Peaceful Religions?

If you say that Christianity is a peaceful religion according to scripture then it can be said that Islam, according to scripture is peaceful. In reality, both the Koran and the Bible present a dichotomy, promoting peace and violence. They both contain quotes that are peaceful and some not so peaceful quotes.

In Luke 19:27, Jesus himself says,

"But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them - bring them here and kill them in front of me."

Now the popular phrase...what would Jesus do?...doesn't sound to good, does it?

The Koran also has many quotes like 2:190,

"The believer is called upon to fight in the way of God with those that fight with you...but aggress not. God loves not the aggressors."

The point of using quotes is to show that using quotes is pointless. They can be twisted around and interpreted in a multitude of ways. Organized religion and now, politics, are both guilty of using propaganda, containing quotes from the Bible or whatever text is appropriate, trying to influence the reader.

Fundamentalists are guilty of using religious texts and incorrectly interpreting them to arrive at the, "I am right, therefore you are wrong" mentality. This mentality can be dangerous; it can led to extremism. Extremists do not represent God but their own agenda. There have been countless cases of religious extremists justifying killing others by following quotes of scripture or I should say, their misguided interpretations of quotes of scripture.

Islam and Christianity have dark pasts (and in some cases, dark presents) because man got involved in interpreting the scriptures. Islam is no crueler than Christianity.

The "Golden Rule" is the key, not the Koran, the Bible, or any other organized religion's text. Some form of Christianity's Golden Rule is present in almost every religion. All religions preach peace but do the followers practice peaceful beliefs?

Jackie Wellman, author of Spiritual Clarity, http://www.hoppy.bravehost.com, http://spiritualclarity.blogspot.com

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