(RNS) This year during Ramadan — the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar when Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad — I was in solidarity with my Muslim sisters and brothers throughout the world by reading the Quran. But here's the thing: I am a Roman Catholic.
My copy of the Quran, with more than 1,700 pages, has sat on the top shelf of my bedroom bookcase among other sacred texts for 14 years. Typically I would use it as a sporadic reference and resource to better understanding Islam, reading a few short passages at a time.
However, this Ramadan something at the core of my being was calling me to read the Quran in its entirety. And so my monthlong Ramadan journey began.
Each day and evening, the prayerful poetry in the Quran held me in a meditative mode of peace as I read without being aware of the passage of time.
When I finished reading a week before the end of the month, I felt as if the Quran was almost endless, reaching beyond the confines of my calendar days. I didn’t want to read the last page. I didn’t want to be finished.
The Quran inspired me, taught me and helped me to remember my essential holiness and how that holiness in the image of God should be reflected in the world.
As Ramadan comes to a close this weekend (Aug. 18-19) with Eid al-Fitr, I find myself focusing on the blessings I have been given through the grace of God while reading the Quran.
The Quran encouraged me to continuously be aware of a gracious and merciful God who cherishes humanity and cherishes all of creation. I came to believe more firmly during my humble Ramadan experience that being cherished by God is an example of divine love beyond the limitations of any one language, symbol and imagination.
Certainly this has implications for how we treat each other and care for the world.
Many chapters, or surahs, in the Quran had me reflecting on the diversity and opposite realities in nature (night/day, male/female, darkness/light, beginning/ending, life/death) and reaffirming that God is found in both. This insight into sacred polarity is a perfect teaching paradigm for respectful interreligious dialogue, which is never about win/lose, right/wrong profiling and divisiveness.
Among my greatest lessons from the Quran was to be reminded to have faith, seek the truth, praise God, pray, forgive, be kind, be peaceful and take care of people who are most vulnerable — those who are oppressed and often forgotten.
Perhaps the commentary found in the conclusion of my Quran says it best:
“What can we do to make Allah’s light shine forth through the darkness around us? We must first let it shine in our own selves. With the light in the niche of our inmost hearts we can walk with steps both firm and sure: We can humbly visit the comfortless and guide their steps. Not we but the light will guide. But oh the joy of being found worthy to bear the torch and to say to our brethren: I too was in darkness, comfortless, and behold, I have found comfort and joy in the grace divine."
After reading the Quran during Ramadan, I am again convinced that there are more commonalities between and among religions than there are differences that isolate and divide.
(Kathleen K. Duff serves on the Diocese of Albany's Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. She is a campus minister at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady, N.Y. A version of this column first appeared in the Albany Times Union.)
Infidel | Aug 17, 2012 | 5:19pm
Ah, yes, the sweet oceans of Koran.
2:89-”Therefore, the curse of Allah is upon the unbelievers!”
2:97-”Whoever is an enemy to Allah and His angels and messengers, to Gabriel and Michael, lo! Allah is an enemy of the unbelievers.”
2:191-”Kill them (unbelievers) wherever you find them. Drive them out of the places from which they drove you, for persecution is worse than slaughter…. Such is the reward of those who reject faith.”
2:193-”Fight against them (unbelievers) until there is no dissension, and the religion is for Allah.”
Fight until no other religion exists but Islam.
2:218-”But those who believe and those who migrate and struggle in the way of Allah, those, have hope of the mercy of Allah.”
Those who fight for Allah may have hope of forgiveness.
3:10-”Those who disbelieve, neither their riches nor their children shall save them from Allah. They shall become the fuel of the fire.”
3:19-”The only true faith in God’s sight is Islam. Those to whom the book was given disagreed among themselves only after knowledge had been given to them, being insolent among themselves. He who disbelieves the verses of Allah indeed Allah is swift in reckoning.”
Carl Diederichs | Aug 18, 2012 | 9:56am
Couldn’t you find at least as many references to killings and murder in the Hebrew Scripture? It doesn’t make it right, but be fair!
