Like the Christian New Testament Bible, the Holy Kuran also is available in authorised translations.

The Kuran definitely supports extreme murderous violence against against unbelievers.

If I remember rightly (and I do!) you retorted by saying that her good Muslim friends “ignore” the violent Sura quoted textually by me – therefore it exists. Any “good” Muslims who ignore what they do not like in the Koran do it openly from the the relative safety of Catholic Malta. They would have to be indeed very reckless and brave to do it openly in Islamic States.

[Daphne – Only a relatively small percentage of Muslims live in Islamic states, and there is no indication that they are happy with the situation, but rather the opposite. Roman Catholicism is a repressive religion too, which is so many Roman Catholics ignore several of its rules and instructions completely and call themselves Roman Catholics all the same.]

The Imams are not fabricating these beliefs. The Quran is full of versus inciting violence against non believers.(specifically Christians and Jews). Let’s not pretend that the Quran is a book promoting peace and love.

[Daphne – It’s interesting to see that you’ve taken the time and trouble to read the Koran, and that you are fluent in Classical Arabic. Quite an achievement.]

In answer to your question, Christians do not pretend to be quoting the New Testament bible regarding methods of contraception, staying virgins until marriage, homosexuality, IVF etc.

Most emphatically Muslims do quote relevant passages in their Holy Koran to support their Sharia Law, the duty to kill infidels etc.

It is not false.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/142727/religiosity-highest-world-poorest-nations.aspx

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/religious-people-are-less-intelligent-than-atheists-according-to-analysis-of-scores-of-scientific-studies-stretching-back-over-decades-8758046.html

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21623712-how-education-makes-people-less-religiousand-less-superstitious-too-falling-away

You can’t dismiss an argument based on statistical analysis by simply pointing out the exceptions at the fringes. Here’s an article about a comprehensive macro study of why some countries are less religious that goes into some detail:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/epiphenom/2012/12/is-education-main-reason-why-some.html

I agree that there will always be people who are too stupid to figure out things for themselves. With some luck, they will tag along with the majority and with the way they were brought up, as they already do once belief/unbelief reaches a tipping point.

To add to this, Mohammed wrote an open letter to Christians that declared their right to self-governance, protection for churches and monasteries, and freedom to practice their religion openly in Muslim controlled areas. Muslims are commanded to follow this until the end of time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achtiname_of_Muhammad

Daphne, I don’t agree with you that the only way you can have no religion is by banning it. It would be horrible if it were so.

Lack of religious belief correlates closely by country with higher standards of education and more economic prosperity. When people understand how science explains many things that we had no explanation for before (e.g. evolution supplanting creation as an explanation for the diversity and adaptation of species to their habitats) they can then start to see how science might one day explain the things we still don’t understand, and the need for religion fades away except as a means to delude ourselves into thinking we are immortal.

Even morality does not come from religion, contrary to popular belief. People and churches (except for fundamentalists) pick and choose which parts of their holy books they follow and which parts they ignore according to the times.

This is so true that, for example, Roman Catholicism today is closer to other modern Christian denominations as regards morality than it is to medieval Roman Catholicism, where you would be killed for something as trivial as blasphemy. It would be most interesting indeed to watch a modern pope debate a medieval one on moral issues.

[Daphne – That argument is false. Plenty of people with a very high standard of education are religious, and plenty of people with no education and very little intelligence are completely irreligious. And even if that were not the case, genetics are what they are. There will always be a significant part of the population too stupid even for a low standard of education, let alone a high one.]

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/023-violence.htm

[Daphne – Do all Roman Catholics use the rhythm method for contraception and stay virgins until and if they are married (to a person of the other gender)?]

[Daphne – You’re confusing matters. The people who protested when a Mohammed cartoon was published (I assume you mean the ones in Denmark some years ago) would be the last to protest against these murders.]

Until they do this I will not believe their statements of condemnation. Words come cheap. Unfortunately the West is in denial. So many imams, so many mosques and madrassas, most of them in our own Western cities – all they do is brainwash children, young men and old people with their hatred for Western civilization.

Islam is by definition irreconcilable with Western values – Muslims themselves have stated this in the past, they tolerate democracy until it serves its purpose – and wants to supplant such values with its own which are still rooted in medieval times.

[Daphne – Muslims this, Muslims that. Thank heavens we are not defined as Roman Catholics. “Quick, quick, mummy look! There are some Roman Catholics coming into the cafe! Watch out.”]

The recent bloody confrontations in Libya, the former Yugoslavia and the USSR are obvious examples. The bloodshed was/is more directly related to traditional, ancient ethnic rivalries among societies that were welded together artificially by strong dictators. They broke apart when the unifying dictatorships passed away. They were not wars of religion.