Hear, hear!

If you have read my post you would have understood that for me there is no excuse for women’s beating and that whatever those people are saying society have to protect its members and the guy who is beating his wife must pay for that.

the difference between you and me is that I live in a world where religion exists and I think that eventhought for me it has to be and remain a personel affair, it is not the case for others. If I keep quiet the guys out there who are talking and talking about the way they see their religion will end up imposing that point of view, because me and others like me once said: it is nonsense I dont wanna talk about it.

I have friends that are animists, I do believe that they detain a certain truth, and I respect their beliefs… as I said everyone can see a facet of the truth but when he strats saying mine IS the truth he starts getting the farthest from it.

I salute you Kenza, Marcel

When I mentioned the two groups of people, I didn’t mean to suggest that one CAN’T evolve into the other. I was lucky to be raised by parents who explained the reasons for things, instead of saying “Do it or else…!!” Part of being an adult is understanding that choices have consequences. For example, invading a foreign country will create chaos and resistance. Watching television all day will make you passive and ill-informed. Maybe you can “get away with it” for a while, but sooner or later, the consequences catch up. Of course, some people never learn from their mistakes. Look at GWB! But I’m optimistic that most people can. Not only that, I believe it is necessary for human survival. If we didn’t have that skill, we wouldn’t be here now. Include me in the optimist club!

A friend of mine in Essaoura calls the Qur’an, coming as it did over 23 years, a “pedagogic” project whose whole idea was to teach people a better way of thinking. Of course , it wasn’t meant to stop there. One man, even a prophet, can only plant the seeds or lay down the “infrastructure.” I believe that Islam doesn’t just “allow” inquiry and the quest for knowledge, in fact this is the heart of the entire project. I hope to say more about this, inch’allah!

About how I decided you’re not married… of course it’s just a guess… although you talk in your blog about your home life, your sister’s plan to come to Canada to study, but you don’t say anything about a life partner. Usually if one has found that person it shows through!! :)

You are saying that when reading the Quran you felt that it is really at least two different books, operating on two different levels.

I went across a text on the internet (je n’arrive plus à le retrouver et ça m’ennerve) this person was also studying the quran and he came up with an idea that I found very interesting
He said that we, as human beings, are accustomed to read any book, any text, a certain way, we have a logic that we follow which is the introduction, main idea and conclusion. We function with anything we read that way
He said that the way the quran is written is different, but we tend to read it and understand it the classical way. The idea in itself is very interesting and can make us reflect on way too many things about how we read, understand and apply things.
I am not trying to confirm anything here, what I say is that this idea is interesting in itself and can open doors that could be too easily shut

As for some of the ideas you mentioned:
- God doesn’t want blind obedience. I completely agree, I believe that god could have written something way too simple for us to understand and to apply very easily without thinking, he is capable of doing so… but that would defy the main object.
He wants us to think, to learn, to evolve.
He could have just given us instinct to act the right way, no thinking like animals that adore Him as mentioned in the quran
God gave us a brain to think, He distinguished human beings and preferred them form other creatures by that brain and their capacity of thinking, why do people forget that I can’t understand… for me it is as if someone gave me a great gift and I just throw it aside and continue to smile to him trying to please him…

- people who only do what is right out of fear of being punished, and others who act according to an internal moral compass
I confess that I never saw things that way, and that it is a very interesting perspective indeed.
I always saw it as an evolution, from acting out of fear to internalizing certain moral concept that will end up as being a second nature (guess I am too optimistic about human nature :)))

- I also agree with you when you are saying that it is not the way we worship that matters, by the truth we have inside us.

There is but one truth, the way we handle it is but different, there are multiple facets to that truth and we only understand one or some of these. My truth is different from another’s but not better, it is when I start to think that it is that I get the farthest from it.

By the way how did you conclude that I was not married ??? :)))) (just curious)