This has been upsetting me for awhile and I can feel that its creating negative energy within my space and myself. I've been finding myself becoming more and more intolerant of other religions when I used to not be. I believe this could be in part to the studying I've been doing into other religions and their cultures. The more I tend to find in the Bible, the Torah, and the Quran, the more intolerant I'm becoming of the religion in general.
This upsets me because some parts of these religions have good intentions but other parts I cannot bring myself to admire. I cannot tolerate slavery, degradation of women, belittlement and bigotry, child abuse, or anything of that nature. Yet, I have been finding this scattered throughout these "Holy" texts and I'm beginning to fear that these tidbits of information will somehow (and in some cases are) influencing the population that follows these religions.
I believe in peace, love, and respect for everyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc but I'm finding discrimination within these texts. I don't want to list certain verses because I would rather someone read the scripture for themselves and come up with their own opinions about the verses. I advise to look at the scripture and form your own opinions.
People may say that I'm taking these verses too literally or out of context. Let me address the "too literal" part of this and then I'll address the "out of context part". As a piece of scripture that is said to be the word of God, why should I not take it literally? I understand that some stories are symbolic and full of wisdom while others are actual accounts of history and some even laws. These pieces that are assigned the genre of "laws" are where most of the questionable content resides and are not laws supposed to be taken literally? These laws, whether ordained by God, should be taken literally, yes? It would be like saying that the laws created by man today are just guidelines and no one cares if you do it.
As for the "out of context" part, I don't care if this verse was said during a period of war, during a period of extreme suffering, during any period, no one should ever say things like, "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." Surah 9 Verse 5.
I feel the Quran, which is where this verse comes from, is more of an historical account, than to be taken as the word of God. I say this because I don't believe, personally, that a God would ask such a thing like this from his faithful servants who are supposed to be portraying a peaceful religion. Where is the peace in this verse? Although I have used this one verse to help explain the "out of context" concept, I still advise those to read these scriptures for themselves and form their own opinion.
All religions have their admirable traits and their questionable ones. Maybe we should bring these scriptures up to modern times and look towards progress. Most of the Old testament has been labeled as out dated by Christians. Who goes out to slaughter an animal as an offering to God anymore? I do not doubt that their is history and wisdom behind these pages. I also do not say that these supreme beings defined in the Bible and Quran are false. I can neither prove or disprove their existence. I am merely saying that if you believe in these books as the word of God...it does not mean that you should play God or impose some of the questionable laws upon people in this day and age.
I am trying my best to stay away from judgement and intolerance of certain religions. I know not all people are religious zealots or terrorists or whatever they're called now. I know there are good people in all religions. We should strive for what is said to be the root of all religions and that is peace, love, and respect. As long as we remember the Golden Rule then I believe that nothing else should really matter.
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