Scholar Philip Jenkins argues that scriptures in the Quran are less brutal than those in the Bible. In his new book, "Jesus Wars," Jenkins points out that violence in the Quran is mostly defensive, but in the Bible, it is often a method of genocide.

As the hijackers boarded the airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, they had a lot on their minds. And if they were following instructions, one of those things was the Quran.

In preparation for the suicide attack, their handlers had told them to meditate on two chapters of the Quran in which God tells Muslims to "cast terror into the hearts of unbelievers."

"Slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them," Allah instructs the Prophet Muhammad (Quran, 9:5). He continues: "Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites! ... Hell shall be their home, an evil fate."

When Osama bin Laden declared war on the West in 1996, he cited the Quran's command to "strike off" the heads of unbelievers. More recently, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan lectured his colleagues about jihad, or "holy war," and the Quran's exhortation to fight unbelievers and bring them low. Hasan is accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, last year.

Given this violent legacy, religion historian Philip Jenkins decided to compare the brutality quotient of the Quran and the Bible.

Defense Vs. Total Annihilation

"Much to my surprise, the Islamic scriptures in the Quran were actually far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible," Jenkins says.

Jenkins is a professor at Penn State University and author of two books dealing with the issue: Jesus Wars and Dark Passages � books that haven't yet been published but are already drawing controversy.

Violence in the Quran, he and others say, is largely a defense against attack.

"By the standards of the time, which is the 7th century A.D., the laws of war that are laid down by the Quran are actually reasonably humane," he says. "Then we turn to the Bible, and we actually find something that is for many people a real surprise. There is a specific kind of warfare laid down in the Bible which we can only call genocide."

It is called herem, and it means total annihilation. Consider the Book of 1 Samuel, when God instructs King Saul to attack the Amalekites: "And utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them," God says through the prophet Samuel. "But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."

When Saul failed to do that, God took away his kingdom.

"In other words," Jenkins says, "Saul has committed a dreadful sin by failing to complete genocide. And that passage echoes through Christian history. It is often used, for example, in American stories of the confrontation with Indians � not just is it legitimate to kill Indians, but you are violating God's law if you do not."

Jenkins notes that the history of Christianity is strewn with herem. During the Crusades in the Middle Ages, the Catholic popes declared the Muslims Amalekites. In the great religious wars in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries, Protestants and Catholics each believed the other side were the Amalekites and should be utterly destroyed.

'Holy Amnesia'

All this begs the question: If the Bible is so violent, why isn't Christianity or Judaism?

"What happens in all religions as they grow and mature and expand, they go through a process of forgetting of the original violence, and I call this a process of holy amnesia," Jenkins says.

They make the violence symbolic: Wiping out the enemy becomes wiping out one's own sins. Jenkins says that until recently, Islam had the same sort of holy amnesia, and many Muslims interpreted jihad, for example, as an internal struggle, not physical warfare.

Andrew Bostom calls this analysis "preposterous." Bostom, editor of The Legacy of Jihad, says there's a major difference between the Bible, which describes the destruction of an enemy at a point in time, and the Quran, which urges an ongoing struggle to defeat unbelievers.

"It's an aggressive doctrine," he says. "The idea is to impose Islamic law on the globe."

Take suicide attacks, he says � a tactic that Muslim radicals have used to great effect in the U.S., Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East. It's true that suicide from depression is forbidden in Islam � but Bostom says the Quran and the Hadith, or the sayings of Muhammad, do allow self-destruction for religious reasons.

"The notion of jihad martyrdom is extolled in the Quran, Quran verse 9:1-11. And then in the Hadith, it's even more explicit. This is the highest form of jihad � to kill and to be killed in acts of jihad."

'Out Of Context'

That may be the popular notion of jihad, says Waleed El-Ansary, but it's the wrong one. El-Ansary, who teaches Islamic studies at the University of South Carolina, says the Quran explicitly condemns religious aggression and the killing of civilians. And it makes the distinction between jihad � legal warfare with the proper rules of engagement � and irjaf, or terrorism.

