Foxy,
<<The Koran is like a pick-and-mix
selection. If you want peace, you can find
peaceable verses. If you want war, you can find
bellicose verses>>
The peaceful verses were written during Mohammed's Meccan period, before he attained military power.
The bellicose verses were written during Mohammed's Medinan period, after he attained military power.
The bellicose verses abrogate the peaceful verses.
This means, doctrinally, that the peaceful (earlier) verses are meaningless because the bellicose (later) ones contradict them.
Mohammed no longer needed to maintain cordial relations with other tribes because he had attained the power he needed to make them submit.
But there really is no point trying to explain such things to a person who has clearly surrendered their reason to their ideology.
You, Foxy, are a dhimmi.

Dear Proxy,

And what are you?
The dark side of Absolutism,
no less!

Morality is doing what is right
no matter what you are told.
Religion is doing what you are told
no matter what is right.

Why single out Islam. Christianity has
much that can also be criticized if you
choose to selectively pick from the Bible.
Try googling "evil bible" and see what comes
up.

You say that my mind is welded shut?
Dear me Proxy, yours is way beyond welding.
A closed mind is like a closed book - just
a piece of wood. You're not really in a
position to have something worth saying. Your
criticism is indeed born of ignorance, mistrust
and hatred and it's harmful - and the more you
post the more foolish you sound.

But I've had enough!

The mind of a bigot is like a pupil of the eye.
The more light you pour upon it,
the more it will contract!

As far as I'm concerned, you've lost all credibility
with your vitriolic postings. From now on I'll simply
scroll past when I see your name. I urge others to
do the same.

I usually can tolerate most posters. But, in your
case I'm making an exception. There's enough hatred
in the world. I won't be a party to adding to it!

Enjoy your gruntlement!
I've had enough of it!

Foxy,
If I am on the dark side of absolutism,
You are on the loopy side of relativism,
With a mind as fragile as a crystal fox.

You ask the most absurd questions, Proxy.

>>What's a reasonable cost to Western society of importing Islamic practises such as honour related violence, female genital mutilation and forced marriage? £25.3 million is too high for you to tolerate but, say, £1 million is okay?<<

"Not one cent" is the answer.

And "because they don't" is the reason.

Now, would you like to ask another question, only this time one that makes some sense.

Foxy,
The Kor'an was compiled by one man in one generation representing his religious world views. The Bible however is an evolution of thought over 3,000 years of culture and beliefs written by and contributed to by hundreds of scholars and thinkers in their day. For Christians the primary thought is expressed by Jesus (and he never wrote a book) and expounded in the writings and lives of those who knew him.

There is no thought of imposing a religious belief or restricting criticism upon the unbeliever, as loving response comes from a free will. Unlees a society is absolutely free the personal lives cannot fulfil their destiny. Even an evil Pharoah, Caesar or Hitler have their day as abhorent as it might have been to remind us what true freedom is about.

Dear Philo,

The conceptual differences between democratic
traditions and totalitarian systems are very great.
The distinction is one between freedom, liberty, and
the right to the pursuit of happiness as opposed to
the interest, control, and domination of the state
over the individual.

The measure of our society over history is our fidelity
to our principles.

People who enjoy the rights of free speech have a duty
therefore to respect other people's rights. A person's
freedom of speech is limited by the rights of others.
Hate speech - defaming people, is against the law in
most civilized countries. All societies, including
democratice ones, put various limitations on what people
may say. They prohibit certain types of speech that they
believe may harm people. It is for that reason that I
am withdrawing from this thread.