How many pages then, Carol? Out of how many total? Is the bad stuff only on one page out of two? Two out of five? Three out of seven? No, you've got me there; I can't be more precise than I have been, and I'm willing to concede for the sake of this discussion that my reference to "practically every page" was a fairly sweeping statement. Given your presumed familiarity with the entire Koran, I'm hoping you can enlighten me on exactly how many pages DO contain disparaging, condescending, hateful references to non-believers, how many contain descriptions of the torments that await them, and how many contain directives to kill them. Then you can tell me whether the ratio of hateful vs. non-hateful pages is really a significant enough issue to call my basic point into question.

No, I won't go read the whole Koran just to have the pleasure of continuing the debate with you. I have read some of it, and that was painful enough (it's not a real page-turner). I have certainly read enough of it to know that it's got a lot of hateful stuff in it, sprinkled liberally throughout. Muslims claim that the Koran is the word of Allah, and there is no question that it is the book that provides the underpinnings of their faith. Therefore, if the stuff is in there (and believe me, ignorant though I am; the stuff is in there), I have reason to believe, and opine, that Islam is not the benign, peaceful, tolerant religion that other ignorant people claim it is.

So what do you base YOUR opinions on?