Infidel | Aug 18, 2012 | 10:45am
Number One: it reveals Ms Duff’s embarassingly wooly-headed rhapsodic post as grossly misleading. She is in some kind of interfaith Islamophilic trance. The Koran is NOT Khalil Gibran. These verses btw are only from the first 3 chapters. There are 111 more.
Number Two: while Jews and Christians both recognize their Scriptures to be written by man, different authors, over centuries, as an inspired witness to their God, Muslims believe that the Koran is the direct, unfiltered revelation of Allah. The Koran is to them much as Christ is to us. So these words have hugely more power.
Number Three: consider the history of Mohammed and Islam, spread by the sword and by direct command of ....the Koran. The fact that, while not every Muslim is a terrorist, practically every terrorist today is a Muslim is no accident. Islam is, by nature and foundation, an expansionist theocracy for whom the use of violence is perfectly acceptable.
Jewells | Aug 19, 2012 | 8:20am
Every American should read it and it should inspire them all to go out and buy a gun. Then go take target practice. Google what John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had to say about the Moslems when they had to deal with Moslem Pirates. Study the Crusades and their religion in general…..then go get the gun. They say Jews don’t have a right to exist….then it won’t be long till the Christians don’t either and they have been clear about that. Churches and Civic Leagues in the USA are encouraging people to be able to defend themselves . Google ” how many mosques in america” and you will see on Wikipedia the facts of the matter. 2nd Ammendment right has never been so important and don’t forget prayer ! Pray for them and for America and the whole world every day.
Jack | Aug 19, 2012 | 8:49am
How is it possible that this was the same archangel, Gabriel, who purportedly inspired Muhammad the false prophet, as the one who appeared the Holy Virgin Mary to warn Her that She would become the Mother of Jesus?
Since the beginning, the muslim religion is a lie.
My explanation is that Muhammad was deceived by Lucifer who had the likeness of Gabriel.
The god of the muslims cannot be in any way the God of the Christians, since the muslims themselves say that the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a blasphemy.
Stop striving to match Islam and Christianism: That is IMPOSSIBLE.
Jack | Aug 19, 2012 | 8:53am
In addition, to those who believe that we may befriend the muslims: If you say that you trust in the Triune God, you will be beheaded.
The Quran said so
Bo | Aug 19, 2012 | 9:05am
JMJ
...so, when Lent comes…would take Holy Bible and read it ?..specially New Testament!
..what a confuse soul You are !...searching waters infested with sharks !
Amen !
gua | Aug 19, 2012 | 9:18am
Jesus says “I am the Way, The Truth and The Life, no one comes to the Father but by me”
This shows that there is only Salvation through Jesus. Islam mimic my truth in the Bible, but denies Jesus as the Son of God. This effectively draws its believers away from Jesus.
The being that was said to appear to Mohammed (the muslim prophet) in a cave did not identify himself as The Angel Gabraiel. It was a Christian women who told the frightened Muhamad that the being must be the Angel Gabriel.
In the case of Mary, the Angel identify himself as Gabriel to a frightened Mary.
From what I have once read, Mother Mary told of Satan calling a conference of his demons and they came up with the idea of the Sect of Mohanmad to draw men away from Jesus.
See how they believe in Moses and other prophets of the Old Testament and draw part of its believe from it ?. They also talk of One God and also of Mary being the mother of Isa (Jesus) . Of how they “accept” Jesus as a mere prophet ?.
All these are a great deception.
Go and google about Jesus appearing to muslims in dreams and visions.
Steve from Long Island | Aug 19, 2012 | 10:20am
What Catholics can Learn from the Koran? How to get to Hell in Sundry Ways!
Sacred text? Only if you worship the devil. Inspired to read this screed of evil? I think it’s time for an exorcism.
What a damned fool! And anyone who follows this inspiration is a damned fool as well.
This is no Catholic. Real catholics would heed the words of Jesus when he says to beware of false prophets who are ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing, and to judge them by their fruits, and not dance with this evil. But of course that would be known only if they were inspired to read the real Word of God. Only an idiot who doesn’t read the real Word would follow this kind of “inspiration” and then tell the world about how wonderful it is.