"All of those types of incidences � [Sept. 11], Maj. Nidal Hasan and so forth � those are all examples of irjaf, not jihad," he says. According to the Quran, he says, those who practice irjaf "are going to hell."

So what's going on here? After all, we all have images of Muslim radicals flying planes into buildings, shooting up soldiers at Fort Hood, trying to detonate a bomb on an airplane on Christmas Day. How to reconcile a peaceful Quran with these violent acts?

El-Ansary says that in the past 30 years, there's been a perfect storm that has created a violent strain of Islam. The first is political: frustration at Western intervention in the Muslim world. The second is intellectual: the rise of Wahhabi Islam, a more fundamentalist interpretation of Islam subscribed to by Osama bin Laden. El-Ansary says fundamentalists have distorted Islam for political purposes.

"Basically what they do is they take verses out of context and then use that to justify these egregious actions," he says.

El-Ansary says we are seeing more religious violence from Muslims now because the Islamic world is far more religious than is the West. Still, Jenkins says Judeo-Christian cultures shouldn't be smug. The Bible has plenty of violence.

"The scriptures are still there, dormant, but not dead," he says, "and they can be resurrected at any time. Witness the white supremacists who cite the murderous Phineas when calling for racial purity, or an anti-abortion activist when shooting a doctor who performs abortions.

In the end, the scholars can agree on one thing: The DNA of early Judaism, Christianity and Islam code for a lot of violence. Whether they can evolve out of it is another thing altogether. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

 

 

 

I think that all depends on the mind of the reader, and the intention of the reading. I mean, if I am a Muslim who doesn't see anything good in the Christian Faith, and I read the Bible, I will find lot of "violence", and lot of bad things.

 

And opposite, if I am a Christian who doesn't see anything good in the Islamic Faith, I will not be able to find anything good in Quran, opposite, I will see lot of bad things.

 

If your mind is ready to find bad things in what you read, you surely do.

 

I prefer to read every text I take with an opened mind, and not judging the whole text after finding the first idea I disagree with.

 

I read the Bible and I found it beautiful. I read the Quran, and I find it beautiful too. Where is the point to look for the bad things? I don't understand it.

 

Regards

Patricia

 

 

Salaam brother Hasan!

 

Just a clip of the old news:

Link: http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm - The Despoiling Of America

How George W. Bush became the head of the new American Dominionist Church/State

Clip:

The First Prince of the Theocratic States of America

 It happened quietly, with barely a mention in the media. Only the Washington Post dutifully reported it. http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm#_edn1 - - [2] On December 24, 2001, Pat Robertson resigned his position as President of the Christian Coalition.

 

Behind the scenes religious conservatives were abuzz with excitement. They believed Robertson had stepped down to allow the ascendance of the President of the United States of America to take his rightful place as the head of the true American Holy Christian Church.

 

Robertson�s act was symbolic, but it carried a secret and solemn revelation to the faithful. It was the signal that the Bush administration was a government under God that was led by an anointed President who would be the first regent in a dynasty of regents awaiting the return of Jesus to earth. The President would now be the minister through whom God would execute His will in the nation. George W. Bush accepted his scepter and his sword with humility, grace and a sense of exultation.

 

As Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court explained a few months later, the Bible teaches and Christians believe �� that government �derives its moral authority from God. Government is the �minister of God� with powers to �revenge,� to �execute wrath,� including even wrath by the sword�� http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm#_edn3 -  George W. Bush began to wield the sword of God�s revenge with relish from the beginning of his administration, but most of us missed the sword play. I have taken the liberty to paraphrase an illustration from Leo Strauss, the father of the neo-conservative movement, which gives us a clue of how the hiding is done:

�One ought not to say to those whom one wants to kill, �Give me your votes, because your votes will enable me to kill you and I want to kill you,� but merely, �Give me your votes,� for once you have the power of the votes in your hand, you can satisfy your desire.� http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm#_edn4 - Notwithstanding the advice, the President�s foreign policy revealed a flair for saber rattling. He warned the world that �nations are either with us or they�re against us!� His speeches, often containing allusions to biblical passages, were spoken with the certainty of a man who holds the authority of God�s wrath on earth, for he not only challenged the evil nations of the world, singling out Iraq, Syria, Iran, and North Korea as the �axis of evil,� but he wielded the sword of punishment and the sword of revenge against his own people: the American poor and the middle class who according to the religious right have earned God�s wrath by their licentiousness and undisciplined lives.

