Since the recent Planned Parenthood attack (which may not have even been an attack on them specifically — still waiting to hear details on that), of course the cries of double standards are coming out of the woodwork:
“How can you blame Islam for the murders committed by Islamic terrorists and NOT blame Christianity for the murders committed by Christian terrorists?”
Here’s the reason: The New Testament has clear prohibitions against murder. The Quran does not. This is fact.
Go to the New Testament (NIV) and look up “murder”, and here’s what you’ll find:
Matt 5:21-22 — “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
Mark 7:21 — “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come — sexual immorality, theft, murder….”
Luke 18:18-20 — A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'”
Romans 13:9 — The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 Timothy 1:9 — We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers….
James 2:11 — For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
1 John 3:15 — Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
Revelation 21:8 — “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
So when a Christian commits murder, the reason no one takes that as a serious indictment against Christianity is because there are too many outright condemnations of murder in the New Testament to take such an indictment seriously.
When I asked a Muslim where any similar clear-cut prohibitions against murder were in the Quran, he replied, “Surah 5:32 — Whoever kills a soul: it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one: it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”
Sounds pretty clear-cut, right? Except that’s NOT the whole verse. The actual verse reads, “Whoever kills a soul *unless for a soul or for corruption done in the land*: it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one: it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.” The omitted part gives incredibly broad license to legitimize targets for assassination. Terrorists have gone so far as to use this verse to justify their targeting all non-Muslims *and* Muslims who differ in practice from them, all because these targets are “corrupting the land” with their unbelief and wicked practices.
So, yeah, when a Christian kills in the name of Christianity, people rightly dismiss such a claim as nonsense. But when a Muslim kills in the name of Islam, people who actually know anything about Islam understand that he or she is just carrying on a centuries-old practice that started with Muhammad himself, even if that practice has been taken to an extreme that would be unpalatable to most of today’s practicing Muslims…but who’s to say the extremists are the ones in the wrong? The Quran by itself certainly doesn’t, and that’s what makes the Quran one of the greatest terrorist-recruiting tools in history.
Image credits:
- “Cross vs. Crescent” at http://bit.ly/1lUzGqp
Categories: Abortion Christianity Islam Religion
Still not clear, are you condemning the attack, or not?
It’s mad isn’t it, how people will use certain quotes from their holy text to justify their position.
Of course I condemn the attack. But what I also condemn is the attitude some people have that says “you can twist any religion like that” — as if every religion were just as loosey-goosey in its commands to its adherents, so they’re all just as fertile grounds for violent extremism. They’re not. Different religions say different things and need to be viewed in light of what they actually say (or don’t say).
1) Exodus 22:20
“Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the lord must be destroyed.
2) Deuteronomy 20:16
However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breath.
3) 1 Samuel 15:2-4
2 – Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3 – Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 – And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5) “They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man……..Now kill all the boys [innocent kids]. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.” (Numbers 31:7,17-18)”
6) Numbers 31:17-18
“Now kill all the boys [innocent kids]. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.
Now what crime did the innocent children and non-virgin women commit in order for them to get killed?
7) Luke 19 Verse 27
“But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them–bring them here and kill them in front of me. ”
On the other hand
Quran Chapter5Verse13
“…they altered the words from their places and they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of; and you shall always discover treachery in them excepting a few of them; so pardon them and turn away; surely Allah loves those who do good (to others). ”
Allah says to pardon the treachery of the Jews and the Christians.
– Chapter9verse7
“So as long as they (non muslims) are upright toward you, be upright toward them. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous [who fear Him].”
-Chapter9verse6
“And if any one of the polytheists (non-Muslims) seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah . Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.”
-Chapter60 verse8
“Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes – from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly”
-Chapter60 verse7
Perhaps Allah will put, between you and those to whom you have been enemies among them, affection. And Allah is competent, and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
-CHAPTER 4 VERSE 90
“…therefore if they withdraw from you but do not fight you, and (instead) send you (guarantees) of peace, then God has opened no way for you (to wage war against them).”
– CHAPTER 5 VERSE 8
“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for God, as witness to fair dealings and do not let the hatred of a people lead you to treat them unjustly. Deal with them justly; it is closer to piety.” Respect for the dignity of human beings leads Islam to put an end to fighting as soon as the enemy declare peace”
-Chapter 2 verse 192
“And if they cease, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
By “cease” God meant “stopped attacking you”
– “Do not kill the monks in monasteries, and do not kill those sitting in places of worship. (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal)-
“Do not destroy the villages and towns, do not spoil the cultivated fields and gardens, and do not slaughter the cattle.” (Sahih Bukhari; Sunan Abu Dawud)
-“Do not wish for an encounter with the enemy; pray to God to grant you security; but when you [are forced to] encounter them, exercise patience.” (Sahih Muslim)
With one exception, you quoted from the Old Testament, and for Christians — bear in mind my post deals solely with Christianity, not Judaism — the New Testament supersedes the Old. The Old Testament established a theocratic nation whose purpose was to exterminate the impure inhabitants of Israel and occupy it themselves with a society based on God’s law. I don’t think anyone can deny that the Old Testament bears some resemblance to the Quran in that respect, with the important exception that the Jews were only supposed to enforce their law within the territory of Israel, not all across the world as the Quran commands. So if you want to say there’s room to hold Judaism — though it must necessarily be Old Testament Judaism, not modern rabbinic Judaism, and I can’t claim the expertise to know why there’s a difference — and Islam up for comparison, fair enough. But neither Old Testament Judaism nor modern rabbinic Judaism is the same as Christianity.
The sole exception, from Luke 19, is taken from a parable in which a king returns to his kingdom and finds his people have rebelled. The king’s command is not a command for Christians to literally carry out themselves, but rather an analogy of the final judgment, when Christ will return and consign the rebellious and wicked to Hell.
Thanks for making the effort, though! At least I know someone’s paying attention. 🙂
Oh, one other thing. The Islamic principle of “abrogation” establishes that chronologically later verses of the Quran cancel out earlier verses. The chronologically latest (or second-latest at least) chapter of the Quran is chapter 9, which contains the infamous “Verse of the Sword” that abrogates all earlier peaceful verses and replaces them with a command to “kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush.” Since Muhammad never countermanded that verse prior to his death, it is considered by Muslims who subscribe to literal jihad to be a permanent standing order, and it is the basis of most extremist Muslim philosophy and behavior.