Quote Originally Posted by skiguy View Post
Brian,
Most of the things you said can be equally applied when debating with, for example, an atheist about the Bible. (written by men, not the word of God, condones slavery, theocracy, etc.) I know I often take offense when people say stuff like this about my beliefs, so......
No. There is too much difference between the parts - New Testament and Old. It's there with complete consistency in Koran, Sharia and Hadith. An entire chapter devoted to how to divide the booty of war.

The reason to bring these things up is that it requires the religion to answer and puts it rightly on the defensive. There are a few modern fatwas saying in effect, "That was then. We don't do that anymore." But even those don't take it far enough. So we see how after a hiatus of a few generations after the collapse of the Ottomans, we have a resurgence of the "pure form".

Quote Originally Posted by skiguy View Post
And, IMO, you can't equate Communism with Islam. One is a form of government, the other is the religion of many people.
No. Islam is a form of government, absolutely. It's been that from the beginning, it's specified in Koran, in Sharia, and very clear in Hadith.