The Lunashere Reacts!!!
Well, as per usual, a right-wing lunatic says and/or does an idiotic thing and the right-wing media pounces, rhetorical knives out, in support.
It's 50 shades of 'nucular' all over again. (Malaprop in honor of Yogi, may he rest in peace).
I don't have a right-wing uncle but I do have a right-wing cousin of uncle age who I rely on to keep me abreast of the latest misinformation the hate propagandists are pounding.
This wave stems from Ben Carson's "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation," utterance and Donald Trump's failure to correct one his faithful's "Obummer id a Muslim' word farts . They were rightfully pounced on for their bigotry and narrow-mindedness. Heck, even the corporate news media chimed in. This has obviously set off a schism in the lunashere. I received the Facebook post, above, last night, which led me to inform him on some points.
The Bible and the Koran
1) The Koran (or Qu'ran if you prefer, I don't) and the Old Testament are almost the same book. I don't mean they are similar I mean the TEXT and DRAMATIS PERSONAE ARE THE SAME!!! There is Adam and Eve, Abraham, Cain and Abel, Noah, Moses, Mary and Joseph and JESUS all doing the same things they are doing in the Bible. There are differences in interpretation as to what is Islam and what is not but that is not so out of gauge as there are also seven (7) accepted versions of the Bible. There are differences after Christ, of course, as they accept Mohamed as their main prophet.
For a point by point comparison read below:
'Biblical and Quranic Narratives'
https://en.wikipedia.org/...
2) In the Koran Jesus is a major prophet, is referred to as 'The Messiah' (Al-Messiah) and is considered Divine. He is a major figure in Islam appearing 93 times in the text.
Read more here:
'Jesus in Islam'
https://en.wikipedia.org/...
3) I agreed the Koran can spark cultish behavior but pointed out so could the Bible and the violence toward and/or putting to death of non-believers found in the Koran is found in the Bible in many cases from the same sources.
"Deuteronomy 13:6-10 Bible: New International Version (NIV)
"If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
4) It is a very young religion. They are still in their fundamentalism phase. (and unfortunately so are a disturbing number in this country)
" Muhammad began preaching Islam around 610 AD. This puts Islam at around 1400 years old, making it one of the world's younger religions. Islam is a monotheistic religious tradition that developed in the Middle East in the 7th century C.E."
5) The 'authoritarian, political doctrine" of which the meme, above, speaks is the combination of Church and State, it is called Sharia Law and it wouldn't even require an announcement for a Christian Sharia government to get turned in to a Muslim one, so the right-wing needs to stop pushing for it.
You can read more about it here:
'You Want a United States Based on Religion? Well, That's Called Sharia Law'
http://www.dailykos.com/...
6) And this one Right-wing Uncle really won't like. The God (Allah) that is described in the Koran occupies the same place in the text as the God of the Bible. You can argue other points all you want but the texts line up. They are describing the same entity to which they attach the same reverence.
I Love This Pope and I'm not too Proud to Admit It!
In closing I have to confess my love for the man. I'm totally head over heals, in LOVE with Pope Francis. He is the only pope in my lifetime who embodies the teachings of Jesus Christ in both word and deed.
I leave you with his words on the subject:
“Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths. This, however, should be the very concept which unites us as people, as nations, and as a world bound by faith. Together, we can bring about an unprecedented age of peace, all we need to achieve such a state is respect each others beliefs, for we are all children of God regardless of the name we choose to address him by. We can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such a movement is now. No longer shall we slaughter our neighbors over differences in reference to their God.” - Pope Francis