Your favorite surahs

[Mudhammam]

The verse doesn't state by what he made one excel the other, it rather states by what he made some excel others, and that could be that men excel each other in certain attributes, and that that it's due to these attributes, he made men protectors of women. The next part about "beat them", that's one way of translating, another is to separate/go away from them, and as far as Shia hadiths go, this is what has support by an authentic hadith while beating is all weak hadiths.

Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.

- Sahih International translation. Maybe the English-speaking Muslims didn't receive the memo? Your Allah is omniscient, right? Maybe he just wanted to confuse his future followers by using a word that could be interpreted as "beat" OR "separate"? Now that's what I call supreme wisdom.

Some Muslims, such as Islamic feminist groups, argue that Muslim men use the text as an excuse for domestic violence... Ibn Abbas, a companion of Muhammad, wrote the earliest commentary on the Quran, and to this part he himself said this is only a light tap.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/An-Nisa,_34
Well, that's nice. Allah left it up to subsequent readers to determine exactly what constituents a striking or a "chastisement" of a "disobedient" woman. Not like there's anything inherently sexist and misogynistic in that debate.

And the suggestion that the Qur'an defines "unbelievers" as those who reject the "proofs of Allah" is hilarious. What is a "proof" that outweighs the fact that "Allah's" shitty book is obviously a product of 7th-century Arabs beginning to get a taste Western civilization?

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After being more in touch with believers I can honestly say I'm not concerned with what holy books say but practical attitudes in real life.

"The cure" is, as Sam Harris said, to "stop overestimating the power of bad people, and stop underestimating the power of bad ideas." Also, here's an enlightening article written by a former Muslim apologist explaining the differences between Islam and Christianity and why the former trumps it in insidious violence in almost every way: http://m.christianpost.com/news/the-crit...s--137416/