It was a almost a coin toss

Deciding whether this post should be included in my book reviews or in my Op-Ed section was the toss, I mean.  I decided on the former, even though this is really a hybrid of the two.  As I note in the first paragraph of the actual post, I don't "review" other peoples' religious texts.  But making it an Op-Ed makes it sound like I'm passing judgement.  In truth, I simply wanted to share what I learned myself.  As my reviews are opinion pieces in and of themselves - as anyone who has read one knows - I suppose that establishes the link of semi-credibility for calling this a hybrid.

Again, if you take any offense to my words on this book, then please know I did so without malice aforethought.  I try to respect all religions.  Until God comes down and say to all of us directly and without nuance "THIS IS THE WAY," then how a person views Deity is a very personal thing, and you can disagree but mocking other peoples faith is silly and provincial.  Sure, it's also funny from time to time, if you can have a sense of humor about your faith.  But that's not the track I'm taking here.

Sadly, I feel that I've got to say such disclaimer-type things when people who speak out against the Islamic faith in any way get shot (such as the terrorist attack in France) and even people in predominantly Islamic countries get flogged for voicing their feelings (the Saudi blogger who people kept volunteering to take lashes for).  And that is sad.  If people of my own particular faith did that whenever someone got mouthy, we'd be going against what our religion teaches.  But then so do people who use rampant violence to enforce Islam, I think, if I understood the text correctly.  You be the judge.

The Quran - Some Thoughts

The Suadi blogger mentioned above, Raif Badawi.  Here is a link to a CNN story about Mr. Badawi, if you missed some of the details.  Source: BBC.com