Only If You Show Me Yours

Let me preface this post by saying that I don't think Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism is typical of most Muslims, and that I have the utmost respect for all religious provided they are practiced in a manner that respects people of other faiths. That being said:

Back last year and before, when the so-called Muhammad cartoons appeared in Denmark's Jyllands Posten, some prominent members of the Muslim communities, as well as the Iranian government on an official level, decided to answer what they considered blasphemy with, among other anti-Semitic reactions, Holocaust denial. Since that time, Iranian President Ahmadinejad has hosted a Holocaust denial/"Anti-Zionist" conference, written letters to El Presidente and Bundeskanzlerin Merkel, and now the Iranian government is asking for proof that the Holocaust happened.

I have an idea: Let's provide Iran's "World Holocaust Foundation" and its head, Mohammad Ali Ramin, with proof. But let's put a condition on it. Because it was the Iranians (primarily) who decided to play a moral equivalency game between offending the sensibilities of a religion and denying the Holocaust, we should offer Mr. Ramin the proof with the requirement that, in return, he provide evidence of the following:

(1) That a forty-year-old illiterate Arab spoke with the angel Gabriel some 1,400 years ago
(2) That Jesus of Nazareth was conceived without sexual intercourse and spoke as an infant
(3) That Abraham and his son Ishmael built the building in Mecca now known as the Ka'aba
(4) That there is anything in the Qur'an that indicates that the caliphate should have followed in Muhammmad's bloodline

Let's ask these four questions of Mr. Ramin, reminding him that the Holy Qur'an may not be used as evidence for any of this (it is, after all, begging the question to do so).

Let me close by saying, again, that it is not my intention to poke fun at Islam. All religions, including my own, are based on leaps of faith. One must necessarily suspend one's reason to accept notions such as those above, or that Moses spent forty days on Mt. Sinai speaking with God, or that Jesus rose from the dead, or that Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha.

I officially release this blog post to anyone that should choose to e-mail it to Mr. Ramin. Send him my worst regards.