That's the thing. I haven't heard of any Muslims disavowing the violence. And then there are the communities in which the violent people live. Their neighbors know what they're up to, such as building bombs, and they never say anything to the police. That happened with the guy who coordinated the bombings in Paris and I think the one in Brussels too. There unfortunately seems to be more of a tacit approval of their violence than a condemnation of it within their own communities.

You are right in that many people commit crimes with no religious motive whatsoever. Unfortunately, when Muslim extremists commit crimes, they invoke their religion over and over. And then the Muslims who are not extremists themselves seem to largely remain silent. While I personally do not believe that all (or even most) Muslims are violent, they unfortunately are not helping to debunk that perception, which grows each time some crazy guy shoots a bunch of people and then himself while shouting that they are doing this in the name of Allah.

I am actually concerned that at some point our own country may do something to the Muslims like what we did to the Japanese in WWII--put them in internment camps. That's why I'd actually like to hear a louder voice from the peaceful Muslim community not only denouncing the extremist violence but outlining how as a religion they intend to put a stop to this. They won't be able to completely end it, but they could come up with a plan, such as vetting all Muslim imams and preachers for violent rhetoric and not tolerating the ones who do preach violence. They could explain to adherents the procedure for reporting suspicious activity (such as bomb building or amassing of weapons) to the local police. They could outline how the Koran teaches against all forms of violence (even that done to "infidels"). The Koran does teach that violence is unacceptable, right? These are things that have to be handled within the Muslim community, and which can't easily be imposed from the outside.

If the Muslims rise up to denounce the violence and get proactive about putting a stop to it, then I think there will be a positive ripple effect which will eventually dampen the enthusiasm of the extremists. However, if the religion as a whole is unwilling to address the violence, then it will very quickly come to the point where various restrictions will have to be imposed on them in order to ensure everyone else's safety. They aren't likely to like those restrictions very much, which is why it would be far better if they can handle this in house.