Either the Al-Koran or the sword

Read the title of this post, again.

Now, think about who said that.  Yes, the name of the person who said "Either the Al-Koran or the sword."

If you are like me, well, you will attempt to guess.  So, come on, go ahead and give it a try.

You are probably thinking that it was one of the crazy militant Islamic fundamentalists, like bin Laden, for instance.

Prepare yourself for the correct answer.  Ready? 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—hereafter known as the Mormons—was founded by a gifted opportunist who, despite couching his text in openly plagiarized Christian terms, announced that "I shall be to this generation a new Muhammad" and adopted as his fighting slogan the words, which he thought he had learned from Islam, "Either the Al-Koran or the sword."

Every day I learn plenty of new stuff from Christopher Hitchens.  I would never have guessed that the LDS founder said it was the Al-Koran or the sword!

In his latest column at Slate, Hitchens writes that whether or not Mormonism is a cult is not as important as::

the weird and sinister belief system of the LDS, discussion of which it is currently hoping to inhibit by crying that criticism of Mormonism amounts to bigotry.

What is the difference between a religion and a cult?

About two hundred years!

That was the punchline that a friend in California had whenever he asked that question. And he did ask that question a lot, given his zealous atheist beliefs :)

His other favorite:

In a library, where would you find copies of the religious books?
In the science fiction category, of course!

Was reminded of these with NPR reporting on the brouhaha over Mormons being called a cult, at a gathering of the GOP "faithful."

This flap is evidence, yet again, that to true believers, those who follow religions other than theirs are in a way atheists too.  This is a line of argument that Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have explored all too well.