Notes on the Qu'ran

10: 67-70

They say: "God has begotten a son." God forbid! Self-sufficient is He. His is all that the heavens and the earth contain. Surely for this you have no sanction. Would you say of Godwhat you know not?

Say: "Those that invent falsehoods about God shall not prosper. They may take their ease in this life, but to all Us they shall then return, and for their unbelief we will make them taste the grievous torment."

I remember reading this and thinking, "so much for a peaceful religion." However, I also recall in our own Bible, God saying to 'wipe them from the earth.' The point is, extremists of every religion will find, or create, what they need to give momentum to their faction. Those are the ones, I think, that need to be wiped from the earth. Yes, there are passages that promise an endless war between the different religions, but I think those are the ones we should remember as historical reference, but supplant as we evolve. My father, an honorable man, said that if I were killed in Iraq, he would want vengeance. I am certain that is the same for all my family. But I would like to point out that, if I die in Iraq, it was my choice. I enlisted, without coercion, but of free will. Therefore, if I were to die in Iraq, I would have you celebrate my sacrifice at the alter of freedom and humanity, and continue my works to aid the Iraqi people. That is how you would honor me.