[fsjeffrey]

A few months ago I thought I'd see what the uproar between Islam and Christianity was all about so I went on the internet and found a couple of translations of the Koran.

What an eye opener!

It took a number of days to get through the whole thing and when I did, I was quite shocked.

Muslim apologists claim that Islam is a religion of love and peace and that Islamic terrorists are not true Muslims. However, Bin Laden is not "distorting" Islam. He appears to be practicing Islam very faithfully according to the teachings of Islam, the Koran.

After completing the Koran I could see from where Bin Laden got his marching orders.

Check it out for yourself.

[geekWithA.45]

Yeah, I read it a few years back, along with the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Ghita, The Old Testament, the New Testament, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Necromonicon, The Book of Tantra, The Art of War, The Art of Peace, the Book of Five Rings, a couple of books on Zen, and a handful of others that are less familiar. (I was on a roll)

Having read all those, here's my (very brief, or I'd end up writing a novel) take on it.

All of the worlds holy books suffer when taken from their native language, culture and context. Some holy books suffer more than others, and the Koran arguably suffers the worst of them all. It's my least favorite, being so top heavy as it is with all the fire and brimstone.

(I can't pick a favorite, although the first dozen or so chapters of the Ghita resonate for me)

The thing about any of the holy books is that like all esoteric knowledge, they work on several levels simultaneously, and are "self defending", in that a wise man will find the wisdom buried within, and a fool will only find foolishness. They all speak to the central kernel of truth and light that is divinity, coming at it from different angles.

The peace and tolerance messages are in there, it just has a hard time competing with all the over the top stuff.

In a similiar way, there's plenty of fire and brimstone in the old testament, we just blow it off.

Estimated half life on this thread: 2 more posts.

[fsjeffrey]

Geek,

You are obviously better read than me and I agree with most of what you say.

However, when you say "In a similiar way, there's plenty of fire and brimstone in the old testament, we just blow it off," you seem to be in some kind of denial.

Nowhere in the old testiment is it advocated that non-believers in Christianity be slaughtered, burned and mutilated.

Such is the advocacy of the Koran. Take a closer look, it's all there.

The "over the top stuff" you refer to might just be the thinking that gave us 9/11.

Somehow I sense that you agree with me but are reluctant to commit, instead using expressions like "top heavy," "fire and brimstone," "over the top stuff," and "foolishness."

[Don Gwinn]

The Old Testament is not a Christian book. Christ had not been born when it was written, after all. But although I'd have to look up the citations to be sure, I do seem to recall many instances where God told the Israelites to go out and wipe such-and-such a tribe of disbelievers off the face of the earth, ruin their fields, and take their women.
By "blowing off" that fact in the post above, it could be argued that you're illustrating his point for him. ;)

Derek Zeanah has leafed through the Koran a time or two. Maybe he'll answer your question.

[fsjeffrey]

Don,

Granted the old testament is not, as you called it, "a Christian book," but as a Christian it is certainly an intregral part of my religion just as the Koran is an integral part of the Muslim religion.

I may stand corrected if you can come up with the citations of which you speak, but a careful reading of the Koran most certainly shows throughout that all non-believers of the Muslim religion are at great risk at all times, a fact history has shown to be true.

It is the constant advocacy of brutality espoused by Mohammed all through the Koran that I have a problem with.

[Justin]

*sigh*

Threads about religion on THR aren't allowed because there has yet to be one that is either civil in tone, or respectful of others' spirituality.