Posted on 05/24/2005 7:02:46 PM PDT by SJackson
The Medina verses abrogate the Meccan verses whenever there is a contradiction. JihadWatch.com and faithfreedom are the best websites exposing Islam and Jihadist Islam.
The director of JihadWatch always repeats how the murderous Jihadists have plenty of Muslim scripture to back them up and can usually beat the moderate Muslims in debate. The "moderates" don't have as much Koran and Hadith to make their case.
oh, admittedly, christians behaving badly is a strong theme of western history.
however, those who did so acted in direct disobediece to their scriptural rules of temporal behavior. ie: they were BAD christians.
otoh, muslims behaving in similarly ghastly manner did (and do) so in direct obedience to *their* scriptural rules of temporal behavior. ie: they are GOOD muslims.
I'm aware of the verse of the sword.
I wish all americans would trouble themselves to become so acquainted with that dictum.
Jesus didn't say...."I'm only joking about cutting off your arm or plucking out your eye...but it wouldn't be a bad idea if it caused you to sin." However, some people claim that the passage is not literal. Who is to say? Admittedly, our Western culture is more temperate and liberal minded in these regards. But what about hundreds, thousands of years ago or in other places today outside of Western society?
The Koran is a blood soaked history of Mohammed giving it out. The only blood in the New Testament is really Jesus' taking it and not fighting back.
It is pretty clear what the general thrust of the founder of religion was.
A Christian cutting off the head of a man is doing so in contravention of Jesus' instructions. A Moslem doing so is fulfilling Mohammeds'. Christians who realize there may be necessity of war in this world have typically had to philosophize a justification to bend it around New Testament prohibitions on violence. Mohammedans have no need to bother with squaring their circles, for their holy book refers to the world as "Dar Ul Harb" or "Land of War" which it shall be in perpetuity until Islam has spread everywhere.
Interpretation of isolated passages is made easier by looking at the style and overall thrust of the text. Jesus spoke in parable and metaphor all the time, so when puzzled by a passage, see if the metaphorical interpretation makes it make more sense. When Jesus tells you to pluck your eye out, you simply look to see if he encouraged anyone around him actually to do this followed by his effusive praise. Since no one around Jesus was going about plucking eyes and Jesus didn't seem to upset by this, it's safe to say that he was being metaphorical. Contrast this with Mohammed saying, "Chop their heads off" followed by actual head chopping with Mohammed not being upset by the physical manifestation of his words. It gives you a clue that he was not being metaphorical.
Here endeth my crash course in Comparative Hermeneutics.
This article is freshman level crap. I wonder when all the Christians were purged from the CSM?
Since when does the threat of violence equate to murder?
There is a differance between being marred by violnce and it being sanctified in your "holy books"
That is the problem with islam .
you cant have islam with out violance.
Catholics and Protestants don't have the problem out of Ireland, so I think that is a regional political issue.
Israel is always told to not respond to the constant terrorism of Palestinians, which is BS.
This article is a good laugh though.
Well said.
Similarly, the christians who killed in Sabra and Shattila were not stirred up by some fiery Maronite preacher. The killers were no more (and probably less) religious than those who did not take part. Ditto the Serbians. It's about the clash of clans, who happen to have different religious backgrounds.
But in Islam, it is the core religious leaders (and not some fringe group ) that speak with the most violent tongues, and they are not criticized nor censured by others (thereby validating the hate).
In this world, we will always disagree, contradict and believe the other to be wrong. The solution is not to believe nothing, nor to say that what we believe doesn't matter. The untidy solution is to constantly remind ourselves that the person whose views we find lacking is made in the image of God and therefore intrinsically deserving of profound respect.
The vast majority of Christians and Jews are on board with this, even (or maybe especially), the more devout). Unfortunately, the Muslim leadership has a much harder time embracing it. Perhaps they do not believe that man is made in God's image.
"That atheistic communism has killed more people than any other religon has ever come close to!"
It's humorous to hear the less informed type of secularists try to paint themselves as morally superior by pointing out all the people killed in the name of religion. Secularists in the last century (the only century in which secularists ever held power anywhere) have killed more than all the religious wars of all time.
Then the Secularists say, "Oh but they weren't true secularists!"
But if I say of Medieval mayhem, "Oh, but they weren't true Christians, then I'm guilty of fudging.
short answer: no.
Just make sure it is an early translation made by a non Muslim in a western country. Remember, to Islam, translations of the Koran are all false. The newest versions that you can find at the book store have all be heavily sanitized.
Most christians will dismiss the lives lost and ruined in the Old Testament as nothing more than ancient history and not worth deliberating about...but look how nice Christianity is.....today.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Jesus said he brought the sword. Go Figure.
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