[Jeanette X]

I do not think that Islam is any more inherently violent than Christianity. And plenty of people (at least on the internet, from what I have seen) have certainly NOT tiptoed around the issue of Islam. I have often found myself debating with Christians about whether or not Islam is about terrorism.
As for civilization, bear in mind that Baghdad was a center of culture, science, and commerce back when most of Europe was picking berries and shitting in the woods. The reasons that the Muslim world did not seem to progress the way Europe did is probably because of factors unrelated to the religion itself.
Women are often oppressed in Islam not because of Islam itself, but because of the Arab culture that predates it and got blended into the religion.
BTW, Islam is referred to as being a religion of peace because the word "Islam" translates to mean "Peace through submission to Allah."