Originally posted by Bardsley
Religious texts, I think, need to be seen more as moral viewpoints of another time, philosophical texts akin to Plato, etc.

Yeah. Like I said, all religions are basically good in that they tell people to be nice to each other and give them a sense of morality. Religion should be reinterpreted to fit the needs of society. An example would be the rise of Protestantism after the Renaissance. The clergy and the nobles were losing their power because of the industrial revolution, and Christianity was redefined accordingly. Religion tends to "evolve" to fit the time period, and we keep the beneficial things (i.e. don't kill, don't steal) and dump the rest. (like stoning people and sacrificing oxen)

The problem is that we have 10-15% of the Islamic community who believe in Jihad and killing infidels and hating America. It really doesn't matter if it's really in the Quran because this is how they have interpreted it.

Originally posted by educatedfilm
Where does it say that "infidels should die"?

*Sigh* You're going to make me dig out my copy of the Quran, aren't you? I just hope I didn't trash it . . . Once again, it really doesn't matter if it's really in there. All text can be interpreted in different ways (like everyone has been so quick to point out, the Bible has been used for justification of atrocity in the past), and Usama and his boys all believe that according to the Quran, jihad is their duty. There are passages that talk of war against those who don't believe in Allah and corrupt his teachings, but if I bothered to cite them you would just say, "Oh, you're taking it out of context, blah, blah . . .", but the Muslim fanatics obviously take them quite seriously.

Originally posted by educatedfilm
They never killed as many poeple as the crusaders...

Bah! Says who? I'm gunna have to ask for your proof.

Originally posted by educatedfilm
...and they didn't force anyone to change their religion (like the spaniards did during the incusition)

So I suppose you hate the Spanish too? Or is it just America that has that honor?