Oklahoma Lawmakers Return Donated Qurans

[Dalton]

What a lovely article.

OKLAHOMA CITY - A gift intended to promote diversity in Oklahoma is generating controversy instead.

Several state lawmakers are returning copies of the Quran to a state panel on diversity after one lawmaker claimed the Muslim holy book condones the killing of innocent people.

In a letter to colleagues, state Representative Rex Duncan says "most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology." At least 17 other legislators have notified the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council that they too will return the gift.
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The council's chairwoman, herself a Muslim, is denouncing Duncan's assessment of Islam. She says Islam not an ideology but a religion, and a "very peaceful, very inclusive" one.

In Washington, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations calls Duncan's statement "disturbing" and "offensive."

So what are they doing with all of those bibles?

[Sea Skimmer]

I don’t know, but I think mthbusters should test the relative abilities of each book to stop bullets and grenade fragments when carried in a jacket pocket. Then we’ll really know who god favors!

[DarthShady]

Idiots!
I wonder if they read the bible?Or th Quran for that matter?

[Ma Deuce]

I don’t know, but I think mthbusters should test the relative abilities of each book to stop bullets and grenade fragments when carried in a jacket pocket. Then we’ll really know who god favors!

Well a Bible (especially a Catholic or Orthodox bible) would be around 3 times thicker than a Koran of similar page and font size, so I don't think we need a detailed test to figure out which would be better at stopping dangerous flying objects.

[General Zod]

Idiots!
I wonder if they read the bible?Or th Quran for that matter?

. . . . the Quran is the book they're returning, numbnuts.

[Sidewinder]

The council's chairwoman, herself a Muslim, is denouncing Duncan's assessment of Islam. She says Islam not an ideology but a religion, and a "very peaceful, very inclusive" one.

Tell that to the families of the victims from the bombing of the USMC barracks in Beirut, the USS Cole bombing, 9-11, the Madrid train bombings, the London commuter bombings, the terror attacks Muslims carried out against Hindus in India, the suicide bombings carried out by Palestinians against Israeli civilians, the Shia killed by Sunni death squads (and vice versa) in Iraq...

[Kanastrous]

Idiots!
I wonder if they read the bible?Or th Quran for that matter?

. . . . the Quran is the book they're returning, numbnuts.

Perhaps Shady is referring to the numerous incitements to kill the innocent, contained in the Bible.

Just in the interest of balance.

[General Zod]

Perhaps Shady is referring to the numerous incitements to kill the innocent, contained in the Bible.

Just in the interest of balance.

Perhaps you're being a bit obtuse here so I'll spell it out. Shady is an idiot for suggesting they read the Quran without apparently bothering to notice that the Quran is the very book they're returning in the article. Or did you not read the OP either?

[ArmorPierce]

Seemed more to me that he was suggesting that they read the bible before condemning and returning the Koran to me. You know, clean up your own backyard before talking shit about your neighbors.

[General Zod]

Seemed more to me that he was suggesting that they read the bible before condemning and returning the Koran to me. You know, clean up your own backyard before talking shit about your neighbors.

Perhaps the idiot can explain it himself instead of having so many people jump to his defense? There honestly isn't that much room for interpretation in his post.

[Darth Wong]

None of this surprises me. It's Oklahoma, for fuck's sake. Expecting them to allow Qurans under a religious diversity program is like asking the Taliban to let Christian missionaries roam freely in their territory.

[Darth Servo]

None of this surprises me. It's Oklahoma, for fuck's sake. Expecting them to allow Qurans under a religious diversity program is like asking the Taliban to let Christian missionaries roam freely in their territory.

Indeed. In Oklahoma, the idea of "religious diversity" means "we won't talk trash about other Christian denominations that don't agree with us...for the moment. What, there are religions other than Christianity? You're kidding, right?"

[Pelranius]

Are the same lawmakers also planning to throw the Talmud in the trash since it doesn't mention Jesus?

[Metatwaddle]

Several state lawmakers are returning copies of the Quran to a state panel on diversity after one lawmaker claimed the Muslim holy book condones the killing of innocent people.

Yeah, we can't have books around that condone the killing of innocent people! We especially can't swear on them in court.

In a letter to colleagues, state Representative Rex Duncan says "most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology." At least 17 other legislators have notified the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council that they too will return the gift.

Well, Duncan's right, but he's also very probably a hypocrite (unless he's a Buddhist, a secularist, or some other form of non-Christian).

The council's chairwoman, herself a Muslim, is denouncing Duncan's assessment of Islam. She says Islam not an ideology but a religion, and a "very peaceful, very inclusive" one.

I don't understand the delineation between ideology and religion that the chairwoman is making - partly because I'm not sure if her definition of ideology has anything to do with the word's definition in standard American English. Either she's saying religion (in this case Islam) is devoid of ideology, or she's saying acts not justifiable in the name of "ideology" are justifiable in the name of religion. The first is false. The second is terrifying.

I have no great love for Islam, but it seems to me that if you're trying to promote understanding of Americans whose ethnic culture is not part of the white European mainstream, you have to know something about Islam. Returning these books seems to be directly opposed to the mission of any council committed to diversity.