Now go to confession and be absolved of your sins, take holy communion and pray for God’s mercy.
gua | Aug 19, 2012 | 10:54am
The article on the sect of mohamed is found in the book “The Mystical City of God” By Venerable Mary of Agreda published by TAN ISBN 0-89555-070-9.
I quote from
The Transfixion pg 584 :
Acting upon this counsel they redistributed the spheres of work among themselves, in order that each squadron of demons might , with specialised astuteness tempt men to different vices.They resolved to continue to propagate idolatry in the world, so that men might not come to the knowledge of the true God and the Redemption. Wherever idolatry would fail, they concluded to establish sects and heresies, for which they would select the most perverse and depraved of the human race as leaders and teachers of error. Then and there was concocted among these malignant spirits the sect of Mahomet, the heresies of Arius, Pelagius, Nesotrius, and whatever other heresies have been started tn the world from the first ages of the Church until now ..........
What ever “peace” obtain from reading the Koran is a false peace .
gua | Aug 19, 2012 | 11:00am
http://www.jesusvisions.org/chapt05.shtml
Here read what Jesus tells the muslims
prudenter | Aug 19, 2012 | 11:09am
Here is a prime example of someone who thinks they are “Catholic”......another cronnie involved with the good “Bishop Howie”..............if you think you are “catholic” and are part of the New World Order “novus ordo:....I suggest you find a Real Priest and the True Mass and start the True Rosary..
Michael | Aug 19, 2012 | 11:37am
Kathleen signs the praises of the Quran while she is still yet a free woman. If she was however in the islamic world, she would be pillaged by her husband anytime and anywhere he desired her. She would have no freedoms and she would be required to be a servant to the men in her life and the Islamic world. By all means.. I encourage our dear Kathleen to take that next step, leave the faith and convert to Islam.. let’s see how long it is before she is knocking back on the door of a Catholic Church begging for entry and escape from her abusers.
Kathleen, please.. do us and the children at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School and stop being the campus minister.. your wacky ideas on Islam are driving people from the faith.
Ecumenism = Rubbish. Your either Catholic or your not. I don’t want to see my faith watered down to try and get other people to convert to it.
prudenter | Aug 19, 2012 | 12:12pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSxq14tIwA4&feature=related
The lines have been drawn clearly in the sand between the True Church and the man made…..
Padraig McTeer | Aug 19, 2012 | 12:40pm
How sad. This is nothing less then the ignorant example of what the fruits of Vatican Ii are producing. Seriously looking more into the SSPX because this type of stuff is the norm in most parishes and usually you here this from the priest and bishop.
Pray for the converon of bishops, priests and religious to lead us out of this.
Bob Kord | Aug 19, 2012 | 2:01pm
Ms. Kathleen K. Duff is living in total denial; and completely misses the entire thrust of the Qur’an. The third-to-last Surah of the Qur’an: Surah 112; Al-Tawbid Part 30 “The Unity” (which is inscribed in large script on the inside of the Dome of the Rock that Islam appropriated for the Islamic world from Israel’s Holy Temple site on the mount) reads:
“In the name of Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is he begotten. And none is like Him.”
That is THE MOST cogent phrase for Christians to remember. Jesus Christ is NOT the only begotten Son of Islam’s Allah, [who some may confuse as the same as God.] God is not Allah, and Allah is not God. Allah has no begotten son. And if you live in an Islamic nation: you are laughed at, scorned, insulted, punished or put to death if you publicly proclaim belief in the Trinity and/or Jesus being both God and man. Whether duplicitous or just plain doltish, Ms. Kathleen K. Duff refuses to see the handwriting on the wall. Why does one of Duff’s titles read: “Campus Minister” remind me of Minister Louis Farrakhan. Ah, but I repeat myself.
margo | Aug 19, 2012 | 2:03pm
I am so happy to hear all of those who decry this insidious article. That’s why the muslims have been allowed to flourish in Christian nations….ignorance. Staying stupid ia a hard job!
