In the Old Testament, it is easy to find quotes portraying God as an authoritative and unforgiving figure :
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me”
(Exodus 20:3 and 20:5)
“Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst.”
“But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim”
(Exodus 34:12-13)
Isn’t this a surprising call to violence? Coming from the Bible?
Sometimes, it is necessary not to judge a book by its cover!
I suppose that is what motivated two Dutch YouTubers to try an experiment. They went on the street reading verses of the Bible while making it sound like it was coming from the Quran.
I certainly do not condone any kind of violence in the name of religion, but before thinking that somebody else’s religion is prejudiced, everybody needs to have a better look at himself! Obviously it is not what is contained in the Scriptures that is the main problem, but how some people choose to interpret it and act on it.
The following comes from the French magazine, L’Express, that itself culled it from the Huffington Post. But the Express article is more developed. You can read a translation and have a look at the viral video, which is quite interesting, here.
Glory Matthews'blog 