Posted on 06/08/2009 11:04:36 AM PDT by ventanax5
“There is far more violence in the Bible than in the Qur’an; the idea that Islam imposed itself by the sword is a Western fiction, fabricated during the time of the Crusades when, in fact, it was Western Christians who were fighting brutal holy wars against Islam.” So announces former nun and self-professed “freelance monotheist,” Karen Armstrong. This quote sums up the single most influential argument currently serving to deflect the accusation that Islam is inherently violent and intolerant: All monotheistic religions, proponents of such an argument say, and not just Islam, have their fair share of violent and intolerant scriptures, as well as bloody histories. Thus, whenever Islam’s sacred scriptures — the Qur’an first, followed by the reports on the words and deeds of Muhammad (the Hadith) — are highlighted as demonstrative of the religion’s innate bellicosity, the immediate rejoinder is that other scriptures, specifically those of Judeo-Christianity, are as riddled with violent passages. …
(Excerpt) Read more at meforum.org ...
I’ll bet this useful idiot also can tell us of all the numerous times Jerusalem is mentioned in the koran.
This is comparing apples to oranges. Islam is not a religion. It is a violent political ideology of which religion is only one component and is used as a means to impose Sharia Laws on non muslim societies.
The agenda: do away with established religion, and replace it with a Godless one, right?
The most violent religion ever is Atheism.
More people were killed in the last 100 years in the name of NO God than all of the other religions combined.
Think communism, nazism, etc.
Silly on its face.
Ask Charles Martel, Vlad the Impaler, and the peoples of India, Persia, Africa, Turkey, and the Baltic region how peacefully they were converted to Islam.
My mother was born in Sicily. They have long, unhappy memories as dhimmies under Moorish domination.
Please spare us the vapid and stupid historical revisionism.
We are not as stupid as you would like us to be.
Oh, and watch the documentaries, “The Third Jihad” and “Obsession”.
That is VERY RECENT history.
Wrong.
Atheism is just not believing in supernatural beings produced by Man’s imagination.
Full-stop.
Here’s the biggest difference between Christianity, Judaism and Islam- the violent Christians and Jews are the ones betraying their religion. In Islam, the peaceful tolerant Muslims are the ones betraying THEIR religion.
Atheism has all the hallmarks of a religion.
Not believing in God is just not believing in God. No label needed.
Like ‘bald’ is a hair color...
Those poor Muslims were constantly harassed in their home countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, by those mean Christians and Jews.
Muhammed always said that the best times in his life were when he used to bathe in Lake Victoria.
A good article.
Karen Armstrong
You’ll find her books at your favorite bookstores. For example:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Karen+Armstrong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Karen Armstrong (born 14 November 1944 in Wildmoor, Worcestershire) is a British author of numerous works on comparative religion, who first rose to prominence with her highly successful A History of God. A former Catholic nun, she asserts that “All the great traditions are saying the same thing in much the same way, despite their surface differences.” They each have in common, she says, an emphasis upon the overriding importance of compassion, as expressed by way of the Golden Rule: Do not do to others what you would not have done to you.
Author of several books on the Muslim tradition, she has, since the September 11, 2001 attacks, become much in demand on the US lecture circuit. In February 2008 Armstrong called for a council of Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders to draw up a “Charter of Compassion,” which would apply shared moral priorities to foster greater global understanding. Her interfaith initiative was awarded the $100,000 TED Prize, backed by an international conference of leading figures in the fields of design, entertainment and technology.[1][2]
And yet it still requires faith in the nature of things unseen.
Except for Christ’s chasing the money-changers from the Temple, nearly all of the violence is in the OLD TESTAMENT.
Christ’s arrival fulfilled those OT prophesies and relieved those who follow Him of those OT burdens and laws — and violence.
Except that Christians and Jews share the first 5 books of the OT, I can’t speak to any violence in any other sacred Jewish writings.
I CAN say that for New Testament believing Christians, we are not — unlike in the koran of islam — ordered to either convert, enslave and/or tax (if useful) or murder those who refuse to embrace islam.
Christians are only instructed to share the good news about Jesus and God’s grace under the Great Commission, letting the hearer of that good news embrace it or reject it.
Modern Christians — REAL Christians — do not enslave or murder those who reject Christ. We believe that they will pay a far heavier price at a later time.
Are Muslims more likely to kill others in 2009? YES. Only an idiot would think otherwise.
Exacto! How can there be “no God” if there isn’t first a God? Get it?
I found this elsewhere, but it is mildly amusing :)
Atheism: The belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating bits that then turned into dinosaurs.
Full Stop.
Silly, isn't it?
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