The Islam Thread...

[KarlXII]

and be treated as less of an absolute by society

[JR-]

explain?

you like the idea of the immutable word of god, uninterpretable by man due to its divine origin?

[KarlXII]

explain?

you like the idea of the immutable word of god, uninterpretable by man due to its divine origin?

I seem to have misquoted.

I seem to have read "absolute" as "equal".

Apologies.

[JR-]

I seem to have misquoted.

I seem to have read "absolute" as "equal".

Apologies.

dim prob. :)

[Sigurd]

To better understand religion is indisputably a good basis for a thread. And I usually participate because I like the topic. To scrutinize certain points of doctrine or tradition in a religion is also something that should be tolerated.
We need to be careful that we do not enter into the realm of slander or quoting publications from organizations with a sinister agenda.
Religion is IMO good for some and will lead to happiness. But this is as long as they are content with living their religion in peace; to stay within the borders of their faith. Religion should be peaceful as long as those who live it accept and tolerate other faiths. The danger comes when the religion states: We have the only right religion. All the other are false. The danger comes when people with “good hearts” wants to save the people believing in false religion. No-one likes to hear that their childhood faith is wrong or is of the devil. This creates friction and lead to all sorts of misery that the history is full of.
People should be free to live their religion. I see no problem with religion in government as long as there is no punishment beyond excommunication for not abiding the rules of that religion. I see no problem with spreading the word of a religion as long as it refrains from claiming to be the only true religion and you are going to hell if you don’t join. It should just be informative and “this is what we believe, join us if you like it and want to live it”.

To proselytize with the intent of destroying another religion is something I do not like. And I am not talking about exposing those cases where con-men are behind a religion taking advantage of trusting followers.
I am talking about the anti-Catholic, anti-Mormon, anti-Islam campaigns of certain small organizations. IMHO those are just extreme cases of: “We are right, the others are wrong and will go to hell for it”. This is nothing other than extremism in its true sense. Extremism is lack of faith. I have said it before: Those who lack the faith that the tenets or documented steps to gain salvation are not enough, seek other means to redeem themselves. They invent new steps that they hope will result in salvation. They feel the need to do something extra, to gain points with their God. The Extremists can be found in every religion and might be the cause of immaturity. They or those that taught them their faith, didn’t quite get the message; they feel there is something missing and adds to it. The original is found wanting and becomes something else: usually to something extreme. The extremists are usually a minority within their faith, which is a good indicator that they are taking steps away from the core faith.


I am derailing here. We should refrain from using material that is created to destroy. It is counter productive.

[rory_20_uk]

Religions that prosper generally have a convert or kill approach to others - else how are they going to increase their numbers? Religions that are evolutionary unfit die out to those that are stronger.

[AlexanderSextus]

I didnt post the verses from the quran and hadiths in order to slander islam, i posted them so i could see what counterpoints would be presented by muslim orgahs.

oh, and i got the quotes from www.thereligionofpeace.com...I thought it was an Anti-Islam site when i first came upon it but i read their faq, which says that the entire purpose of the site is that they, and i quote; "...just want the killing to stop." Also, all the stuff i posted had links that showed exactly where out of the quran or hadiths they got it from. The links bring you to an online quran at http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/.

Seriously...its not a hate site. They said this:

"Thousands of people are losing their lives, and tens of thousands more are suffering various and egregious physical injuries because the Qur'an says that non-Muslims are hated by Allah and that violence is sanctioned whenever there is resistance to Islamic dominance. Exposing this teaching and documenting its terrible effects does not make us a hate site.

We are very explicit in stating that it is wrong to stereotype or pre-judge Muslim individuals, much less to harass or harm them. But, we also do not believe that the delicate and petulant sensibilities of members of the Religion of Peace have precedence over the awful violence committed in its name each and every day."