Quote:
Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist
Fundamentalist Christians don't kill people because of wearing clothes made of two different fabrics only because they invented a way to invalidate old laws. It's not the book, it's the culture within the religion
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They used to - which, again, is why there are no Amalekites, why witches were burned, etc. The reason those specific things were done is because of what's in the book. Similarly, the reason that Christians have an objection to embryonic stem cell research and Muslims don't is because the Qu'ran stipulates that life begins some number of days after conception. Different beliefs have different behavioural consequences.
Certainly, cultural and historical development in the way those scriptures are taught and understood can moderate or adapt the practice of the religion. But the scripture is still part of it. No amount of cultural or historical moderation could alter Christian teaching to the extent that Christians come to practice under the belief that Jesus was NOT the son of God, for example.
Which goes to the next point - the process of moderation in practice ALSO depends on the specific teachings in the book. For example, "render under Ceasar what is Ceasar's" has done a ton of work in the way Christianity operates for most Christians. That's a scriptural tool that people interpreting and practicing the book can use to justify, for example, a respect for the separation of Church and State. That particular tool doesn't exist in Islam, and in fact the opposite is true, because it calls for governance according to a set of religiously imposed rules. Similarly, the New Testament provides scriptural tools for overriding some of the practices mandated in the Old Testament, which modern Christians are only too happy to avail themselves of. In Islam, the process of abrogation actually has the opposite effect by invalidating some of the more pleasant passages in favour of later, more morally questionable ones.
So it's not JUST the book, quite obviously, but it is in absolutely no small part the book. Specific doctrines have specific consequences.