Recent content by Ursinho

El_Machinae, I have found this online Qur'an very useful. It includes the original Arabic with an English translation as well as a commentary by the translator, Maulana Muhammad Ali. I read the chapter on Noah in it this morning. In 71:26, the transation is given as "And Noah said: My Lord...

Oh, common sense and skepticism are fine by me. I'm all for them. My intent was simply to reiterate that languages do change over time and a certain leeway must, I think, be given. Also, the meaning of individual words differ slightly based on peoples' individual understanding of them. I feel...

On the language issues, I would be inclined to give much leeway to the Qur'an. I may be wrong about this, so I hope someone who actually knows Arabic (preferably also has knowledge of Classical Arabic) will correct me where I err. God must have given his message to Muhammed in a language and...

That makes sense. Would the child have the option of formally renouncing one and no longer being considered blasphemous? I can't imagine renouncing a religion endears one to its followers. I think that, in an ideal world, each person should have the freedom to choose his religion rather than...

So...what would the offspring of a Muslim father and a Jewish mother be? Besides, most likely, a pariah in both societies?

Fachy, yes, nice reply. ;) What I meant was that I think the behavior may be, in some cases, learned by monkeys rather than inherent. It seems that alpha monkeys use it to assert their dominance over the young in their society. I'm not suggesting this is the case with humans, not at all. And I...

Messy subject, this "homosexuality." (And religion, certainly.) As far as I know, as observed in monkeys (and it has been), it's been a social construct, based on power and dominance, rather than a sexual one. <devil's advocate>Of course monkeys are not subject to God's laws, unless I'm missing...