January 20---Wear A Keffiyeh In Protest Day

I once read somewhere that the only way to tell a Christian from a Muslim is that Christians don't go to church on Sunday, and Muslims don't face Mecca five times a day to pray.

 

The moment when you see 2 people and you can't tell who's christian or muslim but you are pondering about who might be what and let it depend on that association if they should be allowed into the country or not you know you're a victim of biased thought patterns. Uhm you is ment in general here, not speaking about you Dice

 

What makes any religion "so great"? Islam gives its adherents a sense of meaning and direction to their lives, offers them a moral code that is admittedly harsh but effective, encourages altruism, and provides a sense of belonging to a global community. I've spent time in Muslim countries and have been impressed at how much the religion means in people's lives. And Islam has distinctive values and emphases that I've benefited from in shaping my Christian outlook. The imam in my community was supportive when I lost my mother, and I appreciate that. When you get to know Muslims you find most of them are good people, with a few bad apples, like everybody else. And I don't think "we" have coddled them at all. On these Forums and in the world at large, Muslims are mainly under attack--often unfairly--more so than other religions.

 

Offers them a moral code? Is there a choice in the matter?

 

To those considering converting to Islam, yes. Even Muslims, like adherents of other religions, can choose not to abide by the tenets of their faith. In Islam, they may face greater pressure and consequences. But "provides" might be a better word.

 

So, in an Islamic country, you can go against Islamic tenets, and when called on it, can simply point out that you have chosen not to abide by the tenets of the faith?

 

Yes, you could do that. Wouldn't be prudent! Most Muslims, like people of other faiths, sin--but they usually try to keep it to themselves. And to sin is one thing; to say publicly that you've chosen not to abide by the tenets of Islam sounds a lot like apostasy, which depending on the country can be a serious offense. Apostasy includes not only abandoning Islam but also questioning fundamental tenets of Islam. I wouldn't recommend it for a Muslim in Saudi Arabia! Muslims living in western countries could probably get away with a lot more.

For an interesting discussion of the Saudi death penalty for apostasy, see the article by Mohamed Ghilan in AlJazeera http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/05/islam-saudi-apostasy-201458142128717473.html "The death penalty for apostasy relies at the core of it on an authentically verified Hadith from Prophet Muhammad who said, 'Whoever changes his religion kill him.' This statement, however, would seem to contradict numerous verses in the Quran that guarantee freedom of belief, a few of which include 'There is no compulsion in religion' [2:256], and 'Whoever so wills may believe and whoever so wills may deny' [18:29]." The Prophet (pbuh) himself spared a known Bedouin apostate, and another authentic Hadith qualifies the penalty to "…the one leaving his religion and abandoning the group", leaving room for the interpretation that the penalty should apply only to apostasy that challenges the political fabric of society. This was the view of Sharia scholar Muhammad al-Shawkani who is respected by Islamists.

 

Lol is anyone considering converting to islam

 

I doubt it. Unless one actually believes they require redemption. Of course, that would apply to most converts of Christianity, too.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought. I wonder if there is a country where Christianity is also enforced in such a thought-controlling manner.

 

No, of course not----Christianity has always been a religion of love and acceptance of all people. We are all God's children, right? Love one another---turn the other cheek; love thy enemy as thyself! And in a Christian country you have freedom of religion. You choose to be a baptist, or a Lutheran, or a Jew, or a Muslim... Wait, scratch that----forget what I said.

In a Christian country you can believe what you want, you can be an atheist, you can pray to Mecca... No wait.

Let's look at the loving history of Christianity. I visited Ireland a few years back and I was impressed how there are catholics, and protestants... Let me start over...

Apostasy is something you don't find in the history of Christianity because of its teachings of love, good will, and altruism. Take Europe, for example, where else would people have turned in the dark days of Europe's history but the church, when the Spanish Inquisition was torturing and killing people left and right for... cases of... Damnit! ...well that was an awful long time ago, and it was Europe.

Here in America----ok forget the Salem witch trials and the fallout in witch hunts.

America was founded on good Christian principles. God meant for us to have this land---and it was hard to move here----there was thick greenery and undergrowth, there weren't enough men to clear the fields in time to feed a growing population, Let alone plant and harvest. But it was Manifest Destiny so God came to our rescue: All over Eastern America there were fields of already cleared, growing, and ready to harvest food that God had planted for us. And with his help we simply rounded up the Indians in their village next to the fields, locked them in their longhouse and burned... Wait, that-------god damn it!

 

Ok----I thought a bit. Let me try again. The subject is Christianity and thought control.


Christianity goes hand in hand with science, because, after all, it is the word of God. That's why Newton did so well in trying to explain the workings of God's universe. Therefore when man first proposed that the planets orbit the sun, and not the sun and all the planets orbitting the moon, the church... dog gone it! Scratch that.

Today we know how science and Christianity compliment each other. For example, almost all scientists agree that global warming is a serious issue and that we need to act fast to stem man's carbon impact on the environment. Time is rapidly running out to do something. The situation is so dire that the government needs to continue implementing policies to lower our carbon imprint----it is literally crazy for us not to. Countries all over the world are working to move away from fossil fuels and to reduce emissions. Because this is science, the church should work with our government to... What the Hell? I give up!!!

 

Then it's settled; religion is an exercise in mind-control, and the last thing we need is another version of it.

 

Thank you.

 

Can you please name one example of President Trump being racist or xenophobic? I ask for only one because people tend to blitz me with claims. One or two would be just fine.

 

The difference is 70% of all Muslims believes in some form of sharia law such as women not having equal rights. While its not blowing buildings and crashing planes into towers its still bad. Christians on the other hand believe in equal opportunity. As a side note how many religions aside from non catholic Christianity can you name were if you decide to ditch it the worst you'll get is "I'm disappointed in you, but I'll pray for you"? Most other religions shun you or as with Islam kill you.

 

Ephesians 5:21-24, which is in the New Testament. Verses 22-24 of the New International Version of the Bible say: "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." (Italics my own.)

Yep, sure sounds like equality to me.

 

This discussion

That would be "progressive" and "mainline" Christianity. A lot of fundamentalist Evangelicals I know are into shunning, and have a patriarchal attitude toward women. The evangelical Promise Keepers movement in the 1990s was based on the premise that men had a duty to "take back" leadership of the home. There have been nine woman heads of state in Muslim countries, but none in the U.S.

 

Islam is certainly nothing new, although its numbers in the West are new. There are some religions that don't seem to be particularly into mind control: Buddhism and Hinduism come to mind. "Mainline" Protestants and progressive Christians don't seem to be particularly into it either. And some Muslims are relatively open to independent thought.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_and_progressive_Muslim_movements

 

Everything that isn't against God's word. If a woman has a husband that's telling her to murder someone else then she's in no obligation to follow through.