TonyR | Aug 19, 2012 | 2:25pm
just shows more and more that liberal “catholics” have gotten into just about every diocese in the U.S. and are speaking for the Church instead of the Bishops and Priests who should be.
If she would have posted any of the vast majority of comments that we have posted, she would immediately have been repromanded for not being tolerant or nice.
with what she wrote you will not hear a thing from the Religous Leaders of her diocese. I will, God willing always be Catholic but I am becoming less and less trusting to the religous leaders of my diocese and others in this nation. Can’t trust the nuns, many bishops and priests. yes they are good ones but when they stand up for the faith. they are immediately silenced and shipped somewhere never to be heard from again like to a nursing home to minister.
Aunt Raven | Aug 19, 2012 | 2:34pm
To take Bob Kord’s remarks to their conclusion:
The mark of the spirit of antichrist (and there have been several in history before the “definitive” one) is anyone who says that Jesus Christ is NOT the Son of God as well as the son of man. The “holy” koran says “God has no son.” The Catholic Church says anyone preaching this, and its logical extension, that God is not Trinity, is heretical and therefore “anathema” (look up anathema, Ms, Duff, you seem unclear on the concept).
The unholy koran says God’s name is “Allah” (archaelogists and anthropologists will tell you that “Allah” was the pre-islamic name of Arabia’s local animist (= false) moon god.) God himself told Moses his name was the Hebrew word for ” I AM WHO (I) AM).
Make up your mind, Ms Duff, is the koran or the Bible the “real” Sacred Book? They can’t both be right, no matter how weasel-word “ecumenical” you want to be. All religions are NOT equal, all religions do NOT lead to God no matter how embarassed you are to say this to non-Catholics. There is only one, true, religion, Ms Duff—so make up your mind which one—you seem to be unclear on the concept. The koran has some truth mixed in with a lot of lies, which is the Devil’s ploy:
“The truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats any lie you can invent.”
True prophets are saints whose messages are validated by their lives of humility and stainless purity, whether married or celebate. They are also validated by unquestionable miracles. It is historical fact (though embarassing to Muslims) that Mohamed endorsed conversion by violence, and was a pederast. The only “miracle” he or his followers ever claimed was that a camel once decided to kneel down before him. Some “holy man” !
Vero | Aug 19, 2012 | 2:47pm
To read a blog like this while reports are coming out of Egypt of Christians and other objectors being crucified by Muslims just breaks my heart. Certainly no true peace there! But this is not surprising for Christ is our peace (Eph. 2:14) and a “faith” which denies Christ - God Himself - will never have true and lasting peace.
Here is a great talk by an orthodox priest about the subtle masquerade of Islam posing as truth:
http://www.audiosancto.org/sermon/20120805-Islam-A-Christian-Heresy-Posing-as-a-Post-Christian-Religion.html
God created all men in His image and likeness, including our Muslim brothers and sisters. He desires all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). Let us pray and offer sacrifice for the conversion of our Muslim brothers and sisters. Prayer and penance, offered from a pure heart, can change the world.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
ross | Aug 19, 2012 | 3:22pm
The quran is the LONE TESTIMONY of a deluded bedouin.
Maureen | Aug 19, 2012 | 6:51pm
Hmmmm, Kathleen. What did you think of the part calling for the dismemberment of infidels and beheadings?
It is clear that allah is the master deceiver, as written in their book. I believe he is also known as the father of lies who is obviously none other than satan. Walid Shoebat, a former muslim, said ince he read the Bible it became clear - the bad guy in our Scripture is the good guy in their koran. Not good, Kathleen. Not good at all…
john towle | Aug 20, 2012 | 12:05am
Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come and thy will be done, on earth as it is done in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, amen.
Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and the hour of our death, amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, amen.
Kathleen, you might be far better served to make certain that all the students at your school know these three prayers by heart, and along with the Apostles Creed, pray them daily for the intentions of our Blessed Mother and our holy father, pope Benedict XVI, for the entire world. Teach our children the Catholic faith and from that faith, learn to love all of God’s creation. Teach them the power of the Eucharist and the graces received when taking into their beings, the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Teach these children the basics of the faith handed down through Apostolic Tradition that
are protected, catechized and lived by those who have a true fidelity to the eternal Truth of and from God, think the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Pray for our Muslim brothers and sisters that they will one day live in these eternal truths but do not promote error to the children when you could be promoting the Truth handed down to the Apostles directly from Christ Himself.
