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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Re: The Koran on Concubinage

Rather an endless discussion on this.  I think we can all agree that the Koranic verses were relevant to a time when women were considered booty of war.  I think it's pretty much true that no one has paid much attention to these lines for quite some years; the practice seemed so archaic, like slavery.

But there have been disturbing trends in recent years (and by no means all, or even nearly all, Muslim) of women being taken as sex slaves in the battles among various groups.  We heard of this first in Africa, along with the practice of child soldiers.  But it wasn't justified as part of a religion.

Then a barbaric group suddenly emerges in the Middle East that begins engaging in practices we really haven't seen in recent years outside of Africa.  But unlike the cases in Africa, ISIS uses Islam to justify what they are doing with women captives.  This sends people scurrying for Islamic references to concubines and allowed practices for women captives, which in any ideal world would have just been curiosities about what was done to order society in seventh century Arabia.

Those who want to find Islam a brutal religion will read these lines as ISIS would:  as Islam sanctioning sex slavery with captured women.  Funny how those who hate Islam in the abstract can find such common ground with a group like ISIS, but as they say, politics makes strange bedfellows.

Modern Muslims who are horrified by ISIS's actions find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to defend what is written in the Koran.  Most of the defense is that it relates to a different social context, far away in time.  But for various reasons already discussed, they can't quite say these Koranic lines were meant only for the early days of Islam and are not applicable outside of that.

So the debate is really at a standstill;  I really have nothing to add except to say, with regard to ISIS and their strange bedfellows in citing the Koran to justify their brutality, what Shakespeare had to say: "The Devil can cite scripture for his purpose."

[/quote]

I like this summary: it's fair and it also shows some compassion to all sides.

I for one don't want to keep spinning wheels on this issue. You've identified why the wheels keep spinning. I don't think we can go much beyond this.[/quote]

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