Red Flag!

An observation on 68:44-45. Immediately after three verses of ranting about how he'll kick ass, Mo immediately says he'll give respite. Red Flag! Although this seems not to make sense, anyone who studies domestic violence will recognize the pattern. Within the cycle of violence, the acting-out phase is always followed by the honeymoon phase where the abuser 'gives respite' and reestablishes his bona fides as being actually a good person, so that the cycle can continue. And sure enough, in the hadiths we read about Mohammed punching his teenaged bride Aisha.

The koran is full of contradictory sets like that: 9:5 kill them → 9:6 give them asylum; 8:60 strike terror in them → 8:61 make peace with them. That's just a random few. The red flag becomes a huge tapestry that covers most of the known world.

Six distinct stages make up the cycle of violence:

1. brooding over perceived wrongs and fantasizing over 'next time',

"what I should've done"...

2. setting up the victim,

3. the abuse

4. fear of reprisal expressed as feelings of "guilt", apologies...

5. rationalizing, excuses, blaming the victim, how he had no choice

but to be violent, she "made him do it"...

6. shift to tolerant and even loving behavior, the 'honeymoon phase'

Here we have Mo brooding in his cave, fantasizing how god will help him get even, then feeling guilty, rationalizing, immediate shift to 'giving respite'. All that's lacking is the actual abuse. How much should I bet that will appear as soon as Mo gains some actual power over others?

Typical Abuser	Mohammed
Abusers may spend minutes, hours or days fantasizing about what the victim has done "wrong" and how he is going to make her "pay".	Mo in his cave...uhhh...what more needs to be said?
setting up his victim,	Constant theme through the book is that Allah "sets a seal on the hearts of men" so that they cannot understand his message. Then he sends them to hell for not understanding it.
the abuse,	So far Mo's just a powerless little whiner who can only make threats. 96: drag by the forelock; 68:10-14 he calls all those names, -16 brand on the snout,... wait he gets some power, you'll see him cutting off heads and all of it.
the abuser's fear of reprisal expressed as feelings of "guilt",	See above pattern of Threaten-Offer Protection. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, there wasn't much reprisal for Mohamed.
his rationalization,	"They made me do it" (11:101) or "they wrong themselves" (10:44) is a constant refrain. For a textbook example check out 11:116-119: wow! Short version below.
his shift to tolerant and even loving behavior.	"give respite", above; "God is loving and kind" usually tacked onto the end of some boodthirsty rant.

Shorter 11:116-119   If only they were good; we wouldn't destroy good people; but we could make them behave; but they still wouldn't; unless we forgive them; but we're gonna kick ass.

Does this guy sound balanced? Does he have anger issues? Does a camel shit in the desert?