CattyNebulart Wrote:In the Koran Christians and Jews are 'people of the book' and can get into the lowest level of heaven, while in the bible it is immoral to not kill those that worship another god. ("22:20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.")Okay, now this is the problem that we're having here.
That is an misinterpretation that many people are only too happy to take as license to do 'God's Work'. But in this, they're not only wrong in the eyes of man, but they're wrong in the eyes of God as well.
Now, I can't claim to have read and understand the Koran, but my understanding of the Bible is a bit better. (Besides, IIRC, a lot of the fundamentals are all but interchangeable.) This is how the interpretation should go. First of all, notice how it never really says exactly who does the destroying. It's not saying that you're to go out and 'take care of it' in the Chicago Mobster sense. It's saying to mind yourself and leave the others to God's judgement.
Look to the Old Testament and see exactly what happened with people that turned away from God.
- When Noah and his family was all there was left of virtuous people, God flooded the Earth and saved them. Noah didn't kill anyone.
- When Nimrod felt that he was like unto God, built the Tower of Babel, and then shot the arrow into the heavens, it was God that confounded the language and scattered the people.
- When the people of Sodom and Gomorrah became vile even by our reckoning, it was God that leveled the two cities, saving only Lot and his family.
There are few and rare occasions where man is fully authorized to slay other men in the Bible and the Koran, and usually it is in self defense of the virtuous against some aggressor, like what happened with Abraham's people. (Forget the name of the people that came and took a good number of his people prisoner, but Abraham came and absolutely annihilated them in return and freed his people.)
Of course, I could be wrong here. Counterpoints?
As for issues with Islam taking over entire countries and instituting Sharia Law...
I gotta ask. Does anyone here feel that the majority of followers of Islam believe that Sharia Law should be the law of the land? I don't think so myself. Personally, I think that the folks that feel Sharia Law is a Good Thing are a very vocal minority. (Even if they are a minority by a small margin.) The problem I think Islam has in the Middle East is that they too readily put the Church and the State together. And then the minority, being the gung-ho extremists they are, take control and institute their brutal ways throughout the government. (Shudder. Mental imagery of Church being like that guy from Deliverance towards State: "You shur have a purty mowth." But that's pretty much what happens.) And the Majority don't even move to do anything because as far as they're concerned (at first, anyways) these people are okay - they read the Koran, they believe in Allah, they're certainly not infidels. Sure, let them take charge.
And then everything goes to hell as the state grows brutal and isolationist and starts to think that the entire world is out to get them. (Except they we are. Heh-heh-heh.)
So, yeah. I don't think Sharia Law is gonna be instituted anytime soon around here. The Constitution wouldn't allow for it, and if some ass-clown does somehow achieve that goal... well, there's a reason why individual States are allowed their own militias.
As for charities and their associated watchdog groups... Yeah, good idea to check up on the paper trail and exactly who they give their money to. And if you feel the need to cry 'Wolf' make sure you got a verifiable paper trail so they just can't call you crazy without looking crazy themselves.