Walter Scott Quotes
Loud o'er my head though awful thunders roll, And vivid lightnings flash from pole to pole, Yet 'tis Thy voice, my God, that bids them fly, Thy arm directs those lightnings through the sky. Then let the good Thy mighty name revere, And hardened sinners Thy just vengeance fear.
Lockhart, J. G. Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. Vol. 1, Robert Cadell, 1837.
This sura is interpreted by some Islamic fundamentalists as absolution for the killing of a non-Muslim by a Muslim. It was Allah who did it. In a greater sense, critics of Islam observe that many Muslims and Islamic nations have a double standard of responsibility for crimes. If the victims are Muslims, the normal standards of morality hold; but if a non-believer there can be no crime. Terrorism, torture, beheading, mass murder can all be done with a clean conscience if a Muslim takes this interpretation of this sura. Many Muslims however take an opposite point of view. These people do not have the concept of fatalism and lack of free will that others believe. There is a parallel to this problem in Judeo Christian countries although it is less common statistically. But the murder of physicians who perform abortions, and the Jewish radical fundamentalist who killed innocent Arabs at worship are examples of people who viewed themselves as instruments of God in their heinous activities.
Diversarum Hereseon Liber. This compendium of heresies would be funny but for the fact that people lived and died according to their “acceptance” of some of these absurdities.
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet FRSE FSA Scot was a Scottish historical novelist, poet, playwright, and historian. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and Scottish literature. Famous titles include The Lady of the Lake (narrative poem) and the novels Waverley, Old Mortality (or The Tale of Old Mortality), Rob Roy, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, The Bride of Lammermoor, and Ivanhoe.
