Words matter. Ideas matter. And, when it comes to the Qur’an, the text matters. As attractive as it is to many of us to side-step issues of this kind and instead believe in an airy-fairy notion of Islam — if only properly practiced — as a religion of peace (or simply not to spend any time grappling with the dilemma at all), the reality of what those words are and the actions that they tend to encourage in believers is not one that can be ignored without consequences.

To me that’s one of the basic points being explained and reiterated in the courageous writing of Robert Spencer (director of Jihad Watch and a dedicated fan of Bob Dylan), whether in his recently published book, “Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t” , or in his series of online articles called “Blogging the Qur’an.”

His latest post is on Sura 5, “The Table,” verses 61-120, and deals among other things with the notion of Allah’s hand being fettered or unfettered and how the vision of a God bound by nothing whatsoever, who may well change the structure of the very universe at any moment, has impacted scientific development in the Islamic world.

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