Moslems

There is a lot of misunderstanding these days about Islam. Donald Trump has said he wants to exclude all Moslems from entering the United States. That seems to be too extreme for me. Broad-brush approaches like that often do more harm than good.

Recently, I've been reading the Qur'an and I find it very interesting. As with many religious texts, it often seems to be very open to interpretation. Then, of course, some interpreters will go one way and others in a different direction. Here's what I have found.

The Qur'an specifically does not condemn Jews and Christians. Read, "Those who believe, and those who follow the Jewish [scriptures], and the Christians and the Sabians, - any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." [2:62] and [5:69]

While the Qur'an does say that infidels must be either converted, subjugated, or killed, I have found three places such as the one quoted above where the Qur'an clearly states that Christians and Jews are NOT infidels.

So why all the fuss? Why can't believers in fundamental Islam stop quoting their own scriptures out of context? There need not be a schism between these three great religions! As C.S. Lewis said in his preface to "Mere Christianity" even theologians of the same denomination can violently disagree over fine points of religion. How much better it would be to find at least one point of common belief and build upon that.

EQUAL Taxation, Please!

As can be seen from the above chart, corporate taxes have contributed less and less to government revenues ever since 1945. At the same time, revenues derived from personal taxes have remain very high. It only seems fair, that if corporations are now permitted to contribute unlimited money for campaigns, they should be required to participate EQUALLY in their share of funding the government. The current Republican proposal for tax revision should be strongly opposed. "We The People" should be treated fairly and not be minions who are controlled by a gigantic government and corporate monies.