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To: Eala
Many evils were undertaken by Christianity that were not backed up by scripture, but most evils undertaken by Islam is backed up by the Koran. BTW, I recognize that the old testament illustrated some pretty violent actions, but I am comparing Islam to Christianity.
10 posted on 11/30/2002 6:45:34 PM PST by umgud
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To: umgud
Many evils were undertaken by Christianity that were not backed up by scripture, but most evils undertaken by Islam is backed up by the Koran. BTW, I recognize that the old testament illustrated some pretty violent actions, but I am comparing Islam to Christianity.

Correct. When comparing the Koran to the Bible you need to separate the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). The Old Testament is a record of the struggle of the Jewish people against their enemies (Hittites, Amorites, etc). The New Testament is the record of the fulfillment of God's Word, embodied in Jesus Christ. As a Christian I see the OT as the historical prelude leading up to the NT, which records the climax of God's plan, i.e., Jesus Christ.

Jesus never advocated violence, even against the Roman occupiers of his country. He converted Simon the Zealot (probably an anti-Roman terrorist, sort of like Hamas) into a man of peace. And when Peter cut off the ear of the Roman soldier, Jesus healed it; his last miracle before he went with the Roman soldiers to die.

As a Christian I believe that the Koran and the New Testament are antithetical to each other: One preaches war against all non-believers (Sura 8:39), death to infidels (Sura 2:191), and hatred -- specifically against Jews and Christians (Sura 5:60, 9:29). The other preaches peace (John 14:27), to turn the other cheek (Matt 5:39), to love one another (John 13:34-35), to love your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14), and to love your enemy and to pray for them (Matt 5:44).

Don't take my word for it. Read both for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

17 posted on 11/30/2002 7:35:07 PM PST by Gideon7
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To: umgud
BTW, I recognize that the old testament illustrated some pretty violent actions, but I am comparing Islam to Christianity.

The Old Testament has commands to specific Jews alive at specific time to wage war on specific communities of unbelievers. It does not have commands to Jews as a group to wage war on unbelievers as a group. This is because Judaism is a national religion, but Islam aspires to world domination.

Jihad in Islam is the equivalent to evangelization in Christianity. Some don't believe in it, but they're unfaithful to their faith. It's commanded in each religion's scriptures. It's the means by which the religion has historically spread, and has been in continuous practice from the earliest times to the present. Not all Muslims are Jihadis, just as not all Christians are missionaries, but those who are are cheered on and given financial support by the mainstream of the religion.

BTW, all Muslims are fundamentalists, just as outside of America virtually all Jews are fundamentalists and before the 20th century all Christians were fundamentalists. Reading literally isn't the problem. The problem is what they're reading.

25 posted on 11/30/2002 9:07:44 PM PST by A.J.Armitage
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