Children beheaded...

Children as young as 11 are being beheaded in Mozambique as part of an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and forced many more from their homes, according to a report by Save the Children. Is there anything in the Koran about beheading children? No. But there are verses like these…

“When you encounter the unbelievers on the battlefield, strike off their heads until you have crushed them completely” (sura 47:3). “I will cast dread into the hearts of the unbelievers. Strike off their heads, then, and strike off all of their fingertips” (sura 8:12).

The majority of the world’s Muslims do not take such verses literally. Unfortunately they appear in a book which even moderate Muslims believe to be “perfect”. While the Bible is claimed by Christians to be inspired by God, but written by men, Muslims believe the Koran was written by the finger of Allah himself. It’s hard to claim that Isis insurgents are misguided, when their holy book decrees that Christians, Jews and unbelievers should be put to death. It’s not a big stretch, by those who truly believe they are running an errand for God, to target children as well. As theoretical physicist Steven Weinberg has noted: “With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil... that takes religion.”

St John the Baptist's Church, Healaugh...