Why Hating Islam is Against the Bible.

Every religion has its fundamentalists and bigots, be it Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism or Christianity. Christianity's own fundamentalist leaders seem to have a hard-on for Muslims. Christians should be weary of these hate-mongers and not let people like Paul Holt and Terry Jones corrupt God by using religion as a tool for bigotry.

You'd be hard pressed to find a religion that preaches hate and violence as a path to God. Indeed, the bible itself teaches us to love and respect one another. Yet you can always find some self-serving jerk who will corrupt anything in an attempt to push their own agenda.

The bible is full of verses that contradict Holt's teachings. Verses like

Exodus 23:9

Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Hebrews were used as slaves under the Pharaoh and were liberated. They were given a home, and were told to not treat guests into their homes as they had been treated by the Pharaoh and his ilk. 

The attempts by the far right to halt construction on the poorly named "ground zero mosque" (which in truth is FIVE blocks away from ground zero...) not only violate the Constitution, but violate this commandment from God. One could argue that by attempting to prevent the building of the mosque (that includes an interfaith community center) we are oppressing Muslims by not giving them the same rights under the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution -- The right to freedom of religion. Since the bible asks us not to oppress strangers, isn't it the duty of a good Christian to support them in this endeavor rather than prevent it?

Leviticus 19:33-34

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him (33) [But] the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God. (34)

This verse is one of the 613 Mitzvot in Judaism, and is shared by the Christian faith. It very specifically tells Christians not to do stupid things like Qu'ran burnings. Don't specifically do things to piss off a stranger just because you can. It is a direct commandment from God telling us to treat people other faiths with the same respect and love as we would give those of us who share our own. 

Then of course, there are the countless instructions from God to love one another as he loved us:

1 John 4:11

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another

John 15:12

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you

John 15:17

These things I command you, that ye love one another.

I don't know about you, but I couldn't find anything about loving one another EXCEPT if they're Muslim, could you?

I used the King James Version for this blog post. It can be found online here: http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org

Feel free to check my work.