terms. The Bible was used, during that conversation I had with my coleague as justifying slavery. He said that it was there in the Bible–so let me question you: Doesn’t this make it evil? And he was not depending on his interpretation, no, he, like you, thought of this as an empirical fact.
No such thing.
I say that to you as I told him. The Bible, like the Quran is a work of many moods, by different authors in different eras. The editing of such stream of consciousness requires the matching of contradicting verses, whether from one man or a collection of authors. The reality on the ground, in their lives, drives the lucid dream of their interaction with the Divine. Because man cannot detach himself from life (regardless of his ideals), these works come to have different moods, so that at one point there is mercy and love for all and on another there is vengance and hate palpable in every word.
The reason why I rely much more on history than in the written word of holy books is because at their inception the religions of the Book often emerged in mostly illiterate societies, in a world devoid of the technology to disseminate adequate quantities to the lucky few who could read. Thus, while these religions spread quickly, the “Christians” and “Muslims” created were only so in name and not in practice.
Understanding was not even sought. All that was required was agreement on a few basic ideas, and PRESTO! You are X.
The Christians of this world (The Spanish, the English, the Germans, the Americans…) have fucked a larger number of people they have met and quite often with a clean conscience for they did it in the name of the Church. It is the Church that gave us Torquemada–not Islam.
You have your own path to travel I suppose, but mine has left me empty of certainty–even that is not certain. Are religions mostly stupid? Sure. But I give each person the right to do with their mind whatever their want. After all, their human nature is what will fuck everything in the end, no matter how lofty and well-intention, their religion, or ideals, happen to be.