Sometimes it takes an apostate to show you the way things really are:
Here are only a few events from the life of Muhammad -- the moral gold standard for every Muslim for all times:(1) He banned interest on money.
(2) He objected to the use of pictures that depicted humans or animals and refused to enter the premises where such works were present.
(3) He married a six-years-old girl and had sex with her when she turned nine.
(4) He approved the killing of all the post-pubescent males of a Jewish tribe called Banu Quraiza.
(5) He then took all the young males and women of that tribe as slaves and distributed them among his companions.
(6) He married multiple times and kept sex-slaves.
(7) He loathed dogs and ordered that they be killed.Here's how a modern Westerner would likely describe the above.
(1) Idiotic
(2) Irrational
(3) Pedophilic
(4) Genocidal
(5) Monstrous
(6) Misogynistic
(7) HeartlessIs it bigoted to think that a follower of this man is likely "pro-terror, narrow, extreme, irrational and has a blood fetish"?
Note: Of course, not every Muslim completely follows the example of Muhammad. He or she would be an utter moral degenerate if they did. Though, Westerners do have a cause for concern when Muslims passionately parrot the "perfection" of Muhammad.
Normally I don't quote nearly an entire blog post, in part to
encourage others to go visit the original post, but I had to do that
because this was worth providing a quasi-mirror of on another site in
case anything happens to it.
And people wonder why I say that I would vote for a man who is an adherent of the Church of Satan before I would vote for a Muslim (admittedly, I'd only vote for one of them if I had a gun to my head). At least Anton LaVey and his followers teach that you cannot harm children except in pure self-defense. That is a step up from Mohammed's example.
Numbers one and two have precedent in the Hebrew Bible - there is a ban on most types of interest which Rabinnic edicts have generally circumvented.
Regarding number two, it was a response to many of the pagan idols in the area - again, you see some of this in the Protestant complaints about Catholicism (all the moreso Eastern Orthodoxy).
Regarding the rest I'm totally with you.
If I'm not mistaken, the Hebrew Bible does not allow charging interest to fellow Jews. Good post Mike...
I wonder how muslims try to counter these facts?
I know that the prohibition against usury has precedent in the Bible, but I have seen some dissent as to how it applies in impersonal business transactions where the interest rate is low and fair. The Muslims simply blanket ban the charging of interest, even if it is something like only 1% and it is between a corporation and an individual, not two coreligionists. As usual, Sharia takes a good idea from the Mosaic Law and manages to make it become something utterly insane.
When they know them, through lies. Much of the time, they are as ignorant about what the Koran actually says, and what kind of man they are looking up to, as most Westerners are about these subjects.
Good post, Mike. It's funny how the simple, historically verifiable truth often stands in such sharp contrast to what the average individual believes.
Here are only a few events from the life of Jesus Christ -- the moral gold standard for every christian for all times:
(1) He became enraged at the temple market and began overturning the moneychangers tables.
(2) He ignored his family, making them wait in favor of continuing his work.
(3) He encouraged his followers to cut all ties with their families to follow only him.
(4) He knowingly surrendered himself to be beaten and crucified.
(5) He chose to associate with the diseased, crippled and criminally minded.
(6) He appeared to display no interest in sexual relations with members of the opposite sex.
Here's how a modern Westerner would likely describe the above.
(1) Illegal
(2) Cruel
(3) Brain-washing
(4) Suicidal
(5) Foolish
(6) Homosexual
I'll stop there because I think I've made my point.
Your first mistake:
Most modern westerners, especially Americans, find things like racism to be worse than murder, so I don't think you can hold out the modern Western mind as a paragon of moral reasoning.
You really had to stretch to find a way to get that one. "Illegal?" There are a lot of petty things that are illegal in modern Western countries. Voting is illegal for people convicted of a sex offense by pissing in the bushes in many states. Try again.
Besides, most people in America would think that at most he overreacted, but would agree with Jesus that a crass marketplace does not belong in a temple to a higher power. It is worse when you consider that according to Jewish scripture, the temple in Jerusalem was no ordinary synagogue, but was the seat of God in Israel. It was where the Spirit of the Lord was said to dwell among His people. We have no parallel in our culture to how much of a religious afront this crass materialistic display was.
Poor babies. How did they cope? His parents sure didn't seem to mind, since they believed, as Jesus did, that He is the Son of God.
Actually, what He said was that you would have to choose Him over your family if came down to Jesus versus your family. Makes sense if you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and your family is only human. If Jesus is who He said He is, then Jesus is God made flesh and blood, and thus you would be choosing God over your family, something that was required in the Mosaic Law as well.
If Jesus is the Son of God, then He had the power to stop it at any point.
Aren't you the elitist...
Jesus was every bit a heterosexual Jewish male. One can reasonably assume that considering the Bible says that He was born a flesh and blood human male, that He was attracted to women. The difference is that He pursued a higher goal than His own life and desires. What is wrong with that?
