Mike Lux in the Huffington Post has a layman’s take on the contradictions of scripture. He sounds like a non-expert who read a lot of Bible– something I can relate to. He points out the unreasonableness of comparing the most warlike passages from the Koran with the most peaceful passages from the Bible…

“I’m not anti-Islam, I’m anti-terrorist. But if you take quotes from the Bible and compare them to the Quran, the Bible might say “turn the other cheek” while the Quran would say “strike your enemies down and kill them.”

I love quotes like this one, which show no knowledge at all of either the Quran or the Judeo-Christian Bible. My apologies to my religious friends of all faith traditions, but let’s be honest: every religious scripture has lots of questionable quotations and ideas in it. They all have a lot of good in them, teachings about morality and generosity and mercy and kindness, beautiful ideas and poetry and stories, but they all have what theologians technically refer to as icky stuff as well. To take one of Jesus’ gentlest quotes and line it up next to one of the Quran’s most violent isn’t what you would call, well, kosher.

He goes on to cite the many episodes of total anihillation the Israelites dished out on neighboring tribes.

Some Kmareka readers have questioned my right to cite scripture at all, since my three baptisms didn’t soak in and when the Rapture comes I will be checking the yard sales for all the good stuff Left Behind. But it’s my Book too.

I’m an English-speaking product of Western Culture, and the Bible is one of the great works of literature that shapes us. Ironically, it was recited, sung, and finally transcribed in the Middle East– a part of the world called the Cradle of Civilization.

You can’t read it without a sense of recognition, and without benefit if you are willing to learn. But Fundamentalism, a literal reading, is just crazy. From the Book of Genesis onward it is a group project, full of contradictions. Kind of like life.

The pattern of recent press coverage, where you get instant fame/infamy by spouting racial slurs on the radio or burning symbols of someone’s religion, reminds me of the slogan, ‘sex sells’.

Transgression and titillation– is blasphemy the new pornography? The escalation of hate speech– especially hate aimed at ‘non-combatants’, people who just happen to be a particular race or religion, is discouraging. Honestly, it makes me feel depressed. It’s one thing to have political flame wars, but unloading this stuff on ordinary people is just nasty.

But it’s effective. There’s a reason any random channel-surfing on TV will turn up violence. Our lizard-brain is aroused by this stuff. As David Jaffe said, you can’t turn away. A disgraced minister with a church of about fifty gets the notice of the President. I can’t count the number of public demonstrations I have participated in that got zero coverage– we were civil and made sense. If anyone thinks that declining to broadcast film of this particular un-civil and crazy stunt is unprecedented– well, welcome to my world.

We’re at the completion of the Ramadan fast, approaching Yom Kippur, looking forward to Samhain and Advent begins in a couple of months. Such a religious country we are. Can we unite around love?