Enlightened Fundamentalism

Submitted by Mr. Step (United States), Feb 7, 2003 at 17:13

People hoping to open the eyes of the Islamic world are indeed thinking in a secular way. Having started reading the Koran recently, it clearly starts out where fundamentalist Christianity leaves off.

The Koran is God's literal word. End of discussion.

Allah is merciful and benevolent. By the way, he hates you if you don't practice everything in this book, and you're certainly not worthy of life in that case.

I went to a Jesuit high school (so have read the Catholic Bible), and while you can find some odd verses here and there, hatred and absolution for what you do to non-believers is not a never-ending theme. Certainly, there is conflict in terms of New Testament vs. Old Testament, but then again, even in the case of the 'old', the Old Testament had only 10 commandments, not the concept of every page being your law to live by.

Every page I have turned in the Koran has contained references to how kind Allah is, and how he will strike others down without mercy. Huh? Mohammed clearly had issues with the Jews and Christians (feelings of inferiority?).

When I bought the Koran, I was curious about whether it really was as 'peaceful' as Bush has proclaimed. The FIRST random page I flipped to in the store had some rant about how those who die for Allah will go to heaven. Yow. It can't really be that way throughout, right? So far, actually, it looks like it can be.

Anyway, I'm not sure where peaceful co-existence comes into play when the basis of this society is deeply flawed. If people feel that others are living 'corrupt' lives, it behooves them to not live THEIR OWN lives that way. Forcing the rest of the world to think like them is not the answer - well, actually, it appears to be the answer in their literal word-of-Allah textbook.

Complete seperation might work - let's develop alternate fuels and let the mid-East rot. Otherwise, prepare for some fun conflicts ahead. The problem (that Bush clearly sees) is that even if these nations are corrupt and no real threat, it only takes a small vial of virus to be a real threat nowadays.

Open the eyes of the Islamic world? More like Eyes Wide Shut.

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