The Bible versus the Qu'ran

There is a video going around, and it's incredibly dishonest, but people are sharing it as if it meant that Christianity is somehow more barbaric than Islam. In fact, those who make the video are practicing deceit on every level.

Having read both the Bible and the Qu'ran, here are some major differences that leap off the page

1)The Bible says it was written by *men*. As such it is subject to re-interpretation and even revision. In fact, it has been revised hundreds of times.

The Qu'ran says it is the perfectly transcribed word of God, spoken by the archangel Gabriel and perfectly copied by Mohammed. As such, it is not subject to revision or re-interpretation. The whole thing is mandatory: stoning homosexuals, stoning women who have been raped, and most especially conquering, subjugating and killing non-believers

2) The Bible has been used as justification for conquest, but nowhere in the Bible is there a commandment mandating that. There isn't even anything saying it's a good idea or condoned by the religion. The very furthest it goes is as a history of the Jews in the Old Testament, where they conquered their new home after the exodus and defended it against subsequent invasion. It emphatically does not say 'now go out and conquer some more' let alone the entire world.

By contrast, there are at least thirty explicit commandments to do such in the Qu'ran. Jihad (Holy War of Conquest) is one of the things explicitly expected of rulers, and ranked immediately after the basic five requirements for individuals. The Qu'ran goes so far as to divide the world into Dar-al-Harb (House of War) and Dar-al-Islam (House of Submission). There is explicitly no third partition.

3) The Bible says to love thine enemy, and encourages dealing in honorable wise with all

By comparison, the Qu'ran says lie, cheat, steal - anything is legit as long as it advances Islam (which does directly translate as submission, in case you were wondering). The only people outside the religion to be dealt with honestly are 'Peoples of the Book' (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians being explicitly named), but only AFTER they have submitted and after they pay the jizya (extra taxes).

4) The Bible - especially the New Testament - treats non-believers in a way that is very similar to believers. They are still worthy of basic human respect, of being a human of equal worth before the law and god, etcetera. They would like to encourgage non-believers to become believers, but force for conversion is condoned nowhere in the text (no matter what happened before 1648).

The Qu'ran disagrees there as well. Among many other examples, it takes four submissive non-Moslems to outweigh the testimony of a single Moslem. Force is explicitly commanded if lesser methods will not function.

5) The Bible is compatible with modern Western values. In most cases, they are either the genesis or the direct suggestion of the text. It accommodates differences in opinion, and in practice.

By comparison, the Qu'ran most definitely is not. It requires submission - submission to the dictates of the Quran, as relayed by the priests of today. Even rulers are expected to obey the Quran and the priesthood, no matter what common sense, physics, or your own conscience may want.

6) The penalty for apostasy (leaving the faith) in the Christian faith is that they believe you're not going to make it to heaven in the afterlife. You can always come back to the faith.

The penalty for apostasy from Islam is death. It is imposed on a regular basis today in all sharia countries. They also believe you won't make it to heaven in the afterlife, but they take it as a religious commandment to arrange the transition immediately. So according to their own beliefs, they are immediately consigning that soul to hell.

I can go on (and on) if you really need to. But consider

7) In all countries where Christianity is the largest religion, the last time those barbarities in the text of the Bible was practiced was before anyone now living was born.

In those countries where sharia (Islamic law) holds sway, they are happening right now - TODAY.