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	<title>Robert Johnson &#8211; The American Mercury</title>
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		<title>Instead of burning Korans, why not debate the merits of all &#8220;holy&#8221; books?</title>
		<link>https://theamericanmercury.org/2010/09/instead-of-burning-korans-why-not-debate-the-merits-of-all-%e2%80%9choly%e2%80%9d-books/</link>
					<comments>https://theamericanmercury.org/2010/09/instead-of-burning-korans-why-not-debate-the-merits-of-all-%e2%80%9choly%e2%80%9d-books/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Hendon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:27:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christianity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Koran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Old Testament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Johnson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Talmud]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Torah]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://theamericanmercury.org/?p=867</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[by Robert Johnson A CHRISTIAN PREACHER in Gainesville, Florida wants to burn Korans, citing the ninth anniversary of 9/11. Muslims around the world are upset and some are taking to the streets to demonstrate their anger that anyone would want to burn what they consider the word of God. From the start of the Abrahamic &#8220;revealed&#8221; religions, Judaism, Christianity and <a class="more-link" href="https://theamericanmercury.org/2010/09/instead-of-burning-korans-why-not-debate-the-merits-of-all-%e2%80%9choly%e2%80%9d-books/">Continue Reading &#8594;</a>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.examiner.com/deism-in-tampa-bay/instead-of-burning-korans-why-not-debate-the-merits-of-all-the-holy-books" target="_blank">by Robert Johnson</a></p>
<p>A CHRISTIAN PREACHER in Gainesville, Florida wants to <a href="http://www.examiner.com/deism-in-tampa-bay/florida-christian-church-to-burn-koran-with-protection-of-a-christian-militia">burn</a> Korans, citing the ninth anniversary of 9/11. Muslims around the  world are upset and some are taking to the streets to demonstrate their  anger that anyone would want to burn what they consider the word of  God.</p>
<p>From the start of the Abrahamic &#8220;revealed&#8221; religions, Judaism,  Christianity and Islam, violence has been a key factor promoted by all  three of them. For example, <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/31.html" target="_blank">Numbers 31:15-18</a> has Moses instructing the Israeli army, &#8220;Now therefore kill every male  among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying  with him. But all the female children, that have not known a man by  lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.&#8221; This repulsive instruction  to murder all the little boys and the women who were not virgins and to  keep all the virgins for themselves is even worse than what is being  reported out of the Congo, of using rape as a weapon. And to make it  even worse, in verse 31 the priest Eleazar claims this order Moses gave  originated with God. As the Deist <a href="http://deism.com/paine.htm" target="_blank" class="broken_link">Thomas Paine</a> wrote in <a href="http://deism.com/the_age_of_reason_paine.htm" target="_blank" class="broken_link"><em>The Age of Reason</em></a>,  &#8220;Is it because ye are sunk in the cruelty of superstition, or feel no  interest in the honor of your Creator, that ye listen to the horrid  tales of the Bible, or hear them with callous indifference?&#8221;</p>
<p>Christianity has shown through the Inquisition, the 30 Years War, <em>ad  nauseam</em>, that violence against those who disagree with them is their  chosen path whenever possible. Due to their lack of real power in  secular governments, the last person they were able to murder via the  Inquisition was the Deist, <a href="http://deism.com/martyrfordeism.htm" target="_blank" class="broken_link">Cayetano Ripoll</a>. They murdered Ripoll for his Deism.</p>
<p>Islam&#8217;s &#8220;holy&#8221; book, the Koran, also contains disgusting calls to  violence but seems less centered on murdering &#8220;little ones&#8221; than the  Bible is. For example, <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/3/index.htm#151" target="_blank">Surah 3:151</a> says, &#8220;We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve  because they ascribe unto Allah partners, for which no warrant hath been  revealed. Their habitation is the Fire, and hapless the abode of the  wrong-doers.&#8221; <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/9/index.htm" target="_blank">Surah 9:5</a> says, &#8220;Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters  wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and  prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship  and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving,  Merciful.&#8221; There are many other instructions in the Koran to wage war  against nonbelievers.</p>
<p>The reason the Abrahamic &#8220;revealed&#8221; religions all need to resort to  violence whenever possible to deal with nonbelievers is due to the  incredible lack of God-given reason in all of them. They can&#8217;t stand the  application of God-given reason on their doctrines and false claims to  having received divine revelations. Even the celebrated Christian  classic by C.S. Lewis, <a href="http://deism.com/answer_mere_christianity.htm" target="_blank" class="broken_link"><em>Mere Christianity</em></a>, falls flat on its face when confronted with reason.</p>
<p>If the Gainesville, Florida Christians could defend the claims of  Christianity and their Bible, they would not burn the Koran, they would  debate it. However, debating the Koran would open up their Bible to  debate. There is no way to defend either the Koran or the Bible in a way  which satisfies our God-given reason.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.deism.com/" target="_blank"><strong>God Gave Us Reason, Not Religion</strong></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.examiner.com/deism-in-tampa-bay/instead-of-burning-korans-why-not-debate-the-merits-of-all-the-holy-books" target="_blank">Read the rest at this link</a>.</p>
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