DWOC's International Burn a Koran Day

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by saden1

One would hope people would turn the other cheek and take the non-violent approach but the sad truth is that passages in holly books are in the eye of the beholder whether they be pacifist or antagonistic.

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

What you want, can't and won't happen Joe. And is one reason why the Jewish/Muslim war will not be ended by human eyes. In the old Testament of the Bible, God tells the Israelites to go into a land and destroy all remnants of former gods, idols etc. This isn't a one time exclusive thing, this is a trait of God. It is the same trait that Muslims claim under Sharia Law, when the Taliban destroyed many ancient Buddhists.

When God is seen as a jealous God, then any number of atrocities may be done in his name. Alot of Christians wave off this part of God, and many cynics of God point to the Christians ignoring this side as "proof" of hypocrisy. However each Christian person deals with this aspect of God, it is certainly that devout followers of the Jewish or Muslim Holy Scriptures can not ever give more than even a tolerant shrug, and in the most devout communities a tolerant shrug can be seen as blasphemy against the Holy One.

And this is what causes people like BleedBurgandy to dismiss all religion as equivalent of unicorns and lunacy – human misuse of revealed wisdom. It is also why I am so angered by leading Islamic clerics failure to loudly, proudly and unequivocally condemn vengeful actions.

saden - Do you believe that when read as a whole and working to resolve apparently conflicting out of context statements within the Qu’ran about vengeance, violence and Allah’s mercy through critical study, that any truly thoughtful, rational Muslim could believe that Allah as revealed in the Qu’ran condones vengeful actions against, or the murder of, those who simply do not believe in the Qu’ran’s teachings?

CRR – Similarly, do you believe that a similar study of the Talmud, the whole Talmud, would lead any truly thoughtful, rational Jew to believe that the Judaic God seeks the death and destruction of all non-Jews?

All I ask is for religious leaders, on all sides, is to seek the actual wisdom revealed in their Holy Scriptures – all of it, not just the parts they like - and, accordingly, teach their flock to forego vengeance, to condemn violence and to seek Truth.

Yes. It is a utopian vision but, dammit, the Truth Is Out There!