Bo | Aug 20, 2012 | 12:58am
In JMJ
.well Ms Kathleen, there so many local convert to Islam…home grown terrorist…brainwashed souls….like You ...so, reading and meditating on Koran for 40 days !?...when is Lent for us…do You do the same with Holy Book- Bible ?...read any books about Hitler,Stalin,about Wicca, Satanic…be fascinated by it ?
...and You, being Roman Catholic and being employed by Catholic organization…as Your superior…I would be worried…with trust is in question.( we know what butler did to Our Holy Father ) so, quit, there many good devoted Catholics who be thankful to Lord for opportunity to work…and You may apply to work for any Islamic centers ....Our Lord Jesus said : Get behind me Satan !.....it is a shame,shame to be working in there…should be evangelizing ...spreading Word of God , to know about Word of God…...that means reading Holy Bible ..and telling others about Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Redeemer ....and not telling us what koran is..or Mohamed….
john towle | Aug 20, 2012 | 7:36am
I’ve had a little time to think about my comment and those of others and I now offer these considerations;
Were we being charitable when directly pointing out the error and danger of placing the two scriptures side by side as being equal? Does God care if He is worshipped and adored through His Son or is it acceptable in His sight to worship Him in error? Are there absolute truths about God or are they relative to human understanding?
The Word of God, contained in the Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, answers those questions definitively. There is only One God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, all that is seen and unseen and we are to believe in Him and Him only. That same God sent His only begotten Son from eternal bliss into Their creation to atone for all the sins that would ever be committed against Them, and by Them it is meant the three Persons of the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity. If one considers, deeply, the pain and suffering God’s Son endured throughout His life but especially during His passion and death, and if one also considers, deeply, the unfathomable humility it took to enter into and become that which He created, one must conclude that it matters critically, the way humanity worships and adores it’s God.
Kathleen, your heart is in the right place in wanting our Muslim brothers and sisters to be in communion with the mystical body of Christ and with Christ Himself but the danger in reaching out to them in the manner you have, is that if your faith is not unshakable and if your knowledge of that faith is not solid and fully in communion with the eternal truths contained in the deposit of faith, set forth and defended by the rightful authority handed down to the Apostles and their successors, you run the very real risk of losing the full truth and trading it for partial truths. That is not a good trade.
As an adult, you are certainly permitted to exercise your own free will by exploring various religious truths, but the real danger you take on when doing such exploring is the possibility of teaching error to consciences that are not fully formed and susceptible to error. If even one soul were to abandon the eternal truth, wholly contained in the Apostle’s and Nicene Creed for partial truth contained in some other religion that is in search of the truth contained in these creeds, and that soul is damaged by these partial truths, you personally will be held accountable or answerable for that soul and any others that would have been led to error. And while this is true for all of us, it is especially true for those who have taken on roles of instruction and most especially true for ordained and consecrated men and women.
Nothing would be more charitable than helping our fellow man to avoid falling into grave error and perpetuating that same error, that very likely contains unthinkably horrific eternal consequences.
I think you would be wise to seek out and accept the advice of a spiritual director and confessor, just as we all would be wise to have such a man. They are not necessarily readily available and not all of them are equal but I trust that the Holy Spirit would guide you to such a person if it was your honest and prayerful desire.
“St. Michael the archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou oh Prince of the heavenly Host, by the Power of God, cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen”
Laurie | Aug 20, 2012 | 9:24am
Satan seduces by disguising himself as an angel of light. (2Cor11:14) He often deceives by showcasing beautiful truths embedded wtih gross error. New age spiritualities are a good example of this strategy. They, too, inspire. Jesus said,” I am the way, the truth and the life ... no one comes to the Father except through me(John14:6)” This does not mean that we need not love our Muslim brothers and sisters. However, we need not become entrenched in their tenets in order to love them.
