8. Which religious figure preaches tolerance by suggesting that God looks after all peoples and leads them all to their promised lands?

a. Muhammad

b. Amos

c. Jesus

9. Which of these religious leaders was a polygamist?

a. Jacob

b. King David

c. Muhammad

10. What characterizes Muhammad’s behavior toward the Jews of his time?

a. He killed them.

b. He married one.

c. He praised them as a chosen people.

11. Which holy scripture urges that the "little ones" of the enemy be dashed against the stones?

a. Book of Psalms

b. Koran

c. Leviticus

12. Which holy scripture suggests beating wives who misbehave?

a. Koran

b. Letters of Paul to the Corinthians

c. Book of Judges

13. Which religious leader is quoted as commanding women to be silent during services?

a. The first Dalai Lama

b. St. Paul

c. Muhammad

Answers:

1. b. Deuteronomy 22:21.

2. a. Koran, 2:256. But other sections of the Koran do describe coercion.

3. c. Most early suicide bombings were by Tamil Hindus (some secular) in Sri Lanka and India.

4. c. Hadith. Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet to be revered.

5. All of the above.

6. c. Other parts of the New and Old Testaments object to homosexuality, but there’s no indication of Jesus’ views.

7. c. Koran, 41:34. Jesus says much the same thing in different words.

8. b. Amos 9:7

9. all of them

10. all of these. Muhammad’s Jewish wife was seized in battle, which undermines the spirit of the gesture. By some accounts he had a second Jewish wife as well.

11. a. Psalm 137

12. a. Koran 4:34

13. b. St. Paul, both in 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2, but many scholars believe that neither section was actually written by Paul.

And yes, the point of this little quiz is that religion is more complicated than it sometimes seems, and that we should be wary of rushing to inflammatory conclusions about any faith, especially based on cherry-picking texts. The most crucial element is perhaps not what is in our scriptures, but what is in our hearts.