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StephenJ -> Religious violence: Condemned in the Qu'ran but praised in the Bible? (5/1/2008 6:48:58 AM)
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Yup it's a long one, grab some popcorn.
So this post has been a long time coming for me. It’s been something I’ve been thinking about for quite a few years now, and ever since I joined these forums I’ve wanted to post it. A recent thread in the current events folder finally made me do it.
First let me state that I’m not a Muslim, and I’m not an apologist for Islamic beliefs. I have very serious theological and practical disagreements with this belief system; foremost among them of course is my belief that Christ was more than the 2nd greatest prophet, but there are others as well.
Okeydokey, so we’ve all heard the arguments in Christian circles, and even secularist circles, about Islam being an inherently violent and intolerant religion. That it’s founder the Prophet Mohamed was a sword wielding, army leading, pedophilic fanatic who terrorized the Arab Peninsula in the 7th century, and that only do to the efforts of revisionist with an agenda has he become anything but in the minds of many. I hear these sentiments a lot in Christian discussions and sometimes, to my shame as a member of the body of Christ, I’ve seen people use them to justify discriminatory practices, prejudices, and curtailing of civil rights. My question is this though, why is it that people are so ready to point out the violent sections of the Qu’ran “the sword passages” as they’re called, but will not do the same thing when it comes to some very, very violent passages of the Bible?
The Old Testament has plenty of examples of shall we say “infidel smiting” in books like Joshua and Judges as well as in the books of Samuel and Kings. All of this seems to be going on with God’s approval. Doesn’t it seem a bit hypocritical that certain Christian text book companies will make good and sure that the kids reading them in school will come to see Islam as nothing but intolerance and bloodshed, while also praising the Israelite eradication of Canaanite men women and babies because they were pagans? In fact we teach them to our young kids in Sunday school as examples of the kind of moral behavior that is to be respected, and admired. If we are willing to condemn Islam's prophet for his participation in military campaigns, doesn’t that also mean that fairness demands equally scathing criticism of men like Joshua, David and most of the figures in Judges for engaging in some very similar and very brutal activities?
It’s interesting “Jihad” is a word that is used alot in the media today. It’s understandable with many of the terrorist groups running around, and it’s often translated to mean "holy war." From what I’ve read that’s not the best translation of it, a better one would be struggle or holy struggle, as it can refer to anything from full on armed conflict, to a Muslim trying to break a bad habit and better themselves. So for example a Muslim person struggling with alcoholism (Islam forbids drinking) going to a recovery meeting might be considered “jihad.” This is beside the point though, the point is that many Christians will point to the jihad of "the sword", say that it’s an element of Islamic theology, and use it to support the claim that the terrorist are the true practitioners of faithful Islam. Very few however would point to some the more violent passages of the Old Testament and say that the Bible is inherently violent and intolerant.
I don’t know, to me that seems a bit unfair, and not even handed. I’m also kind of concerned that only the sword passages are really considered when it comes to the Qu’ran. The fact is that many of us jump to read all the stuff about fighting and warfare (me included) and tend to overlook the stuff that say condemns suicide (ironic I know given the current methods used by many Islamic Terrorist groups) or relates the murder of a single person to the collective death of all humanity. I'm worried that it's not a complete view of a very complicate religion that's had 14 centuries of history.
It would be like me taking a particularly violent passage of scripture like let’s say Elijah's execution of another religions followers (Baal’s prophet’s) and painting the whole Bible as brutal intolerance without reading the sections about grace, forgiveness and mercy. Context is what I’m talking about I suppose.
Of course we as Christians all know that there is a distinct separation between what was done in the Old Testament and how we believers are suppose to conduct ourselves in the age of the church, but still we count the O.T as inspired literature. But I don’t think I've seen many noted Christian leaders become so introspective that they point out the violence in the Bible while they’re pointing out the violence in the Qu’ran/Hadiths. Come to think of it, there aren’t very many Christians I know of nowadays who would call say Judaism an inherently violent and intolerant religion because the Torah (the first five books of our Bible) has certain passages in it relating to justified religious warfare. Judaism even has something called the [Milkhemet Mitzvah which as I understand it is a pretty close parallel to a Christian crusade or Islam's Jihad of the Sword.
So that’s my brain barf I guess, I’ve been waiting to throw it out there for discussion for a long time now. I have my own views on it but I’m really curious to see what everyone has to say.
Thanks in advance, and God Bless.
P.S I wasn’t sure which folder this topic belonged in, but if it’s in the wrong place feel free to move it to the one which is does belong in.
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