Jewells | Aug 20, 2012 | 10:49am
Prayer is so important. Pray for Muslims every day. Paul would have remained Saul had not Stephen opened a storehouse of God’s Grace to his soul by praying to the Father as he was bring stoned to death by Saul ...“lay not this charge up against him”.....and Saul’s conversion was the fruit of that prayer. That’s why our Lord told us to pray for our enemy. It is important to be realistic about their intentions and protect and defend ourselves and America but to also do the will of the Father as our Lord instructed us to do….pray for our enemy and bless those that curse us.
john | Aug 20, 2012 | 12:30pm
Why would you even bother?It is a religion of man..how about reading scriptures?Which as a Christian of any denomination..knows it to be “THE"Word of God.All religions may possess some sort of elements of truth..but Christianity is the TRUTH because it is way given to us by Jesus(Son of God)This article reeks of political correctness and cowardice in your own faith.There is no need to learn or seek to understand other faiths when you have been given the deposit of Faith by the Way,the Truth and the Life.Throw out the Koran..it’s useless.
Nick | Aug 20, 2012 | 1:21pm
I don’t understand Kathleen - don’t you get those same “God is merciful and loves me” feelings when you read the HOLY Bible?! As a Catholic (as you protest), one does not need to read anything else.
Fr. J | Aug 20, 2012 | 1:57pm
I look forward to seeing Saudi religious leaders read the Bible during Lent.
Marion Sæternes | Aug 20, 2012 | 4:38pm
Dear Infidel: “One’s perception of a situation is not always consistent with the facts.”
On the 22 of july 2011 norwegians learnes not to jump to conclusions about who is the typical terrorist. I live in Norway and seeing your post here I am sorry to read the missinformation thet “practically every terrorist today is a Muslim”. I am Christian, not a muslim, but I do not like tendencies to divide the world into “us versus them”. Here are some statistics I found in a quick search on the net now about Terrorism in Europe:
“In 2010, 249 terrorist attacks were reported. The majority of these attacks were in France (84) and Spain (90). Islamist terrorists carried out three attacks on EU territory. Separatist groups, on the other hand, were responsible for 160 attacks, while left-wing and anarchist groups were responsible for 45 attacks. One single-issue attack was reported from Greece.
In 2009, 294 terrorist attacks. Islamist terrorists (1) Separatist groups (237) Left-wing (40) Right-wing (4) Single and not specified (12)
237 attacks were claimed or attributed to separatist terrorist organisations in France and Spain, while a further 124 attacks were carried out in Northern Ireland. In Spain, 14 attacks were carried out by ETA. In France, 89 attacks were carried out by separatist terrorist groups. The vast majority of the attacks were linked to Corsican separatist terrorism; eight attacks were committed by Basque separatist terrorist groups. A total of 124 attacks were carried out by Irish Republican and Loyalist groups in Northern Ireland. In 2009, there was an increase in the number of attacks by terrorist groups, principally the ‘Real’ IRA (RIRA) and the ‘Continuity’ IRA (CIRA).
In 2009, there was only one Islamist terrorist attack, directed at a military target in Italy.
During 2008, 515 terrorist attacks were carried out. Islamist terrorism is still perceived as being the biggest threat worldwide, despite the fact that Europe only faced one Islamist terrorist attack in 2008.This bomb attack took place in the UK. Separatist terrorism remains the terrorism area which affects us most.
And so we can go on.”
http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/terrorism-europe-t91323.html
You can find more information here.
https://www.europol.europa.eu
Some individuals think the end justifies any means. Most people however do NOT think so. – And this is true no matter what religion or political persuasion one belongs to or subscribes to.
