Christianity vs. Islam

Awhile ago, Jim Benton asked me to join in on the discussions of Islam and Christianity on his blog. I made my first contribution today, telling him that they aren't perhaps as different as he thinks:

John 3:18- "he who does not believed is condemned."

In orthodox Christianity, Hell is indeed where unbelievers go. Granted, there is the rationalization that they go there because everyone is a sinner and can only be saved by belief, but this is the eqivalent of saying, "We don't kill unbelievers, they're just not allowed to have food."

Also, some Christians do claim that unbelievers really believe in God, or claim, as one leading evangelical does, that the unbeliever "willingly ignores and rejects the drawing of God's Spirit on his heart" and for this reason deserves damnation. I wish I still had the book that quote comes from, as the guy cites Bible verses in his support, but the citations are there at any rate.