People make a lot of assumptions about Islam compared with Christianity and Judaism — particularly that it’s more inherently violent, indeed, that the holy scripture of the Quran is more violent, or calls for more violence, than the Bible.
The team at Dit Is Normaal decided to put this to the test in the Netherlands, where they’re based (hence the speaking of the Dutch or German (I can’t tell which) in the video above, so make sure your English subtitles are turned on). They disguised a Bible as a Quran, read verses from the Bible (such as “You will have to cut off her hand”), and asked people for their thoughts. People by and large reacted with a lot of “othering” of Muslims — making remarks like, “If you’ve been raised with this book and these kinds of thoughts, it’s going to influence the way you think.”
Then they found out the verses came from the Bible, not the Quran. They were shocked. “It’s all just prejudice, really. I always try not to be prejudiced myself, but apparently I already am,” one person said. Another person added, “Of course I’ve heard Bible stories when I was young, and I went to a Christian school, but I really had no idea this was in there.”
Indeed.