Know Your Bible; Know Your Qur'an

There are a lot of people wanting me to read the Qur'an. Every time I post something suggesting that not all Muslim are terrorist or that the First Amendment also applies to followers of the Muslim faith or that there really are some secular Muslims, people send me numerous verses from the Qur'an and suggest I read the Qur'an.

I have never read the Qur'an. I have tried. I checked it out of the library one time and read parts of it and skimmed it but it was too boring to read it all. So, I don't know the Qur'an. However, I am pretty familiar with the Bible. I have read or had read to me the Bible from cover to cover twice and have read the Bible at random for many years although I don't read it much anymore.

I am often surprised at how little most people know about the Bible. They may have been attending church their whole life and still not know much Bible. There are some passages in the Bible that are almost never read from the pulpit.
One of the things I noticed about the verses people send me from the Qur'an is that a lot of them sound very familiar to Bible verses.

I thought it might be fun to see if people can pick from a collection of verses those that are from the Qur'an and which are from the Bible. If this was a game show we could call it, "Know Your Bible; Know Your Qur'an."

Some of the verses are a give-away, because they use the term "Allah" or have other obvious clues but many of them are hard to determine. Take the following quiz and see how many you can get correct. The Answers are at the end. Let me know your score.

Know your Bible; Know your Qur'an

Charging interest/usury

(A) Those who charge usury are in the same position as those controlled by the devil's influence. This is because they claim that usury is the same as commerce. However, GOD permits commerce, and prohibits usury. Thus, whoever heeds this commandment from his Lord, and refrains from usury, he may keep his past earnings, and his judgment rests with GOD. As for those who persist in usury, they incur Hell, wherein they abide forever.

(B) If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.

Murder, rape, and pillage

(C) So they sent twelve thousand warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. "This is what you are to do," they said. "Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin." Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the little remnant of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the four hundred women of Jabesh-gilead who were spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them. The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had left this gap in the tribes of Israel. So the Israelite leaders asked, "How can we find wives for the few who remain, since all the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel will not be lost forever. But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God's curse."
Then they thought of the annual festival of the LORD held in Shiloh, between Lebonah and Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, "Go and hide in the vineyards. When the women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to be your wife! And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, 'Please be understanding. Let them have your daughters, for we didn't find enough wives for them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not give your daughters in marriage to them.'"
So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. They kidnapped the women who took part in the celebration and carried them off to the land of their own inheritance. Then they rebuilt their towns and lived in them. So the assembly of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes.

(D) As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you.

Rape

(E) If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.

(F) And forbidden to you are wedded wives of other people except those who have fallen in your hands as prisoners of war . . .

Parents

(G) If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

(H) Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: My Lord! Bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.

(I) Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee,

Kill your enemies

(J) But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

(K) Remember Thy Lord inspired the angels with the message: "I am with you: give firmness to the believers, I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, Smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger tips of them."

Stone to death

(L) If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." 21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death."

(M) "If any man takes a wife, and goes in on her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, 'I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin..." (Deuteronomy 22:13,14)
"But if ... evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones..."

Homosexuality

(N) If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

(O) Lot said to his people, "You commit such an abomination; no one
in the world has done it before! "You practice sex with the men,
instead of the women. Indeed, you are a transgressing people."

(P) "Do you have sex with the males, of all the people? "You forsake
the wives that your Lord has created for you! Indeed, you are
transgressing people."

Women and modesty

(Q) Do not be soft in your speech in a way that may excite men to feel an eager desire for you or lust after you, lest in whose heart is malice and is devoid of soundness and rectitude should be excited to feel a desire for you or lust after you.
Do not show or display fineries or ornaments or beauties of your form or countenance that may excite a man’s lust

(R) In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.

Women to be submissive to men

(S) Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Sex Slaves

(T) When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.

Genocide

(U) "Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of Pekod. Yes, march against Babylon, the land of rebels, a land that I will judge! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you," says the LORD. "Let the battle cry be heard in the land, a shout of great destruction".

(V) When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are all more powerful than you. When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them, and don't let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters. They will lead your young people away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will destroy you.

Alcohol

(W) “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die,

(X) Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

(Y) "O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper."

Love

(Z) And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in peace and tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): Verily in that are signs for those who reflect"

(AA) However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Acts of compassion

(BB) "And what will explain to you what the steep path is? It is the freeing of a slave from bondage; or the giving of food in a day of famine to an orphan relative, or to a needy in distress. Then will he be of those who believe, enjoin fortitude and encourage kindness and compassion."
`
Bible: B, C, D, E, G, I, J, L, M, N, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, AA,
Qur'an: A, F, H, K, O, P, Q, Y, Z, BB
How many did you get right?

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Corker: Cap Federal Spending

Corker Votes to Extend Existing Tax Rates, Introduces Amendment to Cap Federal Spending as a Percentage of GDP

December 15 2010

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has offered a bipartisan amendment to the tax cut package that would establish a binding federal spending cap tied to the country’s economic output, instilling fiscal discipline and smaller government while incentivizing lawmakers to pass pro-growth policies. Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is the lead Democrat sponsor of the amendment.

“This has been a tough vote for me. I spent a lot of time weighing the pros and cons, but at the end of the day I'm supporting the tax package because the most important short-term issue our country faces is the economy. Allowing these income tax rates to expire would be devastating to our fragile economy,” said Corker. “And while this legislation is important for stabilizing the economy and creating certainty for businesses and our citizens, over the long-term nothing is more important than acting quickly to get spending under control and reduce our deficit.

