by ZACK HUNT
Only 0.6% of the population in the United States is Muslim.
Most of us in the 99% haven’t even held a Quran in our hands.
Yet, remarkably, we are a country full of Islamic experts; many of whom are self-professed Christians.
From Facebook to cable news to talk radio, we’re a nation swarming with folks convinced they know what Islam is really about and we’ve got verses from the Quran to prove it.
Armed with these contextless passages from a book we’ve never read and know nothing about about, we beat the drums of war and sanctify our hatred. Not simply against ISIS, but against anyone of a different skin color who reads the Quran and worships at a mosque.
But here’s the thing….
If we cherry-pick verses from the Bible the way we cherry-pick verses from the Quran, we can “read” the Bible exactly like we “read” the Quran and come to the exact same conclusions about Christianity that we do about Islam being a religion of hate, violence, and oppression.
For example, Deuteronomy 3:3-7, Joshua 6:20-21, and 1 Samuel 15:3 all sanction the genocide of infidels. 1 Kings 18:40 is clear that we should also kill the infidel leaders of other religions. Exodus 21:1-11 gives us the go-ahead to own slaves. But not just any slaves. Need a little extra money? Exodus 21:7 suggests selling your daughter as a sex slave. And if we really want to prove to God that we submit to His will, Judges 11:29-40 tells us that sacrificing our children is a justified way to demonstrate our faithfulness.
But we shouldn’t stop there.
The Bible also offers it’s own version Sharia Law.
Do your children talk back to you? Well, Leviticus 20:9 is clear about what should be done: put them to death. Has someone in your community sinned with their hands? Mark 9:43 says chop their hands off. Did they sin with their eyes? Matthew 18:9 says gouge them out.
And let’s not forget about women and their biblically approved second-class citizenship. We’ve got 1 Corinthians 14:34, Ephesians 5:22, and Colossians 3:18 to keep women silent, in their place, and subordinate to men. Oh, and 1 Corinthians 11:6 is clear that women need to keep their heads covered lest they make a disgrace of themselves.
Huffington Post for more
(Thanks to reader)