Question:
Does the Quran really contain dozens of verses promoting violence?
Summary Answer:
The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called ‘hypocrites’ and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.
Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subject to interpretation as anything else in the Quran.
The context of violent passages is more ambiguous than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving God; however this works both ways. Most of today’s Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book’s call to arms according to their own moral preconceptions about justifiable violence. Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny. Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology.
Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. Muhammad’s own martial legacy – and that of his companions – along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Quran have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.
A government police officer who pleaded guilty to attempting to make meth at a federal facility in Maryland was also having sex on the job, according to an ongoing investigation by a House committee.
Christopher Bartley, who worked as a police officer for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), tried to make methamphetamine at a facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in July causing an explosion.
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is investigating the incident, seeking badge records in the months leading up to the explosion. During the investigation, the Committee uncovered evidence of a “pattern of misconduct and mismanagement at NIST Police Services.”
The committee learned that prior to the meth explosion, managers were aware that Bartley was having sex while on duty and promoted him anyway.
“[I]nformation recently obtained by the Committee appears to show a culture of waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct at NIST Police Services that was not previously disclosed to the Committee during its investigation,” wrote Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R., Texas) in a letter to the NIST on Wednesday. “For example, Officer Bartley allegedly had sexual relations with other NIST employees on agency property, in vehicles owned by the government, while on official duty.”
This a list of people associated with Bill Clinton…all of whom have died, some of them under mysterious circumstances.
The Truth:
This has also become known as “Clinton’s Body Count.” We’ll go through the entire list and evaluate each one, but it is true that some of them had some connection with Bill Clinton, or with someone who was in Clinton’s sphere, and that many of them died violently or by suicide. That raises the question of whether their deaths were related and whether any of the deaths can be linked in any way to Bill Clinton.
There is no credible evidence that any of the deaths is related or can be attributed to Bill Clinton. Some of the descriptions of the deaths are not accurate.
According to a May 5, 2000 article in the Arkansas Times, the “Body Count” list originated on an Internet site in 1994 run by an Indianapolis lawyer named Linda Thompson of the American Justice Federation. It has been circulating ever since. The list came up in sworn testimony that White House employee Linda Tripp gave to Judicial Watch chairman Larry Klayman in December, 1998. Trip testified that a hand-written list of people who were involved with Clinton and who had suffered mysterious deaths ended up on her office chair in the White House. This was just before the sex scandal between White House Intern Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton became known publicly. Tripp said that the list was accompanied by a note that said, “Linda, just thought you’d find this of interest.”
One important comment. There are many well-known historical events that are surrounded by unanswered questions. A lack of answers to the questions doesn’t mean that the questions are meaningless or that new facts couldn’t be found. It is easier to come up with questions, however, than to come up with answers, and if we are to come to any conclusions, it should be based on evidence, not just the fact that questions exist.
Unless otherwise specified, the information has been confirmed from multiple published sources such as USA Today, CNN, The Associated Press, or other general media.
Let’s go through the names one-by-one. Please note that the Truth! or Fiction! designations refer only to whether the stories are factual and have nothing to do with any criminal connection to Bill Clinton.
eRumor James McDougal – Clinton’s convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr’s investigation.
The Truth:
James McDougal died on Sunday, March 8, 1998 in John Petersmith Hospital in Ft. Worth, Texas. He had been serving a federal prison sentence for fraud in connection with the Whitewater land deal. At first, he claimed to be innocent, but after being convicted of 18 felony counts, he cooperated with Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s investigation of the Clintons. He was scheduled to give damaging testimony against the Clintons, although critics of the investigation say his testimony had previously been inconsistent and that nothing new was expected to be revealed. A prison spokesman said McDougal died of a heart attack and had been suffering from heart disease and blocked arteries.
eRumor Mary Mahoney – A former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown. The murder happened just after she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House.
