Three Perceptions of God

   I have been meditating a lot lately on the interpretations of God through the ages, and their impact on today's world. I have been reading the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, and the Koran. The God of Abraham revealed Himself to Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad, or so the stories go. The God of Moses handed down the Ten Commandments, which have been the hallmark of Man's relationship to both Man and God: He told us to respect and honor the one true universal being; do not murder, steal, lie, envy things held by others, or commit adultery; and respect our parents.  The God of Jesus told us who would be blessed (the Beatitudes) and to do unto others as we would have them do unto us (the Golden Rule). But the God of Mohammad tells us that those who say that God had a son are liars (Sura 18) and infidels who should be killed (Sura 47), and states that the purpose of the Koran is to "announce and warn" (Sura 18). There is much about the Koran that seems violent and intolerant, and I wonder why it is such a popular religion. I also wonder why our politicians call it a religion of peace. I wonder how many of them have read the Koran of which they so persuasively speak? It may be a religion of peace if you are Muslim, but it seems decidedly dangerous to be an unbeliever - an "infidel". 

  The Old Testament of the Bible is essentially a history of how God's relationship to Man began and developed.  As such, it certainly contains its own aspects of violence, but not in such a way that it seems that God is advocating for violence. In the New Testament, Jesus preaches only tolerance and patience, adherence to the laws of the Fathers in the Old Testament, and love for all. He never advocates violence as a solution to anything. On the contrary, He admonishes us to "turn the other cheek" (Luke 6:29).  The God of Moses and Jesus follow as one, but the God of Mohammad has completely different characteristics. The book ascribed to that God does not advocate tolerance, but unconditional, unquestioning, universal acceptance of its tenets, without exception. This is not religion, it is slavery.