EnTeaJay | Aug 20, 2012 | 4:44pm
“By their fruits ye shall know them.” Well, for starters in Egypt, following the Arab Spring and the total government takeover by the Islamist fundamentalists of the Muslim Brotherhood, we have the crucifixion of opponents and Christians. If this is the Spring, God protect us from what is coming in the next seasons!
chronovisor | Aug 20, 2012 | 8:30pm
I’ll tell you what they can “learn” from the koran….NOTHING, what useful decieved idiot! oh aren’t we alllllllll p/c let’s replace God’s Holy word with a fantasy….what next? the book of mormon? the bhagava gita?
jay brook | Aug 21, 2012 | 12:49pm
How sad! Obviously you have not studied the life of Mohammid or some of his most ghastly instructions. He obviously treats women as sexual objects, not equal to men in any regard. Check out his life, his marriages. See where he got his ideas from. See what he did to his own village that rejected his person and teachings..he had them all killed! See what he says about Jesus, and look at what his followers do. Are you blind, or just plain stupid. This is not about poetry, or your personal sense of “enlightment”, it’s about faithfulness to the one eternal truth of the divine trinity, and it’s incarnation of Jesus Christ who came 600 years before Mohammid to give you the truth. Educate yourself, you need to badly.
Hermit Crab | Aug 21, 2012 | 3:10pm
Hey, Kathleen! What is your favorite Surah?
This is one of my favorites: It has always guided my path to living a Godly life, leading surely to Heaven:
Quran; Surah 004: Ayah 089:
Take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah. Seize them and slay them wherever ye find them.
Kiara | Aug 21, 2012 | 4:25pm
That can only mean one thing, you were NEVER a real Christian to begin with. Any one, who is a real Christian and understands the fondamental of Christianity could NEVER turn awa from a true religion to an invented one.
Kristiaoe | Aug 21, 2012 | 6:49pm
Maybe we are too prompt in our judgment of KathIeen. The motives behind Kathleen move are good, she wants to promote mutual understanding and love between people of different religions, and that is worthy of praise. Only she miscalculate the right directions. Instead of reconciliating Christians towards Muslims, it should be the way around.
Tom | Aug 21, 2012 | 8:01pm
Please sombody get that woman excommunicated, fired, striped of her citizenship, and sent to a understanding Islamic world like Afganastan. Poor Ms. Kathleen she must be homley as only an ugly woman who can’t get a date would buy into such none sense.
Tom | Aug 21, 2012 | 8:16pm
a quick net search shows a Kathleen Duff who graduated from Queensland Australia. with an accounting degree, and she is working in a Catholic campus ministry here in the US. Same Duff or not This Ms. Duff who wrote this article needs to be referred to Homeland security for suspicious terrorist activities.
God Bless America in Jesus and Mary name.
Bo | Aug 21, 2012 | 8:23pm
To - Tom
...right on !!!
Kathleen ,You can not hide…only to run…and take refuge in one of Islamic centre…
Amen,Amen and Amen !
Martin | Aug 21, 2012 | 11:09pm
But their Allah is Not our God. Our God is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and so it is they who worship a false God. ” You shall have no other God besides me” Now if you are simply saying that you took the “best” of what there is in or out of the koran, and it gave you some peace - then say that.
gua | Aug 22, 2012 | 2:15am
Kathleen, if you want to join them they will welcome you with an open arm but if you later change your mind and want to leave, the may ask you to leave your head behing.
gua | Aug 22, 2012 | 2:16am
Kathleen, if you want to join them they will welcome you with an open arm but if you later change your mind and want to leave, the may ask you to leave your head behind.
Asif Rauf | Sep 9, 2012 | 1:52pm
Kathleen K. Duff– what a courageous work of inner thinking and expression of soul – by doing so you have stepped I n the company of Joan of Arc.
Reading through the love and emotional response of your Burgundians Christian brothers, looks like they have already sold you to the English of our times, Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon Massaman has already charged you for your attempts to find common ground between Religions of Abrahim / “insubordination and heterodoxy”,[4] And has started a Fire Pit of Hatred.
False philosophers are stumbling over each other to evict you out of Christianity – but I am sure, you are smiling as you have achieved your mission of stating the truth – today some of the Burgundians are ignoring you, some are laughing at you, and most of them have torches in their hand to burn you at the stake, and you know, these are all the signs That you are Winning!
Long Live Joan of Arc!
I read this article in Washington Post – but Since I could not add my comments on the Washington Post – I cam here to add my voice