There may be no more globally divisive question over the past few years than whether the Islamic State is representative of the world's global Muslim population or not.<br />Speaking in Rome on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry waded into this controversial debate yet again and took a remarkably strong position for a Western leader.<br />“Daesh is in fact nothing more than a mixture of killers, of kidnappers, of criminals, of thugs, of adventurers, of smugglers and thieves,” Kerry said.<br />“And they are also above all apostates, people who have hijacked a great religion and lie about its real meaning and lie about its purpose and deceive people in order to fight for their purposes.”<br />The use of the word "apostates" – a term to describe someone who renounces or abandons their religion – has raised eyebrows among observers.<br />The description has been commonly used by extremist groups: The Islamic State has justified its attacks on Muslims with rhetoric that suggests these Muslims were apostates, which they view as a crime punishable by death.