You should stop there because you are trying to make a very tenuous connection between Jesus and Mohammed. Objectively speaking, Mohammed would be considered a monster if he were alive today, and you know that. The man would have a list of violent and sexual felonies to his name so long that his sentence would probably be a few thousand years in state prison. The best you could come up with are a few half-assed examples that offend your sensibilities, but that objectively speaking aren't bad, even if Jesus isn't the Son of God.
So where did Jesus say that His followers should cut their ties with their families and abandon them? Also, since when did it become a sign of homosexuality that no one rights about your sexuality when documenting your life?
Wow, since when did displaying something make it so? I have a guy friend, a close guy friend who would rather sit at home with his guy friends and play halo (and he is not your typical nerd, he is athletic and loves the outdoors) than get involved in the insanity that generally follows most women. He has very little tolerance for drama and unreasonable emotional-ness (yes, I make up words). He is content with the way he is, and has said that the work that comes with women isn't worth what he would gain from a relationship. So that makes him gay? I would like to see you say that to his face... I don't think it would end very pretty.
Someone I know has a father who lit matches, threw them on the floor, and made his kids jump on them in their bare feet to put them out. The man is extremely abusive, but to his neighbors and friends - he was father of the year. Just brings back the old saying... don't believe everything you see, and only half of what you hear. Also, don't jump to conclusions on what people are, just because they don't appear to be doing or not doing something.
In my second and third semester calculus classes in college, I had the highest grades in the class, usually got 98-100's on all my exams, perfects on the homework. Everyone thought I was the dumbest person in the class, because I was quiet (and very shy), I didn't want them knowing who was causing no curve when they were all failing and it worked - they thought I was the stupid one (I was also the only girl in the class) until my professor said, "Oh, no one knows how to solve that problem, well Rachel, why don't you show us, since you are the only one who seems to understand calculus in here." Everyone looked at me and I could feel the hate they had for me within a split second. I went to college to discover the universe. I started out as an astronomy major, switched to meteorology, and ended up in Computer Science and Mathematics with almost a Physics and Astro minor (one class short in each - d'oh!) with my concentration in scientific programming. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the universe, I wanted to be closer to God and to understand a little bit more about the Master Engineer. Kepler is one of my biggest heroes. I didn't go to school to make friends and influence people. And I got told over and over that I was there to find a husband. That ended up being an added bonus, but not what I was looking for in school. I had one boyfriend in college, we only dated for a few months, I was dedicated (too dedicated) to my studies. Appearances mean nothing. On the outside I look really stupid, but I was way smarter than most of my peers. Don't judge people by what they do or do not appear to be doing.
I suggest you actually sit down and read the Bible with an open mind, without any prejudices and actually try to comprehend it without letting what others tell you about it influence the way you feel about things. It's a hard thing to do, but I find myself, being a believer, having to read up on things I don't believe in or that I am against to have a solid foundation on what I believe. Most Christians do not, most non-Christians do not. Almost everyone listens to what someone else has to say and runs wild with it.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.
She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor.
Proverbs 4:6-9
Wisdom is not being smart, it doesn't mean having read every book there is, it doesn't mean having an loud, angry opinions. Wisdom is the capacity and ability to use knowledge. A person who lays down his life for another is heroic by most people standards, we have so many war stories about men doing just that. It isn't suicidal and I think many people who lost loved ones because they knowingly and willingly gave up their lives to save another would have a lot to say about that statement. Greater love hath no man that one would lay down his life for another (it is in the book of John somewhere).
Your ignorance is something of a national treasure so be sure to hang onto it. It's absurd to make a statement like "Jon Smith would be considered such and such if he were alive today" without coming across as an idiot, for the following reason: The socially imposed moral standards of today aren't the moral standards of 100 years ago, which in turn weren't the moral standards of 1,000 years ago. Therefore, it's beyond irrationality to even make an argument on those grounds, unless of course you've been in bed with Kant.
I could iterate through your list and refute each of those points, but my guess is that that will probably be a waste of time since you clearly aren't much of an objective person.
Yet I dare you, in fact, in the words of SLJ I double dare you to write out the complete sequence of events surrounding the conflicts that occurred between Muhammad and his followers and the Jews of Arabia. I dare you, go on.
Had you any knowledge of that, you'd have acknowledged the humanity shown towards those tribesmen once Muhammad and his followers confronted them and even before doing so (read about the spy who tried to sell his people).
It's amazing how beings like yourself can be cool with superpowers that justify preemptively attacking sovereign nations and ultimately killing over 1,000,000 civilians and then object to battles fought over 14 centuries ago that were a result of continuous and systematic aggression.
Given the inherent limitations of history, I'm almost certain that you could point to any person from any century and paint him as an evil tyrant or an angelic savior through the art that is cherry picking.