Terror and god
Uploaded by CaseyP on Dec 01, 2016
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Terror and God
Unbeknown to many people, God of the Christian Bible and Allah of the Quran waged war and terror on humanity on different occasions. The Bible mentions about 158 times that God waged or threatened terror on humanity for a variety of reasons according to Wells (6). The Quran also mentions several occasions where Allah encouraged his followers to wage terror on others. In fact, a majority of Islamic extremists who wage terror around the world cite the Quran. Consequently, some scholars have termed God as the first terrorist. However, many Christians blame Muslims for terrorism activities around the world. Does this mean that terror is acceptable in the eyes of God? This attempts to answer this question by examining the use of terror by God as well as the Christian and Islam views on the vice.
In the Bible, God employed terror approaches to punishing his people. God says to His people “I kill ... I wound ... I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh” (Deuteronomy 32:39-42). Again, in the book of Genesis, God uses terror to strike fear among the enemies of Jacob. The verse says “As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob” (Genesis 35:5).
In the Quran, the same situation is repeated. It says in Muslim (1:33) about the Messenger of Allah "I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Again, Prophet Mohammed allowed jihad warriors to attack pagans at night and expose their women and children to danger (Bukhari 52:256). Evidently, God, as understood by Muslims and Christians, supports the use of terror in certain situations.
The two Holy books also contradict themselves by condemning terror and killing of the innocent. The Bible through the Ten Commandments commands humanity to love one another. The Bible also explains the origins of hate that can lead to violence by saying that "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" (James 4:1). Similarly, the Quran does the same and says, “and do not kill a soul that God has made sacrosanct, save lawfully” (Qur’an 6:151).
Therefore, from the above assessment, it is evident that God permits the use...