Bash evil acts. Stop using the Koran to bash Muslims.
I frequently see people bash Muslims and act as if Islam is simply evil. Having known several people who considered themselves Muslim who were wonderful, and having known many more horrific people who considered themselves Christian, I find this Muslim-bashing to be disturbing at the human level, the investigation level (who is doing bad things), and the practical level (who are we ostracizing).
Often these bashes are simplistic, Fox-news-esque swipes. Slightly less lazy people will often use decontextualized verses from the Koran. You know the type of statement, where somebody says, "Look, true Islam says you should kill the infidel." The point of my post is to show that decontextualized verses can easily make any religion -- definitely including Christianity -- seem evil.
Remember, though: Religions aren't entities, so they can't really be evil. People can be evil.
BEFORE THE VERSES
Before I get into the verses, I do want to take a second to say that there is at least one important way in which Christianity is a "better" religion. This comparison has to be made outside a religious context, so I'm talking about "better" from the standpoint of a modern society that values human life and individual freedoms.
I think a comparison of the primary examplars in the two religions (Jesus and Muhammad) reveals Jesus as the clear winner. (Of course, it's an unfair comparison, given that one is a deity and the other only a prophet. Maybe that's a different place to compare.) The reasons are clear:
But that's not the end of the story, of course. Again, it isn't the religion, it's the people. The largest death toll in history (native peoples of the American continents dying from imported diseases) was viewed as a deliverance to Christians by the Christian God. The Inquisition was horrific. The KKK still operates in the U.S. Even Hitler justified the killing of the Jews through Christian rhetoric. I'll throw a few verses in below, but obviously slavery was justified for centuries based on properly contextualized biblical verses (well, except for the intergenerational side of slavery). People can be horrible, no matter their stated belief systems.
THE VERSES
Here are some biblical verses that those who throw a decontextualized Koranic verse out toward Muslims should consider. Note that, here, the context absolutely does not matter, so you can't say "But that was the old law!" or employ any other textual argument. The verses are what they are, here.
I challenge anybody reading this to say that these are not horrific.
Here's the biggest, which tells you to kill your family (and anybody else) that tries to talk about other religions with you:
Deuteronomy 13:6-10"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you ... Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die."
2 Chronicles 15:13"...And whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman."
A specific example of this policy:
Leviticus 24:11, 16, 22"The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ...‘Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death...' 'There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.'”
Exodus 22:20“He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
Ezekial 9:6"Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple.
1 Samuel 15:2"‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Of course, this just a small smattering of verses that could be brought up. Look at Joshua 7:24-26, Jeremiah 50:21, Isaiah 14:21, etc., etc.
Specific Acts
Here are a few verses that are about more specific acts:
Poor thieves should be sold into slavery:
Exodus 22:3"He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft."
Women who are not virgins on their wedding night should be killed:
Deuteronomy 22:20-21"But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, Then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you."
CONCLUSION
Muslims aren't the problem, nor is Christianity. Believing you are authorized to control people, even to the point of killing them, based on your personal beliefs is.
The reason to be angry at ISIS -- to loathe them and their affiliates such as Boko Haram -- is not that they are Muslim, just like the reason to loath the Klan is not that they are Christian. It is because they show wanton disregard for human life and a willingness to dehumanize and torture others who are not members of their circle of power. They are Hitler and Stalin, the perpetrators of the rape of Nanking, sex-slave traffickers, etc.
So don't get mad at Islam. Don't get mad at President Obama for making both the moral and practical choice of distinguishing between evil people and good people based on their acts, not on their avowed religions. Get angry at people who burn pilots to death, or kidnap little girls, or rape in the name of god, or ....
Thoughts?
I frequently see people bash Muslims and act as if Islam is simply evil. Having known several people who considered themselves Muslim who were wonderful, and having known many more horrific people who considered themselves Christian, I find this Muslim-bashing to be disturbing at the human level, the investigation level (who is doing bad things), and the practical level (who are we ostracizing).
Often these bashes are simplistic, Fox-news-esque swipes. Slightly less lazy people will often use decontextualized verses from the Koran. You know the type of statement, where somebody says, "Look, true Islam says you should kill the infidel." The point of my post is to show that decontextualized verses can easily make any religion -- definitely including Christianity -- seem evil.
Remember, though: Religions aren't entities, so they can't really be evil. People can be evil.
BEFORE THE VERSES
Before I get into the verses, I do want to take a second to say that there is at least one important way in which Christianity is a "better" religion. This comparison has to be made outside a religious context, so I'm talking about "better" from the standpoint of a modern society that values human life and individual freedoms.
I think a comparison of the primary examplars in the two religions (Jesus and Muhammad) reveals Jesus as the clear winner. (Of course, it's an unfair comparison, given that one is a deity and the other only a prophet. Maybe that's a different place to compare.) The reasons are clear:
- Jesus never attempted to establish an earthly kingdom
- Jesus never went to war
- Jesus (generally) lived "love thine enemy" as well as preached it
- Jesus never married a child (Aisha was 6 at marriage, 9 at consummation)
But that's not the end of the story, of course. Again, it isn't the religion, it's the people. The largest death toll in history (native peoples of the American continents dying from imported diseases) was viewed as a deliverance to Christians by the Christian God. The Inquisition was horrific. The KKK still operates in the U.S. Even Hitler justified the killing of the Jews through Christian rhetoric. I'll throw a few verses in below, but obviously slavery was justified for centuries based on properly contextualized biblical verses (well, except for the intergenerational side of slavery). People can be horrible, no matter their stated belief systems.
THE VERSES
Here are some biblical verses that those who throw a decontextualized Koranic verse out toward Muslims should consider. Note that, here, the context absolutely does not matter, so you can't say "But that was the old law!" or employ any other textual argument. The verses are what they are, here.
I challenge anybody reading this to say that these are not horrific.
Here's the biggest, which tells you to kill your family (and anybody else) that tries to talk about other religions with you:
Deuteronomy 13:6-10"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you ... Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die."
2 Chronicles 15:13"...And whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman."
A specific example of this policy:
Leviticus 24:11, 16, 22"The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ...‘Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death...' 'There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.'”
Exodus 22:20“He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
Ezekial 9:6"Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple.
1 Samuel 15:2"‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Of course, this just a small smattering of verses that could be brought up. Look at Joshua 7:24-26, Jeremiah 50:21, Isaiah 14:21, etc., etc.
Specific Acts
Here are a few verses that are about more specific acts:
Poor thieves should be sold into slavery:
Exodus 22:3"He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft."
Women who are not virgins on their wedding night should be killed:
Deuteronomy 22:20-21"But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, Then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you."
CONCLUSION
Muslims aren't the problem, nor is Christianity. Believing you are authorized to control people, even to the point of killing them, based on your personal beliefs is.
The reason to be angry at ISIS -- to loathe them and their affiliates such as Boko Haram -- is not that they are Muslim, just like the reason to loath the Klan is not that they are Christian. It is because they show wanton disregard for human life and a willingness to dehumanize and torture others who are not members of their circle of power. They are Hitler and Stalin, the perpetrators of the rape of Nanking, sex-slave traffickers, etc.
So don't get mad at Islam. Don't get mad at President Obama for making both the moral and practical choice of distinguishing between evil people and good people based on their acts, not on their avowed religions. Get angry at people who burn pilots to death, or kidnap little girls, or rape in the name of god, or ....
Thoughts?
It was a very interesting writing! I am so glad that I know you and you are my friend. You have always intrigued me with your intelligent discussions!
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