“To that end, Senator McCaskill and I have offered an amendment to cap federal spending as a percentage of GDP, a move that would instill fiscal discipline and smaller government while incentivizing lawmakers to pass pro-growth policies. This bipartisan amendment won’t be debated or voted on today, but hopefully it and other efforts will lay down a marker and build momentum in the new Congress for tangible, meaningful action to get government spending under control prior to a vote on the debt ceiling.”

In 2009 the federal government spent $1.4 trillion more than it took in, borrowing nearly 40 cents of every dollar. By 2030, on the current trajectory, U.S. debt will reach 146 percent of GDP, far exceeding what economists of every persuasion deem as sustainable. Over the past 40 years, federal spending has averaged 20.6 percent of GDP, and revenue has averaged 18 percent. Today, spending is 23.8 percent of GDP, and revenue is 14.9 percent of GDP.

The Corker-McCaskill amendment would limit all federal spending to a percentage of GDP. Specifically, the amendment would:

- Eliminate the “off-budget” distinction for certain programs, allowing for a complete and accurate assessment of federal outlays and future obligations, and

- Put in place a 10-year glide path to bring spending down to the historical average, 20.6 percent of GDP.

Should Congress violate the binding cap, the House and Senate would have 45 days to offset the increase in spending. Failure to offset the spending increase would trigger corresponding, simultaneous cuts throughout the federal budget. In an emergency, as defined in the statute and determined by a two-thirds vote in both bodies, Congress could authorize – and be held accountable by voting for – spending in excess of the cap for that year.

The Corker-McCaskill amendment is cosponsored by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), George LeMieux (R-Fla.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“We face many challenges as a country, but after four years in Washington and a lifetime in business, I believe unsustainable spending habits and fiscal insolvency pose the greatest threat to our economic stability, freedom, way of life and future as a nation,” said Corker. “We are in real danger of becoming the first generation of Americans to leave our country in worse shape than we found it. The time to act is now.” 

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Murfreesboro Mosque Circus returns!

All those God-fearing, Constitution-waving enemies of the First Amendment can rejoice! The Murfreesboro Mosque Circus is coming back to town! They get another opportunity to try to prove that the religion practiced by one and a half billion people, about a quarter of the earth's population, is not really a religion. They will get another opportunity to waste the money of the taxpayers of Rutherford County. They can further tarnish the image of Tennessee. They can cancel out all the effort and money spend to attract businesses to Tennessee. If they are lucky they may create enough interest to have another movie made about Tennessee. "The Murfressboro Mosque Circus" may be the sequel to "Inherit the Wind." The Circus is back in town! Read all about it.

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West Nashville Eggs and Bacon Summit with Special Guest Ken Marrero

Rise and Shine

for the 

West Nashville Eggs and Bacon Summit

with Special Guest
Ken Marrero

Topic: "Second Hand Liberty"

Ken is a political activist who has blogged as Blue Collar Muse for almost 4 years. While his work has impact across the USA, Ken is a proud resident of Middle Tennessee. He is the founder of the Tennessee ConserVOLiance, a state wide alliance of online, right-of-center activists and a popular informative and inspirational speaker for Conservative and Liberty loving groups across the country.

At 

Shoney's
365 White Bridge Pike, Nashville
map link

Saturday, December 18th

Fellowship, Dutch Treat Breakfast 8:30 AM, meeting 9:00 AM

Moderator: Matt Nemeth

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Merry Christmas

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Obamacare Ruled Unconstitutional!

"In a 42-page opinion issued in Richmond, Va., Judge Hudson wrote that the law’s central requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance exceeds the regulatory authority granted to Congress under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The insurance mandate is central to the law’s mission of covering more than 30 million uninsured because insurers argue that only by requiring healthy people to have policies can they afford to treat those with expensive chronic conditions."(link)

My Comment: Fantastic! Hooray! This is the third district court to rule on the constitutionality of the law. The other two district courts upheld the law. I would assume this means the law is headed to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately the judge did not block implementation of the law. I don't know if Obamacare will eventually be ruled unconstitutional or not but it should be. If the goverment can mandate that you pruchase a particular product then it can mandate anything.

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Join the discussion: In Defense of Freedom by Frank S. Meyer

I would like to invite you to join  a new book discussion group that I attend. The group is called "Conservative Fusion" and meets at  the Shoneys at 407 Thompson Ln, at 2PM on a  Saturday. This group focuses on books of interest to conservatives and libertarians and will feature both classics and contemporary works.  The group is not an activist group but rather a group that meets to discuss great books and ideas. The last time we met we discussed F.A. Hayek's book The Road to Serfdom.

I had not read The Road to Serfdom since I was in my twenties. It was a pleasure to reread a book that was important to the formulation of my believes and then discuss it with other people. I am now rereading another important book that I have not read since my youth and am enjoying it. The next meeting will be January 11, 2011. There is plenty of time to purchase a copy of the book.

Follow this link to RSVP: Conservative Fusion Meetup.

Below is the Meetup announcement: 

We will discuss In Defense of Freedom by Frank S. Meyer (Here at Amazon). The title is the source of our Meetup group's name, Conservative Fusion, Meyer's term "fusionism" an attempt to bring together conservatism's traditionalism and libertarianism. Hopefully this will give everyone time to read it or at least look through it. Also looking forward to other ideas both as to subject matter and other meeting times/venues. I hope we can have more folks at this one and look forward to seeing everyone there.
Some questions for consideration:
--traditionalism vs libertarianism
--modern fusionism
--examples of fusionism
--what were Meyer's fusionist arguments?
--modern challenges and philosophical debates within the conservative/conservative intellectual movement
--policy contributions of fusionism
--Constitution: elements of traditionalism, libertarianism, fusionism

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