Home
The following was extracted from an article on Alternet this date:
Is the Quran more violent than the Bible? The question is hard to answer. A tally at the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible counts 842 violent or cruel passages in the Bible as compared to 333 in the Quran. That said, the Bible is a much thicker tome, and even though the New Testament endorses and adds to the violence in the Old, when percentages are compared, the Quran comes out ahead. In addition, the kinds of cruelty and violence vary as do the perpetrator and victim and the extent to which any verse can be interpreted as divine sanction for the behavior in question. . .
. . . In what context is a book that contains these passages and many, many more like them the apogee of divine goodness and timeless wisdom?
Members of each Abrahamic tradition are quick to point out the rational and moral flaws in the others. I wonder sometimes, what this world might be like if they were as quick to examine the flaws in their own.
As you know, I'm an atheist. Lately, because of the cruelty presented by terrorists now called members of ISIL, there's been a lot of talk about how violent and cruel the religion of Muslims is. Those on the side of defending the majority of Muslims who abhor violence, point out that the majority of Muslims are against those parts of their Book - the Quran. And obviously, few Christians refrain from following or even citing any of the Lord's angry, bloodthirsty, and cruel commands.
We've all heard TV talking heads discuss the idea that Modern-Day Muslims should excise those parts of their Book. Doesn't the same apply to the violent and bloody commands of Jehovah or Jesus's followers?
Fundamentalists of any religion often proclaim that virtually EVERY word of their Book is truth and should be followed. Most believers think the fundamentalists are nuts.
In simple terms, most believers think it's quite okay to choose which parts of their Book apply and should be followed, and which should be ignored.
The other day a woman in an Arab country was stoned to death for the sin of adultery. That's the same punishment called for in the Torah or Old Testament.
And people wonder why Atheists like me dislike religion . . .
See: http://www.alternet.org/30-most-violent-exhortations-bible-torah-and-quran?akid=12406.260394.D6kQ8T&rd=1&src=newsletter1024522&t=5
Is the Quran more violent than the Bible? The question is hard to answer. A tally at the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible counts 842 violent or cruel passages in the Bible as compared to 333 in the Quran. That said, the Bible is a much thicker tome, and even though the New Testament endorses and adds to the violence in the Old, when percentages are compared, the Quran comes out ahead. In addition, the kinds of cruelty and violence vary as do the perpetrator and victim and the extent to which any verse can be interpreted as divine sanction for the behavior in question. . .
. . . In what context is a book that contains these passages and many, many more like them the apogee of divine goodness and timeless wisdom?
Members of each Abrahamic tradition are quick to point out the rational and moral flaws in the others. I wonder sometimes, what this world might be like if they were as quick to examine the flaws in their own.
As you know, I'm an atheist. Lately, because of the cruelty presented by terrorists now called members of ISIL, there's been a lot of talk about how violent and cruel the religion of Muslims is. Those on the side of defending the majority of Muslims who abhor violence, point out that the majority of Muslims are against those parts of their Book - the Quran. And obviously, few Christians refrain from following or even citing any of the Lord's angry, bloodthirsty, and cruel commands.
We've all heard TV talking heads discuss the idea that Modern-Day Muslims should excise those parts of their Book. Doesn't the same apply to the violent and bloody commands of Jehovah or Jesus's followers?
Fundamentalists of any religion often proclaim that virtually EVERY word of their Book is truth and should be followed. Most believers think the fundamentalists are nuts.
In simple terms, most believers think it's quite okay to choose which parts of their Book apply and should be followed, and which should be ignored.
The other day a woman in an Arab country was stoned to death for the sin of adultery. That's the same punishment called for in the Torah or Old Testament.
And people wonder why Atheists like me dislike religion . . .
See: http://www.alternet.org/30-most-violent-exhortations-bible-torah-and-quran?akid=12406.260394.D6kQ8T&rd=1&src=newsletter1024522&t=5
