Man punches nurse for removing wife's burqa during c-section

[Ms. Toad]

103. It is not rationalization - it is a fundamental characteristic of religion

that adherents differ as to what is required, particularly when a religion encompasses a broad range of denominations or sects. Each is likely to have their own, slightly different, interpretation.

The Qur'an, just like the bible, is subject to differing interpretations. Different Christian religions interpret the requirements of the bible diffferently - for example, both Quakers (historically, at least) and Catholics believe in the living Christ - not just a dead figure, but as a living presence in our lives. How that plays out in the two has some similarity (e.g., opposition to the death penalty and humanitarian outreach - both based on the concept of reaching out to the Christ within each person, even a murderer). How it plays out in what the world sees more easily, however, is quite different - the rejection of outward sacraments by Quakers v. mandatory participation in outward sacraments by Catholics being one major example. Both practices are based on differing interpretations of same core religious document. That doesn't make one not religious just because it interprets the same religious text differently than the other.

And - to use a different analogy - marriage has both secular aspects and religious aspects. Just because there is a secular aspect to marriage (state recognition and benefits) does not rob marriages which occur under the care of the church of their religious meaning.

Outsiders don't get to determine the beliefs of a particular religion (or denomination or sect within that religion). You can yell it's cultural all you want. That doesn't rob it of the religious significance for those for whom it is religious, rather than cultural, and it doesn't make laws requiring the violation of those beliefs, as a trade off for appearing in public, any more morally supportable.