Saturday, September 13, 2008

Stop twisting his words!

A while ago I bought a Bible (part for the New Testament and part for the Old (yes I realize the translations may not be the exact same)) and a Qur'an. I haven't made it very far through either of them, and probably never will, but I just saw the follow paragraph in the Qur'an (note that it is a recent translation so who knows how it is interpreted in other versions):

God: there is no god but Him, the Ever Living, the Ever Watchful.
Step by step, He has sent the Scripture down to you [Prophet] with the Truth, confirming what went before: He sent down the Torah and the Gospel earlier as a guide for people and He has sent down the distinction [between right and wrong]. Those who deny God's revelations will suffer severe torment: God is almighty and capable of retribution. Nothing on earth or in heaven is hidden from God: it is He who shapes you all in the womb as He pleases. There is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Wise: it is He who has sent this Scripture down to you [Prophet]. Some of its verses are definite in meaning - these are the cornerstone of the Scripture - and other are ambiguous. The perverse at heart eagerly pursue the ambiguities in their attempt to make trouble and to pin down a specific meaning of their own: only God knows the true meaning.


Wow! Those last two lines may just be the most reasonable thing I've ever read in a religious text. I fear people might think the title of this blog is aimed at Islam or Radical Islam, but it is equally aimed at all religions (Sarah Palin I'm looking at you).

1 comment:

The Owl Archimedes said...

Do you ever think about how if he is omnipresent and ever-watchful, then that means he's watching you while you're doing private things like going to the bathroom. I don't know if I like that...

Dear god, please avert your eyes while I'm taking a piss.

But god doesn't have eyes...so how is he ever-watchful? Hm, I'm interpreting this way too literally, obviously.