The Truth:
Mary Caitrin Mahoney was murdered over the July 4th weekend in 1997 at the Georgetown Starbucks near Washington D.C.. She was the assistant manager and, according to published reports, she and two other employees were working late at night after the coffee bar had closed. All three were found shot to death. No money was taken and there was no sign of forced entry. In 1999, Carl Derick Cooper was charged with the murders, six armed robberies, and other shootings. Mahoney had interned for the White House official responsible for contact with the Asian-American community. TruthOrFiction.com has not found any documentation that she was about to “go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House” or that her death was anything beyond that of a murder associated with the robbery. A report in The Washington Weekly explains that journalist Mike Isikoff had written that “a former White House staffer” with the initial “M” in her name was going to go public with a sexual harassment story and people speculated he meant Mary Mahoney and that was why she was killed. Later, it turned out that he was referring to Monica Lewinsky.
eRumor Vince Foster – Former white House councilor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock’s Rose Law firm. Died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide.
The Truth:
Vince Foster was Deputy White House Counsel and the Clinton’s lawyer. He was found dead in Fort Marcy Park on July 20, 1993. Three investigations into Foster’s death, including one by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, have concluded that the death was a suicide. Critics of the investigations say Foster’s death does not fit the facts of a suicide and that there are a lot of unanswered questions about his death, some of the activities at the White House after his body was found, and the investigations themselves. Although there are numerous theories about what may have happened to Foster and why, none of them has been proven.
Obama is now speaking on this tragedy and is using this as a platform to promote gun control:
I don’t know how long this live video will be up. As of now, it appears that this was an act of Islamic terrorism. So once again:
This pResident’s solution to Islamic terrorism is to disarm law abiding citizens and import more Muslims into the country who have been vetted by the United Nations or not at all.
The purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to protect us against tyranny. This is one thing that this pResident fully understands.
Pray for the students and faculty murdered today on a gun free campus.
Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.
“The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies,” said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.
“It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside,” the source added.
Yesterday, in the aftermath of the stunning report that 17 “massive” bomb explosions rocked Chinese city of Liuzhou, killing at least 7 and wounding at least 51, we asked if as a result of China’s economic hard-landing and the surge in layoffs, the widespread popular unrest – which we suggested over the weekend is due for a comeback – has finally landed in China with tragic consequences, especially since the incident is clearly being treated as a criminal act.
We further noted that “if there is one thing China’s politburo simply can not afford right now, is to layer public unrest and civil violence on top of an economy which is already in “hard-landing” move. Forget black – this would be the bloody swan that nobody could “possibly have seen coming.”
Yesterday we got the first confirmation of this civil violence “bloody swan.”
Less than 24 hours later, we got a second one, when earlier today another blast struck a sleepy area in the southern Chinese city of Liucheng, destroying a residential building.
According to the WSJ, it was unclear whether there were any casualties from Thursday’s explosion, but judging by the photos of the devastation which shows dramatic damage to a six-story building in Liucheng, it would be a miracle if nobody was injured.
To all to whom these Presents shall come, we, the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy seven, and in the Second Year of the Independence of America agree to certain articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia in the Words following, viz. “Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Article I. The Stile of this confederacy shall be, “The United States of America.”
Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.
Article III. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever.
A recent poll conducted by YouGov revealed that a sizable portion of the American public is open to the idea of a military coup in the United States. The poll was conducted amid the continual polling that takes place during the U.S. Presidential election yet it did not focus on the elections per se, but the potential lack of elections in the future.
The YouGov poll surveyed 1,000 people online and determined that 29% of Americans, over a quarter of the population, could imagine supporting a military coup against the civilian government. Only 41% could not imagine supporting a coup.
The numbers supporting a potential coup were highest among Republicans with 43% of them saying they could envision supporting a coup, 29% of independents followed, with Democrats trailing at 20%.
The numbers apparently increased in support when the question asked “whether they would hypothetically support the military stepping in to take control from a civilian government which is beginning to violate the constitution.”
Did you think our founding fathers could have envisioned a day when their great experiment failed so miserably that the people would support a military overthrow of the government? Their faith in the “people” may have been valid in the late 1700’s but not today. When you expect someone else to fix your problems, you will either be disappointed or you will find that the price to pay is too high.
In either case, the price of slavery is too high as the replacement of one form of tyranny with another form is the same end result.
