Saturday, June 11, 2011
Saturday Reflection #33
Every time I read from the Quran, I get the impression it is directing believers to be violent towards unbelievers. But perhaps I have misinterpreted what is written, and indeed, Arabic is read right to left. So actually, the Quran is full of non-believers threatening Muslims.
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The Quran isn't the only holy book to threaten unbelievers.
ReplyDelete"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." ~ Jesus, the Prince of Peace Luke 19:27
Not to mention the 20 or 30 times he states we'll burn in Hell if we don't follow him and him alone.
Having read both, I would assess the Bible at about a 4 (maybe a 6 for just the Old Testament) while the Quran deserves an 8 or 9 out of 10 on scale of whether it clearly sanctions violence.
ReplyDeleteMy personal fave...
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)
Technically, I could tell the same joke about the Hebrew Old Testament.
Mac, the main difference is, the Christian New Testament (and I'm ignoring for a moment the history of Christianity where they would, for example, burn heretics at the stake, which logically made a kind of sense, because the heretics threatened to send people to Hell for eternity through their false teachings) mostly threatens violence and torture in the afterlife, while the Koran threatens and sanctions violence against infidels in the here and now.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you're right, N.S. The New Testament isn't nearly as bad as the Old. The Old Testament is, of course, very much like the Quran.
ReplyDeleteStill, it always struck me that Jesus may be a little complicit (if he were real) - he encouraged everyone to follow Daddy's rules. You know, the rules that lead to that history you're ignoring.
I think the most interesting thing, mac, is that the Quran is more violent, and yet Muslims have not been on the whole more violent than Christians over each's entire history (at least not in my view). I think it all comes down to people being unable to follow their religion, whether the proscribed rules are good or bad.
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