 End of quote

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And he also has his flock to help him: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11065.htm - American Christian Fundamentalist Leader Calls For Global War ),

http://www.lewrockwell.com/barnwell/barnwell73.html -

 

They don't teach Christians the truth, George Bush is there leader as clearly stated in his apointment to office; he is head of the "Christian colation". That is the unifing Christian's Churches body.

 

salaam!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst we're on the subject of ( Terrorism , despite the current hysteria surrounding the threat of Islamic Extremism ) , it should be pointed out that So-called '' Islamic Terrorism '' is a relatively recent Phenomenon , not even ( Sanctioned by the Holy Koran ) , but a concept ( introduced to Islam by Non-Muslims ) .

Others have perpetrated and indeed ( perfected Terrorism long before Muslims later embraced this diabolical , contemptible and cowardly ideology ) . as far back as the 17th Century , Terrorist acts are documented to have been carried out by Non -Muslim namely ; Jewish ( Zionist ) , European ( White Supremacist ) and Irish ( Nationalist ) groups .

The first ever recorded act of Terrorism in history was carried out by Jewish / Zionist extremists against British forces in Jerusalem following the 2nd World War . The concept of '' Suicide '' as a tactic of Warfare , first originated with the Japanese '' Kamikaze '' or Devine Wind '' , against the American's in the Pacific , during the Second World War .

Whilst the actual use of Terrorism ie; the ''Indiscriminate Murder of Civilians for Political motives was actually perfected by the Zionlist / Israeli fanatics immediately after the Second World War . The following is a brief list of Non - Muslims Terrorist group's and some of their worst recorded '' Terrorist '' atrocities ;

1 ) . Irgun Zvei ( Jewish ) ; July 22nd 1946 , Zionist Milutants Detonate an Explosive device at the King David Hotel , Jerusalem , Killing ( 91 Innocent British & Arab Men , Women & Children .

2 ) . Stern Gang ( Jewish ) ; September 17th 1948 , Swedish United Nations medoator to Palestine , Count Folke Bernadotte is assasinated in Jerusalem by Zionist extremists in cold blood .

3 ) . Klu Klux Klan ( American ) September 15 , 1963 , Kian members detonate an explosive device at the 16th street Baptist Churcgh , Birmingham , Alabama , during Children's Bible Class , Killing four Afican American School Grils .

4 ) . Baader -Meinhof Gang aka 'The red army ( German ) , April 7th 1977 , State & Federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver were assasinated in Germany by Red Army member in Cold Blood .

5 ) . Red Brigade ( Italian ) May 9th 1978 , members of Red Brigade Murder Italian Prime Minster Aldo Moro , after Kidnapping him in Italy two months earlier .

6 ) . Ulster Volunteer Force aka U.V.F. ( Irish ) May 7th , 1974 , Three car bombs are detonated in Dublin , Ireland , ( Killing 35 Innocent Civilians .

7 ) . ETA ( Spanish ) June 19th , 1987 , Basque Separatist Militans ETA , Detonate an expolosive device in Hipercor shopping mall , in Barcelona , ( Killing 21 , and injuring 45 Innocent Civilians .

8 ) . Irish Republican army aka IRA ( Irish ) January 17th , 1992 , members IRA detonate an explosive device in Omagh , Northern island ( Killing 30 Inncents Civilians ) .

9 ) . Aryan Nation ( American ) April 19th , 1995 White Supremacists lead by Timothy McVaigh Detonate explosive device at Federal Building Okalahoma city , ( Killing 168 Inncent Civilians .

In fact it would be Accurate to say that Many of the Tactics and Strategies employed by ( European Terrorist groups , such as ( Kidnapping , Murder , Assassination , Bombings & Arson ) have only been Mimicked or Copied relatively recently by Islamic Terrorist movements from the numerous Nationalist , White -Supremacist & Zionist Terrorist organisation listed above .