...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Reality check: In today’s National Post, frequent letter-writer Syed A. Rahman clears up some “misconceptions” that may have arisen as a result of his previous missive. Instead of “fisking” the sucker, I’ve added links to address each “clarification”.

Re: Islam, Women and Israel, letters to the editor, July 25.

I would like to respond to some of the misconceptions about Islam expressed by a trio of letter-writers, in response to my earlier letter.

The holy Koran is the only religious book I know of that is written in spoken language. It is a compilation of sermons given by Prophet Muhammad over several years, so to choose bits and pieces from the Koran is unfair to a religion that is practised by over a billion people. The statement about women being stoned to death for being raped is totally outlandish. The purpose of the harsh nature of punishment is more of a deterrent than anything else. There are too many conditions that must be met before it is carried out.

Contrary to the popular belief that Islam is anti-Semitic, it is the Christians who have persecuted Jews throughout the ages, as in Spain under Queen Isabella or in Hitler's Germany.

And where it says in the Koran that men are superior to women, that has to do with men being physically superior to women, with a bigger responsibility for looking after the wellbeing of the family. Lastly, where it is implied that a husband can beat his wife, that is only supposed to be in a manner that does not cause any physical pain or hurt of any nature.

Syed thinks he's making a persuasive case when, in fact, he's only digging a deeper hole.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:26 | link | comments (1)

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