Religious Cut and Paste

What do you think of this picture?
Initially reading this verse and looking at this picture your heart could melt a little bit thinking
"awww, that is beautiful..what it means is that there are somethings we consider to be minor but to God it is a big thing...like being kind to homeless people, or smiling in the  faces of our brothers/sisters...like we shouldnt underestimate the gravity of the things we do"
Cute.
And the comments on this photo were all like "subhanAllah!" "mashallah!" "Allaaaaah how beautiful"
Stuff of the sort.
While I scrolled past this picture, I realized that this wasnt even a verse, it was HALF a verse; ie someone had gotten a verse from Surat Al Noor, verse 15 to be precise cut out the first part of it and just left the second part of it. This way, the aya could be completely misinterpreted first because it is not complete, and second because it is completely out of context. Where is the context in which this verse was written?
No context at all.
This is the complete aya:

This changes everything.
Here is the translation from Sahih International

"When you received it with your tongues and said with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge and thought it was insignificant while it was, in the sight of Allah , tremendous."

I particularly liked Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf's interpretation 

"There are three things here reprobated by way of spiritual teaching: (1) if
others speak an evil word, that is no reason why you should allow it to defile your
tongue; (2) if you get a thought or suspicion which is not based on your certain
knowledge, do not give it currency by giving it expression (ie dont talk of it) ; and (3) others may think it is a small matter to speak lightly of something which blasts a person's character or reputation: in the eyes of Allah it is a most serious matter in any case, (but specially when it involves the honour and reputation of pious women.)

Intruiging. Allah's verse aimed to teach us something else entirely.  It teaches us something quite profound and beautiful and I am glad I did take the time to read up about the verse instead of just 'liking' the picture and commenting with that cliche religious rejoicing tone. 
1. Just because others speak badly, doesnt mean you should too.
2. Dont talk about that you are not certain/doubtful about
3. Dont speak badly of others, especially if it hurts their reputation/honour...this is a big deal.

There are a certain group of humans who try to defile other peoples' religions by looking for 'weak points' in the deen. Famously, the verse talking about killing the enemies of Islam and not allowing a single one to live is used to indicate the sheer barbaric-ness of the religion. It is snatched out of the context and placed in a certain way that it'd look like it is supporting their point of views. 
Most logical Muslims would say, this verse is out of context! you people are just trying to prove your fake opinions by using childish cut and paste.
 That may be true.
But, we as Muslims ALSO do the same thing. We take verses and religious scripts and cut them out of context in order to feed or to prove something we want to believe.
Why am I making this point clear?
I am stating that when people want to justify something they believe in, they will look for all sources to support them. Even if these ways are completely wrong. Even if it means cutting and pasting religious text out of context.
It is human nature to mess up like that.
HOWEVER, by being aware of this phenomenon, we can be on the look out when we find ourselves justifying...to stop before we go too far. And also, when others do it, for us to be aware and try to prevent it from progressing.