Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 10:13:45 +0930 From: Greg Lehey <grog@FreeBSD.org> To: Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@neomedia.it> Cc: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>, Elden Fenison <moon_dog@spamcop.net>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Islam (was: Religions (was Re: helping victims of terror)) Message-ID: <20011021101345.A28033@wantadilla.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <1003617187.3bd1fba3d31ff@webmail.neomedia.it>; from bartequi@neomedia.it on Sun, Oct 21, 2001 at 12:33:07AM %2B0200 References: <1003617187.3bd1fba3d31ff@webmail.neomedia.it>
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On Sunday, 21 October 2001 at 0:33:07 +0200, Salvo Bartolotta wrote: > > I am not sure whether the same could be said of the Koran. > Recently, I have spoken with a few historians of religion, among > others. I was explicitly told that the "organic design" contained > in the Koran is one of the worst forms of _totalitarianism_. In > particular, the "moderate" parts in the Koran are only a means to an > end. I've tried to read the Quran, and I've found it very hard going. The Bible is a model of clarity by comparison. The Quran brings home very forcibly that its scribe was not a learned man. I don't think you can interpret much more into its form. > I have been revising a number of things lately. My history > textbooks -- I live in Italy -- simply described the splendid > Islamic civilization in the Mediterranean (well, in Spain and > especially in Sicily), as well as its far-reaching cultural > influence on Western thought. All valid points. > They were deliberately lying: No, like most historians they were looking at the parts which interested them. > a few ahem "minor" aspects (eg earlier massacres) were "omitted" or > hinted at. Moreover, that's just _one part_ of the story: the > western part. The _eastern_ part of the story is horrible to say > the least. You mean the Eastern story of the atrocities committed by Christians? Those were violent times. I don't think the Muslims were worse than the Christians. > I now gather that, at a doctrinal level, there exists no "moderate" > Islam at all. Could you explain that? There may be fewer Muslims who just pay lip service to their religion than there are Christians, but I wouldn't even be sure about that. I grew up in Malaysia, a country with Islam as its state religion. While I don't approve at all of enforced religion (if you're Malay, you *must* be Muslim), until this Mulslim fundamentalism thing sprung up, I found Islam a very gentle religion. For most people, it still is. > Of course, strong political reasons make all western political > leaders speak of ahem "moderate Islam". As opposed to moderate Christianity or moderate Judaism? Members of all three religions continue to commit atrocities in the name of their religion. Greg -- See complete headers for address and phone numbers To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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