Bin Laden's "Letter to America" (2002)
ceu.suI guess this was written in the early 2000s, while OBL was hiding in Afghanistan?
> It is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right to return the aggression. Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge.
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
One may note that the idea of violent resistance to oppression is deeply present in USA too : Right of Revolution and Second Amendment.
It seems you are trying to show the peacefulness of the Christian Bible vs the Quran, but cherry-picking creates a selection bias. If one wants to find verses justifying violence, the New Testament has them too (let alone the old one)
> Matthew 10:34: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."
> Revelation 19:15: "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron..."
> If one wants to find verses justifying violence, the New Testament has them too
You are saying verses that do justifying violence but the ones you provided are just having the word 'sword' in them. Are you really saying that they tell me as a Christian to do violence?
I'm basically saying cherry-picking creates a selection bias, which invalidated the point trying to be made. However that's a powerful technique to strengthen the idea of those already convinced.
Regarding the verse I'm not sure if they imply you should do the same at home, however it's a possible interpretation.
First message looks more reasonable to me and think that second option is not sustainable. But being a Muslim I am biased towards what I am taught.
TLD checks out
ctrl-f search for "Israel"
Yeah there's a strong theme in this letter.