I found it similar to the Bible if you look at them both in terms of historical context. All three Abrahamic religions believe in the Torah, which isn't exactly all rainbows and roses.
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I found it similar to the Bible if you look at them both in terms of historical context. All three Abrahamic religions believe in the Torah, which isn't exactly all rainbows and roses.
So, basically: All three are the same?
Hardly; they all view the role of Jesus differently, making them fundamentally incompatible. But morally, as the books are written, believers are given similar instructions in all three faiths. And killing innocent people for political power is abhorrent in all of them. ISIS is a political group with a religious sounding name, but that doesn't make them the defining group for all Muslims. Muslims refer to the group as Daesh specifically for this reason. And Daesh has been slaughtering Muslims in the Middle East and Pakistan at a much higher rate than Christians for several years, so this is hardly a religious war. It's politics, and they've used propaganda against Muslims to help destabilize the world and make it more difficult to defeat ISIS/Daesh.
"killing innocent people for political power is abhorrent in all of them"
You need to re-read the Old Testament. God specifically commands his people to slaughter innocents over and over exactly for political power. What do you think happened to the Canaanites?
The thing about the Quran and the Old Testament is that non-believers aren't innocent.
I meant currently; I made the point earlier that Biblical history was also violent, and that historical context is important when comparing religious texts. Unless you actively seek out foreign news sources, it's easy to think that all Muslims are calling for violence against "infidels", but the vast majority of Muslim leadership denounces terrorist acts claimed by ISIS.
There's a great deal of debate as to whether Christians and Jews are believers according to the Quran. Every Muslim I've spoken to has said that they are, but I've read conflicting accounts on the oh-so-reliable internet, so I need to study that issue further.
I'm not talking about Muslims in general. I mean the Quran specifically. Kafirs are not innocent.
Denying Allah and Islam is about the greatest crime there is.
As it's been explained to me, in order to be kafir, you must willingly denounce God as the one and only God and/or refuse to accept Muhammad as His Messenger even though you know it is fact. It's a willful act, not one of ignorance. Even denouncing Muhammad is not enough if you're doing so based on false teachings/political propaganda.
It is similar in context to the Torah, but not the New Testament at all.
And to say they all believe in the Torah is highly misleading. Muslims believe the bible is corrupted beyond any practical use, and Christians generally think Jesus' sacrifice supercedes old testament law.
Even the Jews don't practice those laws today, as they are currently impossible to fulfill as prescribed Moses.
The only religion that still normalizes crap in large numbers like stoning women is Islam. We can pretend it's not the case, but the practice is still common in some of the most visible and influential Islamic countries.
I was speaking from a "they all acknowledge the Torah as the Word of God" perspective. What you say about the different faiths is true, but I was speaking to the historical context of violence in the Old Testament, as it's easy for most Westerners to view the Bible in its proper context, but we don't apply the same metric to other systems of belief. It's part of being human and having bias as a survival mechanism, but doesn't mean we shouldn't try to be aware of it.
It always cracks me up when people talk about how Islam is so awful to women, because most of that is cultural than Quranic. I don't disagree that there are some places in the world that are predominantly Muslim where women are fighting for equality and oppression, but they're fighting humans, not God. A good Muslim would explain that the Quran actually allows women to own and inherit property and pursue formal education, straying from the cultural traditions of the time. In America, which so many people claim as a Christian nation, women who have been raped are still asked if they were wearing "fashionable clothing" by police officers, so we're not exactly a shining beacon of justice when it comes to violence against women.
I really appreciate the intelligent comments, but I gotta say comparing the plight of women in places like Saudi Arabia to women is the USA is laughable. Is there even a feminist movement at all there lol?
Actually there is. http://nyp.st/2fTsL1J
And in Iran. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/war-of-words-annals-of-activism-laura-secor
And Pakistan. https://tribune.com.pk/story/764036/feminism-in-pakistan-a-brief-history/
Iraq is secular, but here's a woman who was raised there's experience as well: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/iraq-feminist-hard-to-understand