ADEENUL �AQL � RELIGION IS INTELLECT .

God's capacity for love or hate may be beyond our understanding,

Perhaps to you, it sounds alien, but this is the deeper spiritual concept of Love towards God Almighty � The Creator of the Whole Universe. As for hate, in a Hadis Qudsi, He said � My Mercy prevails over my Wrath�  Allah assures us that whoever commits a sin will be forgiven if he repents and ceases this act, where He says what means: {Your Lord hath inscribed for Himself (the rule of) mercy: verily, if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented, and amend (his conduct), lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful} (Al-An`am 6:54).

 but we have to assume that the feeling is essentially the same for Him as for us. 

Not at all, Our love of God is still nothing compared to His love. Most of the times, our love for Him, is for something in return, be it Jannah (Paradise) or fear of Jahannam (Hell). It is the love of a barter trader � I give you something in return for yours. How could we �make business� with God AlMighty when the assets that we need for the �business� are all from Him?. For example, the air that we breathe, the food that we eat, the water that we drink and most important of all, the Ruh or Soul that He lent to us. God do not need anything from us. He is AL-QAYY�M The Self-Existing by Whom all subsist. �

If we can't trust the meaning of ordinary words, we might as well toss the entire Quran in the trash.

Even though the Bible is not a word of God, Muslims will not reach to that level of insolence as to toss the Bible into the trash.

As to drinking alcohol, there are more harm than good. God Almighty in passing this law, is trying to protect the weak from the strong. Most of the times the drinker is the men, and the ones being abused are the women and children. Furthermore, alcohol destroys the brain and only st**id people indulge in this st**id act.

Take this analogy, we use safety belts while driving. Why is this so? Because the advantages are more than the disadvantages. Using a seat belt is now considered a law in some countries.

 How can we know that the Quran contains the truth without using our conscience and our intellect?   Perhaps you will never know if you have never open The Quran and reading it with an open mind.

 Indeed, how can we know anything without relying on our own hearts and our own brains?  That is what I mean by my signature.

God Almighty created each and everyone of us equal and fair. He created the souls with the ability to llive, see, hear, converse, will, power and knowledge. All these are in us. God AlMighty says in the Quran -

By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right. (91:7-8) 

We showed him the right and wrong path. It is now up to him to be grateful or ungrateful. (76:3)  

Have We not made for him a pair of eyes? A tongue, and a pair of lips? And shown him the two paths (of good and evil)? (90: 8-10) 

So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the Faith; (Establish) Allah�s handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allah: that is the standard religion; but most among mankind understand not. (30:30) 

In fact, he himself is a witness upon his own self however much he may put up excuses. (75:14-15)  

So Ron, it is all up to us to make full use God�s gift to find the Truth.