[Dialup Llama]

So they get a box of raisins? Boy are they going to be bummed.

[AlGone2001]

A return to the earliest Koran, Mr. Puin and others suggest, might lead to a more tolerant brand of Islam, as well as one that is more conscious of its close ties to both Judaism and Christianity.

Close ties? The only thing they have in common is Abrhamam, Isaac and Jacob. I'd not say that they are close on those accounts, reither.

[T'wit]

White raisins? White raisins? Blow ourselves up and all we get is a two-bit handful of white raisins? Ptui!

[Dialup Llama]

You see the Koran does not say jihad is "to kill." It really says "take a chill pill."

[Free the USA]

Good post
Bump List

[DallasMike]

So this guy is promoting the idea that Muslims are promised 72 white raisins if they martyr themselves? Thanks, but they cost less at the grocery store.

[denydenydeny]

"Between fear and political correctness, it's not possible to say anything other than sugary nonsense about Islam," said one scholar at an American university who asked not to be named, referring to the threatened violence as well as the widespread reluctance on United States college campuses to criticize other cultures.

The New York Times printed this?

[soycd]

Islam wants you to convert to Muslim...or else.
If they make it past my Pb interface I say let them try.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Even many broad-minded liberal Muslims become upset when the historical voracity and authenticity of the Koran is questioned."

While there is absolutely no question about the "voracity" of the Koran, there is doubt about the VERACITY of it.

9/11 was a true example of the VORACITY of Islam, a characteristic unchanged for 1300 years of conquest and terror.

[Jeremy_Bentham]

Great article on the origins of the Koran.

AlGone2001:
The only thing they have in common is Abrhamam, Isaac and Jacob. I'd not say that they are close on those accounts, reither.

If, as the article states, the early versions of the Koran drew significantly from the doctrines of Judaism and Christianity, then this early version obviously would have close ties to these doctrines.

[Pokey78]

Well, we're not white, but there are 72 of us.

[Darth Sidious]

[concerned about politics]

Muhammad was a camel merchant? Like a used car salesman?
The muslims bought his story?
I don't think it was Gabreal that visited this guy and promised 'virgins', I think it was just bad cellular.

[Bosco]

A fair bit (and then some) of this article is also contained in Ibn Warraq's 1995 book, "Why I am not a Muslim". Both Warraq and the author in the book mentioned in the article above have pen names. (Islam is a religion of peace.)

In contrast, the Bible has been dragged through the streets for the past couple of hundred years and still holding up nicely. Too bad the JEDP critiques are still taught in the universities without the responses from Biblical scholars. Gives one the (unfounded) impression that the Bible is doody.

Try that with the Qur'an and you'll get a fatwa for your trouble.

Have a nice day.

[stilts]

There is a great opportunity for peace contained in this article. We could offer any Muslim terrorist that turns in his weapons 144 raisins....double the going rate for using them.

[RightWhale]

Seriously? They will get a bowl of raisins instead of virgins? Well, some days are like that.

[truth_seeker]

Tell the Zoroastrians of Persia how peaceful and tolerant Islam was, from the start. They were the practicing monotheists of Iran, who fled the land, upon the onslaught of Islam.

I judge religions, cultures and nations by their works. Islam is bringing up the rear, with a long way to go, before I will concede it has peaceful coexistence with others, at its core.

[krogers58]

I for one still hold to the idea that all these fanatics are going to recieve 72 virgins when they get there....but I think, given the way they have lived, they will all be men....71 other fanatics......sounds like HE double toothpicks to me...

[crystalk]

These guys have sold it all for not 70 VIRGINS, but 70 RAISINS!

Did anybody but me notice the very good Freudian slip in abt para #5, where it refers to "the historical VORACITY and authenticity" of Islam, not the VERACITY! I like it better this way!

[ValenB4]

Finally something that left wing deconstructionists can do that can bring about some good to the world. Unleash the liberals!