Interpretation

To carry on a debate on the blogs regarding religious intolerance. It allegedly says in the Koran that anyone who is not an Islamic faithful is an infidel, and can be killed.
It also says in the Koran that Jews and Christians are exempt for its provisions, and are regarded with respect. I can provide chapter and verse if required.

However, this is not a defence of Muslims, nor of Christians. It is in fact an old bugbear of mine, the misinterpretation of holy scripts, capitalisation deliberately omitted. Back in the 15th century, Christianity was on the rampage, with the witches burned at the stake, with similar treatment meeted out to heritics. The Muslim calendar is in its 15th century, and we see similar intolerance in sections of that faith. Even up to this date, people interpret the Bible and the Koran to their own ends, in ways that the original writers would not have thought of. The number of schisms in the Protestant Church, for instance, defy computation.

I personally cannot reconcile myself with the bogged down dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. I dislike the incendiary aspects of the Muslim faith, seeing how much damage they do in community relations. I resent the fire and brimstone teachings of the Free Presbyterian Church, which declare that we are all born sinners who WILL go to hell, however much good you do in life. A sure-fire recipe for disaster, as is shown time and again in the Western Isles.

Religion is supposed to be a measure to help you cope with the major aspects of life, particularly the end of it. When people start to ramrod their own personal interpretations of it down someone else's throat however, I start to gag, reach and vomit. And that's exactly what happened when Christianity conquered the Americas and when Muslims rampaged across the Middle East.