Would you delete a copy of the Koran?

[nguirado]

Originally Posted by rhadin

If my device came with the Koran or with any version of the Bible, I would delete it. I'm not into religious persuasion.

The question really should be would I read the Koran to learn about it? To that I would say yes, just as I would consider reading one of the Bibles to learn about the religion it represents. But the truth of the matter is that none of the bibles or korans are particularly meaningful when it comes to understand religious views because each sect within a religion has a different slant on the meaning. For example, is the 6-days to create the earth incontrovertible fact meaning 6 24-hour days or is it parable? If God did dictate the Bible, why are there so many versions?

It's not a literal six days, obviously. I think it's very useful to understand a religion. The Bible isn't a catechism (which I'd go to to understand a religion as it's set up to do just that. Ludwig Ott is even better), however. It's several genres- history, poetry, theology- mixed in and written for different purposes.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by nguirado

It's not a literal six days, obviously.

Why is it obvious (Steven Hawking notwithstanding)?

[WT Sharpe]

Young Earth creationists don't think it's so obvious. They go to great lengths to argue that "the evening and the morning" of Genesis chapter 1 refers to a twenty-four hour period.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Young Earth creationists don't think it's so obvious. They go to great lengths to argue that "the evening and the morning" of Genesis chapter 1 refers to a twenty-four hour period.

Well ,yes, but are we really going to give any credence to that bunch of whack-jobs?

Personally, I am not religious in any way, shape or form, but I would not burn or deface the Koran, the Bible or any other religious tome. It's just bad manners and unnecessarily inflammatory.

[ardeegee]

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...ism-seriously/

(The actual site is down because of bandwidth use)

[Duiker]

Sure, why not? if it came pre-loaded and I had no plans to read it why shouldn't I? Burning and deleting are two different things. Burning a book is a statement. Deleting it is a practical use of space. I wouldn't burn it...unless I was cold and stranded and had no other fuel.

[Logseman]

I asked for a Koran once as a Christmas present, so don't count me in the book burners. Aside of that, where books are burnt it's only a matter of time before people are burnt too, or so Hesse said.

What must be really challenging is formatting a Koran in Arabic. It is a book which is said to rely very heavily on calligraphy and typesetting to be able to apprehend its whole beauty. Given that the calligraphic quality is not any ebook's forte, it may be hard for a learned Koran reader to get used to the electronic format.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Well ,yes, but are we really going to give any credence to that bunch of whack-jobs?

Half of the adult population of the United States doesn't accept the scientific explanation of the origin of our species, and they vote. Politicians educated in Ivy League schools who know better privately publicly cater to their scientific illiteracy.

For the record, I think these young Earth creationists are interpreting Genesis chapter one correctly. I don't believe the Priestly author who penned that account was speaking figuratively. The Bible has the science wrong, that much is obvious, but these fundamentalists are interpreting the text as it was intended to be understood.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Half of the adult population of the United States doesn't accept the scientific explanation of the origin of our species, and they vote. Politicians educated in Ivy League schools who know better privately publicly cater to their scientific illiteracy.

I accept that politicians (whores-for-votes) need to pander to these idiots, but why would anybody else?

It wasn't that many centuries ago that everybody knew that the earth wasn't the centre of the universe. The number of people that believe something is no indication whatsoever of its veracity.

[GlenBarrington]

But in my mind, there is a difference between burning a book and deleting (or even tossing a book away). Burning is an almost universal intentional act of disrespect, that's why the members of that 'Church of Moronicy Now' down in Florida are such buttwipes. (As are the muslims who burn bibles or other holy books)

Willfull and prideful ignorance mixed with contempt of 'other' is a sure fire way to stay entrenched in the 11th century.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...ism-seriously/

(The actual site is down because of bandwidth use)

Catholics weren't the only geocentrists!

.....People give ear to an upstart astrologer [Copernicus] who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon. Whoever wishes to appear clever must devise some new system, which of all systems is of course the very best. This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth.
..........— Martin Luther (1483-1546), Father of the Reformation. Quoted in Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy (1945), Book Three, pt. I, ch. VI.

But I fear we are drifting more than a little off-topic here.

[JimKal]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Do you have to read it in Arabic to appreciate the poetry?
(What's the best English translation?)

While I don't have a copy of the Koran, I do have a book of the Sufi poet Rumi's work and I find that parts of it speak to me. I think the work of a translator is difficult and the translator of poetry has an even more difficult task.

At the point I post my reply the poll seems to be running in favor of those who would delete the Koran. As the question is "would" rather than "did you" I think even those who don't currently have a copy, like me, can legitimately respond.

What I don't understand is the response of those who would delete something they chose to download. It seems akin to the burning of books. I do understand if you've read it and are finished with it and will not return to it. But we shouldn't fear the written word. As a Unitarian we honor many different paths to faith and try to take the best from each.

[forcheville]

Hypothetical Scenario: Islamic fundamentalists make death threats against Amazon executives and staff unless Amazon release the names and details of all Kindle user's who have deleted a copy of the Koran.
What does Amazon do?

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Half of the adult population of the United States doesn't accept the scientific explanation of the origin of our species, and they vote.

The only reason we are having this thread is because of there being people who would become violent in response to their religious book being burnt. And I'm figuring that a lot more than half of that crowd also disagree with evolution.

At its worst, the Bible is as bad as the Quran. But the average page of the Quran seems, to me, to incite hostility towards those outside the religion a lot more often than the average page of the Bible. I just did a web search with randomly chosen translations, and found that the word hell appears 14 times in the Bible (New International Version) but 97 times in the much shorter Quran (M.H. Shakir translation), providing objective support for my subjective impression.

It seems to me that eternal torture is at least as bad as temporary torture here on earth. Don't get me wrong about the issue, through. Even repetitive, poorly organized, books advocating torture should nonetheless go unburnt and (if the motive is spite) undeleted. And of course there are vast numbers of Muslims who find the Quran a much more humanitarian book than I do, and act in accordance with its nicer themes.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I just did a web search with randomly chosen translations, and found that the word hell appears 14 times in the Bible (New International Version) but 97 times in the much shorter Quran (M.H. Shakir translation), providing objective support for my subjective impression.

KJV uses the word "hell" 54 times.

But the instances of "hell" in the OT in the KJV are historical revisionism-- the OT Hebrews hadn't invented the concept of "hell" as we know it yet-- they believed in "sheol", the dark underworld where everyone went after death. "Hell" as a place of punishment for the non-chosen is new to the NT. So of course, with a few hundred more years to refine the concept, the Koran would have more references to "hell."