The German radio audience was treated to an interview with the "Islam expert" Hans Peter Raddatz last week. Raddatz lectured the audience on how violence is a integral component of the Qur’an.
wenn wir den Islam in seinem Selbstverständnis ernst nehmen, dass in der Tat die Gewalt ein integraler Bestandteil der Glaubensgrundlagen ist, sprich also Koran und Tradition des Propheten. Die Grenzen sind fließend und insofern ist es sehr schwierig, nun wirklich festzulegen, wann die Gewalt anfängt und wo sie aufhört. Fest steht, dass die Islamisten sich sehr legitim auf den Koran berufen und deswegen auch die Reaktion in der islamischen Öffentlichkeit immer wieder sehr schwach ausfällt, wenn es zu Gewalttaten kommt.
I want to preface my comments to Raddatz’s statement with a story that the Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery tells: "A Jew went to the Rabbi and complained about his neighbor. "You are right’" the Rabbi declared. Then came the neighbor and denounced the complainant. "You are right’" the Rabbi announced. "But how can that be," exclaimed the Rabbi’s wife, "Only one of the two can be right!" "You are right, too," the Rabbi said.
Yes, Raddatz is most certainly correct that the Qur’an is replete with passages that advocate violence. But it would be more correct if Raddatz said: "Violence is an integral part of both the Qu’ran AND THE BIBLE."
The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible found 839 passages in the Old Testament that advocate cruelty and violence and at least 113 passages in the New Testament. Typical is this commandment from Exodus (22.20) "He who sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed." This apparently would sanction the destruction of 4 billion people. The Bible is filled with passages that command the stoning to death of women (and their daughters) who disobey their husbands. Throughout the Bible there are numerous passages that condone slavery – a fact that was not lost on the anti-abolitionist American Baptists in the 19th century.
Raddatz would no doubt argue that the Bible may contain violence but the Qur’an is EVEN MORE violent. However, an analysis would show that there are more than twice as many violent and cruel passages in the Bible as in the Qur’an. Which religion offers the cruelest fate to non-believers (Infidels) on while on Earth? Here Christianity wins hands down:
. Whose god orders the most violent plight for nonbelievers while on Earth?
Correct Answer: C. (The Christian god because he ordered his followers to kill all those of a different religion, including family members, friends and even their cattle, whereas the Moslem god simply required the enslaving of nonbelievers .) “If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods . . . thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people . . . If thou shalt hear . . . Certain men . . . have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods . . . Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants ofthat city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword” (Deuteronomy13:6-15). “Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection” (Koran 9:29).
Earlier I wrote about Patrick Henry College – the finishing school for young evangelical Republican political operatives. This statement appears on its Web site as a warning for all non-believers:
Satan exists as a personal, malevolent being who acts as tempter and accuser, for whom Hell, the place of eternal punishment, was prepared, where all who die outside of Christ shall be confined in conscious torment for eternity.
I think that explains why evangelical Republicans have been reluctant to speak out against the torture and abuse of detainees at US military prison facilities. Eternity is a long time; what’s the harm in starting a bit early?
Islamophobie islamophobia christo-fascism
