Casting the first stone

Apropos "Quran and sex slaves", http://magree.blogspot.com/2016/06/quran-and-sex-slaves.html

Given that Muslims call Christians and Jews people of the Book. shouldn’t Muslims also heed the the words of Jesus?  Especially when it comes to punishing others: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” - John: 8:7

This would apply equally to ISIS punishing others for their beliefs and punishing ISIS for its adultery.

Too bad ISIS and its ilk won’t “go and sin no more”.

Quran and sex slaves

Isn’t it adultery when ISIS, Boko Haram, and others take sex slaves?  I think they must have cut passages dealing with adultery out of their Qurans.  But that is the way of "true believers" of any kind: their way is the only way, even if their texts say otherwise.

“The adulteress and the adulterer-whip each one of them a hundred lashes, and let no pity towards them overcome you regarding God's Law, if you believe in God and the Last Day. And let a group of believers witness their punishment.”  Quran: 24:2 (The Light: an-Nur)

Excerpt From: Talal Itani. “Quran In English. Modern English Translation. Clear and Easy to Understand.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/lvcp2.l

Also see "ISIS Committed Genocide Against Yazidis in Syria and Iraq, Panel Says"
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/world/middleeast/isis-genocide-yazidi-un.html

Which set of no-shows will give the election away?

I started this entry as a Quote of the Day entitled "Something very disgusting".  It was from hearing a radio interview with a man who called himself a Democrat.  He wouldn't vote for any Republican but he was unhappy with Obama.  He said, "I think I'll sit this election out."  Effectively, he's helping the party he doesn't want elected.  It's happened over and over again with Democratic voters, even when in a large majority, staying home on election day and "giving" the election to the Republicans.  I've never heard of major no-shows by Republicans.

With Mitt Romney's selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, there may be many Republicans who stay home on election day.  These would be some of the mainline Republicans who consider the Tea Party as too doctrinaire.  These would also be the RINOs who have been unhappy with the Republican move to more uncompromising stances on many issues.

I think the Democrats will "win" the no-show battle thus losing the election to the Republicans.

Why?  Because the Republicans have more "true believers" who feel the issues personally.  They "don't want our guns taken away", they "want government off our backs", they "know better how to spend our own money", and on and on.

The "true believers" among the Democrats are more empathetic to other people.  Their issues are helping the poor, protecting wetlands, reducing emissions, and so on.  They might not even experience any of these problems directly.  Because many people who lean Democratic don't feel as strongly on these issues, they are more likely to not show up at elections than the "true believers"

In other words, lukewarm Democrats far outnumber lukewarm Republicans, putting Democrats at a disadvantage when voters stay home.

Whatever your political leanings are, don't give elections away.  Show up and vote!