Being Very Serious (Part 44)

We hear a lot about tolerance in America these days. That tolerance includes different religions, lifestyles, and practices. Our court system is full of cases that seek to feast on the civil liberties we all now enjoy. For most of us these cases seem to attack our Judeo-Christian values that we believe helped America become great. When did having high moral values become old-fashioned? Our ancestors weren't perfect and neither are we. We have all made mistakes in our lives and some of those mistakes are haunting us today as a nation. It almost seems we are being lulled into sleep by so many situations that we feel helpless to defend against that it really doesn't matter anymore what we believe or stand for.

Guns don't kill people, people that pull triggers do. Alcoholics say they have a disease, but drunk drivers kill the innocent. Abortion stimulates alternate lifestyles, but innocent lives have to suffer. The debates over these and other critical issues will continue on. Yet, the greatest danger never mentioned for fear of retaliation is written in a book that is believed or tolerated by millions. As much controversy as people say the Bible stirs up, no one ever mentions the policies and commands written to the Muslim people in the Quran. We are constantly told it is a message of peace, but have you read the book?

The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads, fingers, and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called "hypocrites" and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.
Unlike nearly all of the Biblical Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by historical context contained in the surrounding text, although many Muslims choose to think of them that way. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subject to interpretation as anything else in the Quran.                 


The context of violent passages is more open to more than one interpretation than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving God. Most contemporary Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book's call to arms according to their own moral assumptions about justifiable violence. Their advocates cater to these preferences with meager arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny. Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology. Sadly, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace in the Quran to balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. Muhammad's own martial legacy, along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Quran, have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.

Christianity has had it's dark days as well, but that was because of the men who interpreted the Bible message incorrectly. The church in history and even today has faced scandals, intolerance, racism, and many other things that diluted the true gospel message. The saving grace of the Bible as the Word of God states that if we add to our take away from it we will face all the plagues of the Book. The message of the Cross is not death, but everlasting life. History has taught us you cannot force religion on any person and in this country you can choose to be what you want to be. It would be sad if the only hope Jehovah gave was given to those who are willing to take the lives of others if they did not bow to His will.

During this election year we had a candidate whose doctrine of socialism was the same that many fought against before and after the Cold War. Could it be that our spirit of tolerance in America made us forget that was the same doctrine that fought free enterprise for so long? Could it be that America has forgotten the morality and values of generations before them? Not to be an alarmist, but have we allowed a doctrine so perverse to secretly and now openly persuade us that it is okay to accept it as a friendly religion. Tolerance is good in some areas, but when it comes to preserving life or limb it isn't. We are at war against a spiritual enemy that promotes tolerance of the wrong things and doctrines of deceit. It is even deceiving some of our greatest leaders. Don't let it deceive you. Jehovah God has not brought a spirit of condemnation, but one of liberation for all who believe. You don't have to strap a bomb on your body to prove your loyalty or destroy others to receive your heavenly inheritance-You just have to repent in Jesus name!