Naomi - //andy-hughes, you need to understand the difference between the bible and the Koran. The bible, having been written by an assortment of men, allegedly inspired by God, is open to interpretation. The Koran, on the other hand is claimed to be the direct word of God and therefore is not open to interpretation. In fact it is deemed to be wholly beyond criticism. //
Says who?
If I, as an individual, choose to 'interpret' the words of either tome, or take either literally. who is going to say that I can't? Free will means anyone can take a text literally, twist it from here to wazoo, or ignore it completely.
Your apparent assertion that the Bible can be changed about and the Koran cannot may be an idealistic attitude, but it has no place in the real world, where people use either or neither to justify the things they do and say.
//As for the Westboro Baptist Church, it is a cult of around 50 members I think – and every one of them potty. Not a viable example to cite in any discussion on religion. You may as well bring David Koresh into the debate.//
Your opinion once again - that they are 'potty' which is an offensive way to dismiss a section of people when they simply choose to believe differently to you.
As for the size of their church - I was not aware that the validity of a belief system was directly proportional to the numbers of people who follow it - that knocks Christianity out of the park for a start! And Jesus began with a mere twelve - which must make his church even less valid or important, if we are playing by numbers.
You speak with the tone of someone who knows what she is talking about - but the content of your posts are constantly open to dismantling, which I am delighted to continue to do.