Thread by @aliamjadrizvi

Love @NickKristof, but this just goes to show that NOTHING terrifies believers more than someone reading their holy books literally, ie *the way they're actually written.*

Apparently God can't explain himself as articulately as his human interpreters.

/1 nytimes.com/2019/11/11/boo…

@NickKristof This quote is especially astounding. What really gives Scripture a bad name is the fact that it makes SCIENTIFIC claims—claims about nature, the origin of the universe, the emergence of life, etc—that we know for a fact to be false. And then, it claims to be Absolute Truth.

/2

@NickKristof It is a strange double standard to be charitable to books that blatantly endorse misogyny, slavery, homophobia, and scientific untruths by dismissing them as "metaphorical." Would you give my book that luxury? No, you would hold me accountable for every word I write.

/3

@NickKristof In other words, you would be holding me to a higher standard than God himself. When you're whitewashing verses that allow you to beat your wife (Quran 4:34) or kill gay men (Leviticus 20:13), you're not just "interpreting." You're twisting and mutilating clear language to

/4

@NickKristof make it sound somehow morally palatable to yourself. That means you're not getting your morality from your religion—you ALREADY HAVE IT. Why cling to the middleman then?

Karen Armstrong has a point if she's looking at Scripture as historically fascinating, man-made works.

/5

@NickKristof Indeed, I really enjoy reading the Quran and the Bible now that I don't believe them to be supernaturally inspired writings. They help us learn about our world and its history.

But believers don't read these holy books the same way.

/6

@NickKristof ISIS isn't quoting Karen Armstrong or some reformist Al-Azhar academic. They are quoting the Quran and hadith directly.

For them, Allah's direct word is more clear and credible than the "interpretations" of human beings who say, "Put down your Quran and listen to me."

/end