Greg, I am indeed familiar with the Old Testament and in fact the entire Bible. My quotes from the Koran and any observations I made about them don't prevent me from noting similar warlike references in many other religious texts. I was merely commenting and not judging. One could, if one were so inclined, draw parallels with the activities of,say, the Conquistadores, the Spanish Inquisition, the Puritans, Mary I, Elizabeth I and many other bloodthirsty ways of ensuring 'converts' to any number of different religions. But we are, I thought, discussing here the murder this week of a man in Woolwich, motivated apparently by a deformed and misguided zeal for 'jihad' in the warped minds of two strange young men purporting to be Muslims. Opening out the thread to take in any and every religion would make it very unwieldy.