◊ I've been reading the Koran a bit lately. Yes indeed, the holy book of Islam has all sorts of nasty stuff regarding women and violence, and it makes some negative comments about Jews and Christians. But most of the Koran consists of an exortation to faith, with rewards promised for fidelity and warnings of personal punishment for transgression. Towards the end of the Koran there are some personal stories, but most of it is a direct sales pitch for belief and personal righteousness. There's also some ancient social regulation stuff in it similar to Mosaic Law in the Torah, e.g. don't eat this, make sure that you clean yourself if you do that, etc. And here and there are some higher-level philosophic thoughts, even beautiful prayers. So, like the Hebrew Old Testament and the Christian New Testament, the Koran is a mixed bag. You can make of it what you will.

I just read an obscure passage in the OT Book of Nahum, i.e "a jealous and avenging God is the Lord, the Lord is avenging and wrathful, the Lord takes vengenance on his adversaries and rages against his enemies". And then there are the "imprecatory petitions" in the Psalms, e.g. "Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call your name... let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known amoung the nations before our eyes" (Psalm 79), or "awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil" (Psalm 59). And of course, women don't do so well in certain parts of the Bible. So, the Judeo-Christian portrait of God isn't always an enlightened, 'turn the other cheek' affair either. I could imagine a Jewish rabbi reading Nahum to a group of Israeli soldiers getting ready for an attack on a Palestinian stronghold, or a Christian priest in Bosnia fueling the ethnic hatreds of that torn land with the nasty Psalms.

With regard to criticizing the Koran, I think that Christians should stick to Jesus' philosophy: i.e., let those who are without sin throw the first stones, and let those who aren't hold their fire. Perhaps that idea should also apply to sharp words, and to knives, and to guns, and to rifles, and to howitzers, and to M-1 tanks, and to stealth bombers, and to Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, and ...  ◊
posted by Jim at 7:08 PM    0 Comments    Leave a Comment