by Tanian

Created on: February 05, 2007   Last Updated: October 29, 2008

As recent events have clearly shown I take great personal risk in posting the following words, and as a reasonable, educated man, I feel that intolerance is in no way a reason to still the hand of curiosity, that quest for knowledge and truth that drives discovery. As such I appreciate this post may make me a target for contempt or the wrath of the small minded. I find this no valid reason to still my hand.

To paraphrase the quran:

'As for the unbelievers; if they will not restrain their hands in your presence, you must kill them all.'

This is not something I expected to find within its pages. The media have been busy preaching the 'peace' they purport the quran is all about. Upon considering this verse you may be appaled, afraid or even disgusted, as I was initially myself. But to understand this better, we must better understand its context.

The Quran, as with the Bible, is a text of great reverence and the cornerstone of an entire way of life. It is difficult to understand one from the viewpoint of the other. And therein lies the rub. I myself come from a Christian background, and I find this responsible for my initial difficulty with the method of communication the Quran chooses; it is in essence a much more direct text the Bible. As an example (please excuse the blatant over simplification), I woud say thay while the Bible teaches through morality tales (a man built his house on sand; it sank, on clay; it sank, on rock; it stood - so therefore we build our houses on rock) the Quran literally tells you how it is (Build your house on rock, or else).

Though some may find this distasteful, to some it is the norm. From their viewpoint, the Bible may not seem so peaceable either (or sensical - an eye for an eye v. turn the other cheek).

Like the Bible, the Quran lends itself to misinterpretation, an hence to fundamentalism. And again like the bible, it provides exceptions to its peaceable message (Christians may attack the worshippers of Satan, Moslems may attack the worshippers of Shaitan). it differs from the Bible is one rather terrifying aspect - the exceptions are much easier to find. This leads to the unfortunate statement: It is not about peace. The only peace this book supports is peace in an entirely islamic world.

But again, as with the Bible, it is not about the Book itself; it is all about the fallability and inadequacy of the person who reads it. It is sadly true that both texts can be given interpretations that may lead to violence and conflict. The writer

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