Obama's Wishful Thinking

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For a lesson in the hazards of not understanding the Koran, let's look at President Obama's June 4, 2009, Cairo address to the Muslim world. Filled with reverential references to the supposedly compassionate teachings of the 'holy Koran,' the speech serves as an abject lesson in the wishful thinking, self-delusion, and political correctness that pervades Western assumptions about Islamic scripture.

In praising the Koran's ostensibly peaceful teachings, Obama cited verse 5:32: 'The Holy Koran,' said the President, 'teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind.' This sounds peaceful enough, but Obama studiously ignored the next verse (5:33), which mandates punishments for those whom Muslims do not regard as 'innocent'--punishments including crucifixion or amputation of a hand and a foot for those who fight against Allah and Muhammad. (p. 11)

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