Originally Posted by
Burney
Yeah, but that comparative argument with Christianity doesn't really wash, since Christianity is based on the New Testament and the teachings of Christ, which explicitly preclude the killing of anyone and are profoundly non-violent. The theology is pretty clear: Christ's teachings and sacrifice represent a new covenant between God and man that overwrites the Old Testament - which I agree is pretty ****ed up in parts. However, the Old Testament is simply not fundamental to Christian faith - whatever the more extreme protestant fundamentalists may pretend - and therefore can offer no meaningful justification for any violent actions by a Christian.
Islam, by contrast, takes all of the Qur'an as the explicit word of God as expressed to his prophet - contradictions and all. Ultimately, Christ's teachings are explicitly and consistently non-violent, while those of Muhammed are not. Pointing to the Old Testament and suggesting that Christians are no better than Muslims in respect of the violence of their doctrine is simply not valid, I'm afraid.