I think you’re being defensive and irrational. If you’ll reread my response to your post, you’ll see I posed the same question to those members of all religions who claim not to believe critical elements of their doctrines; Lutherans who don’t believe Jesus was the son of God, Catholics who don’t believe the Pope is infallible and Muslims who don’t believe in violent Jihad, I didn’t but could add Buddhists who don’t believe in nonviolence and atheists who pray when they’re in trouble; if you don’t accept the precepts of your religion, why not change religions or, just go your own way?

As regards your criticisms of Christianity; no, the Bible didn’t order Jews or Christians to kill or otherwise persecute homosexuals. It was 800 years after Christ’s death the Roman Catholic Church reinterpreted Biblical passages to mean God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because their populations practiced homosexuality. The original Greek said God was displeased by the people because they were haughty and broke many rules having to do with hospitality and treatment of strangers and, God destroyed the cities, he didn’t order the Jews to destroy them.

Most of the Old Testament is a history, not a command. It tells Jews and Christians what happened, but not necessarily what they should do and, when Christ arrived and fulfilled what most saw as Old Testament prophesy, he demanded his followers neither judge nor persecute their fellow men. I’m not a Biblical expert. I don’t own a Bible and have to refer to others for in depth information but, I separate the Bible from what people who claim to believe in the Bible do. Most are not following the religions they claim.

But, all of that is diversion. Step outside yourself for a moment and see; you have defended your religion by saying “Christians did it too! Jimmy did it too!” a very juvenile way of avoiding the question, which remains: Why be a Muslim?

I would ask any Christian who told me he didn’t believe in and wouldn’t follow the ten commandments — then why be a Christian? You refuse to accept an absolutely essential part of your belief system so, why believe?

And I will ask you again, you refuse to accept Jihad, the violent conversion or enslavement or murder of those who do not accept Allah as the only god and Muhammad as his prophet yet, Jihad in precisely those terms is demanded by the Quran, your holy, immutable, indisputable word of Allah. If you don’t accept the Quran, why be a Muslim? Is it fear of reprisal for being an apostate or, fear of a world in which you make your own rules, rather than following bits and pieces of a 1400 year old book? Why be a Muslim if you don’t believe in Islam?

Think hard about this, look inside yourself and at your world, if you choose to answer, please be intellectually honest, or our discussion will end. I own a Quran and an abridged Hadith so, you may be able to teach me things about Islam I don’t know. But — you’ll have to be honest or I’ll consider the discussion a waste of time.