[continued from previous message]   
      
   areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet, or   
   dirty/wet areas."   
      
   Even in Western societies, Nalliah noted, copies of Bibles could often be   
   found in witness boxes of courts, ready for use when witnesses are sworn in.   
   But the Koran will generally be kept in safe storage elsewhere, covered in   
   cloth, to be brought in when required by a Muslim witness.   
      
   He said such reverence for the Koran stood in stark contrast to some   
   Muslims' feelings about the Bible, however.   
      
   Nalliah said the Koran was "confusing" on this score. In places (e.g.: sura   
   29:46-47) it appeared to urge Muslims to respect the Bible and those who   
   believe in it; elsewhere it exhorts them to fight those who don't accept   
   Islam until they pay tribute and accept inferior status (sura 9:29-31).   
      
   According to author and Islam scholar Robert Spencer, "a devout Muslim might   
   very well mistreat a Bible, because traditional Islamic theology regards it   
   as a corrupted and unreliable version of the genuine revelations that were   
   given to Moses, Jesus, and other Prophets."   
      
   Spencer noted that in sura 9:30 the Koran says those who believe Jesus is   
   the Son of God are under Allah's curse.   
      
   "Throughout history, most Muslim theologians have held that the New   
   Testament has been tampered with since it teaches that Jesus is the Son of   
   God."   
      
   Some of the more notorious reported incidents of Muslims abusing Christian   
   symbols implicate Palestinian radicals, including the trashing of the Church   
   of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002; and the desecration of Maronite   
   churches in Damour, Lebanon in 1976.   
      
   In the Damour episode, Yasser Arafat's PLO killed more than 500 of the   
   Christian town's inhabitants before turning it into a stronghold, and used   
   the interior of the St. Elias church for a shooting range, according to   
   published accounts.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)