If you start reading the bible and don't already know that cruelty is wrong - the bible won't help.  There are countless examples of cruelty in the bible - mostly in the Old Testament.  And the idea that the bible simply represents the thinking or of the ability of mankind at the time is not true either.  Buddhist and Greek philosopher thinking at around the same time were condemning cruelty so humans were capable of better things even then.

But is the New Testament better?  No.  It clearly supported slavery and the concept that women were inferior and subservient to men.  Although this attitude to women may originate in our biology and therefore predates religion, the bible supports and perpetuates this behaviour.

There are still many Muslims who find it difficult to accept the separation of mosque and state. They dream of establishing Islamic theocratic states with Quran as the basis of the constitution as they believe Islam to be a complete system encompassing all aspects of life— personal, social, religious as well as political. They are thrilled to see a secular Pakistan transforming into the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Many secular people wonder which interpretation of Quran would be considered valid for an Islamic state, because followers of each sect believe that their interpretation is the correct one. When we read Muslim scholars like Abul ala Maududi, Ghulam Ahmed Pervaiz, Abul Kalam Azad, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed and many others, we are struck by their differences of opinion.

Hey bro, s'up? Ain't seen ya fer a while.

Me? Well, you remember that cute l'il blonde chickie-boo that lives over top'a the seven-eleven on 6th Ave?

Yeah, that's the one. Well I kinda been trying to get next to her, y'know? But she goes to that church down on Pitt St. all the time. Got chattin' her up t'other day and she invited me to go with her. I figured it'd be a good way to get next to her so I went along with it. Man you wouldn't believe the story them folks got!! All about how ever'thin' got here, 'n stuff. Some weird!
You really want to know? OK, here goes nuthin'…..

So, lemme see now if I can kinda explain how it all works… Y'see, way back a long time ago, way before my ol' man was born; maybe even before my Uncle Max was born, there was this really heavy Dude. He could, like, do all kinds of really weird shit, Y'know?