h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've not read any of the Koran. Are there parts that could be *interpreted* as demanding hatred and violence?

A brief synopsis can be found at:

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/Quran/int/long.html

The site also has a go at the Bible and the Book of Mormon

That's all a bit grim.

"War is ordained by Allah, and all Muslims must be willing to fight, whether they like it or not. 2:216"

There's not much one can say to that, but I'll have to find it in context.

For context:

http://www.islamworld.net/jihad.html

I just learned a lesson: never type the word 'Quran' into Google.

Aye, Roymondo, but not a patch on 'Bible'!

It feels as if we're all (well, not I) calling on our God to protect us and prevail over the other feller's God (with some confidence it seems).

I don't think its going to be particularly pleasant to find out just who's God will win in the end. But, it will answer *the* question, for the last survivor...

I'm afraid none of it ever made sense to me, and I suppose it never will. More than once when I was a young man other people tried to kill me for no reason other than that they could.

I can't grasp why some sun-baked, dehydrated and probably halucinating guy with a scroll and a pen can write documents 2000+ years ago that are then declared as the word of some entity who is supposed to be in charge of everything. Even if we did have originals signed by some god, they've all been reinterpreted and edited ever since to meet someones political aims as near as I can see.

No, we don't really need an excuse to keep trying to kill each other, but somehow we seem to want one.

*Shrugs*

Have you taken a look at the Christian fundamentalist websites SWL?

Most of those are just downright racist, claiming that those who are not white are the lowest of the low. Some of those sites demand that such people be thrown out of the country / killed / treated very badly.

Same thing in my books.

All religions have elements of them which are fundamentalist / insane in some way. Christianity had all of those wars back in teh day (i.e. a long time).

If we read the bible, it would be easy to perceive parts of the bible as downright violent as well.

Just because a group of people are insane, does not mean you should tar the group they so belong to with the same brush.

*delurks*

Looks like people are quick to jump on the "Christianity's violent too!!" bandwagon. Can someone point out where SWL has said the bible isn't violent as I've genuinely never seen him mention it.

For the record though, I agree completely with ATinyDistantVoice. There's no way a bit of writing about angels, demons and talking foliage would be accepted as a valid historical document nowadays (Just out of interest, why do we tend to see the bible/torah/koran as "fact" but not The Illiad or Oddessey?) and any message in the original texts has been diluted and perverted by the politics of millennia of human society.

Maybe...

but note how I'm pointing out that all religions have a fundamentalist side. Reason I'm doing that is because this debate is about Islam and how everyone in that religion is depicted.