I don't always post in the religion forum

Just look up mohamads first contact with a celestial being. That pretty much tells you all you need to know. Draw your own conclusions.

 

Bah! There are good Muslims and bad Muslims just like there are good and bad Christians. The problem is religion itself and its intolerance and certainty that theirs is the only way. I simple cannot understand why I cannot believe in God but not in religion - well - I can and I do...much to the displeasure of my wife's Orthodox priest.

 

No, but there plenty of Muslims who are - extremists.

Personally, my faith is Christian. I would never follow Islam.

 

All that God called the Jews to do in the Old testament, Is NOT what Jesus called His believers to do .
His expectations ARE MUCH HIGHER.
God knew men abused the scriptures. Satan did in, Matthew 4; Jesus temptation in the wilderness.
Jesus provided His believers the Holy Spirit, to teach and guide in God's will .
Early Christians had no writings to lean on .
Gentiles were not all literate and relied on the Holy Spirit in their day to day lives.
Paul may have been inspired , but not all Paul said is God breathed, just as the old testament is not all "God breathed". (God's specific instruction)

Jesus does not, for an reason call for the killing of any one .
Defense is one thing , murder/aggression is another.
Jesus instructed His disciples specifically " If your are not received, LEAVE".

The books of the Koran however say other wise, because the inspiration for that did not come from God at all.
Much like the many cults that start with Christianity but distract with their own twist.
In the end man is accountable for what God thinks , not what we think.
I thank Jesus for the Holy Spirit, who teaches God's will from His POV.
Though I'm not perfect in it , that is the center of the center my life is aimed at.
And not because of something feared , but because I know there is a great deal more waiting for me in Gods plan beyond this existence .
And by learning to seek and fallow His instruction,
I trust God and He is able to trust me. And that means something.

 

Some Muslims choose unnecessarily not to take medications or nutrition by mouth between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan. The Quran provides for some exemptions from those Ramadan fasting restrictions by infants/young children; pregnant women, the ill, infirm and elderly whose health would be adversely affected by not eating. Fasting during Ramadan - Wikipedia Apparently one Hadith forbids menstruating women from Ramadan fasting....I think that rule might be a self preservation measure for Muslim men.

Although I have no god belief, I do have an interest in comparative mythology. Unsurprisingly, many Christians are unaware of the historical development of their own religion, let alone that of other religions. It would surprise many Christians to know that the god of the Old Testament was but one of a number of gods within a polytheistic pantheon.

There are many reasons why people convert, and de-convert from one religion to another, or to no religion. I became a Christian at my parent's urging....though it backfired somewhat on them, as I embraced a greater commitment to Christianity than they had apparently had, and were somewhat bewildered by the intensity of my piety at the time. My de-conversion took several years when I began to actually read the Bible, and started to investigate the truth claims of the Testaments more closely. I have found that many of the truth claims embedded in sacred religious texts didn't survive critical investigation and evaluation.

As to Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam....Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens: 'Muslim community criticised me for picking up a guitar again' Why I Embraced Islam: Yusuf Islam

 

There is more of a theological relationship between Judaism, Christianity, Islam, than many Christians (particularly Christian evangelists) might be prepared to concede. All three religions, are religions of the god of Abraham, and all claim their lineage through Abraham: Judaism and Christianity through Abraham's son Isaac, and Islam through Abraham's son Ishmael.....and then the fight began!

Citation? You are referring to the first revelation of Mohammed in the cave of Hira. According to Islamic theology, it is the Angel Gabriel who interacted with Mohammed, which incident becomes an important Sura in the Quran. Since when did Gabriel become a 'demon'? Muhammad's first revelation - Wikipedia One Night in a Cave that Changed History Forever | Qur’anic Studies

I'm not convinced that you are any better read on the subject than I am, else you would have supported your comments with cited references.

A splendid suggestion that you might also like to follow.

Yes, claims are made about 'the prophet', by the followers of a competing Abrahamic religion, but if you look and read, you will find such claims to be self serving and gross distortions of Islamic history and theology...but that's ok, the same applies to the followers of Mohammed of the Christ. The fact that the adherents of both religions snipe at each other's theologies, is neither here nor there (other than when fighting breaks out with guns and bombs), for the tenets of both faiths are incredible.

I do have to wonder whether you've been reading too many Jack Chick tracts.

"Allah Had No Son"

"The Little Bride"

The links to the complete tracts are easily found via a Google search....if one could be bothered.

The accusation that Allah is a moon god seems to be a relatively recent fundie Christian conspiracy theory peddled by Robert Morey via his book 'The Islamic Invasion'.

My God is Better Than Yours (I): Christians Calling Muslims “Mohammedans” a Case of Pot Calling Kettle Black
My God is Better Than Yours (II): Robert Morey, The Fake Doctor Behind the “Allah is the Moon-God” Theory
Do Muslims Worship the Moon God? Refutation To The Myth By Etymological Evidence
Allah - RationalWiki

You know, I feel like that whenever I see a thread about evolution, carbon 14 dating, or some other bit of anti-science click bait that gets posted here.

On that point, we can emphatically agree...however, we may perhaps disagree on who the and monkeys are here....

 

I can't seem to make enough sense out of any religion to follow them. When searching for facts to support a particular point of view or reason for certain behaviors and beliefs associated with religions, I always seem to run into that faith argument. That's just ... flimsy.

That is not to say that abandonment of a moral compass has taken place. To do so would leave open the door of irresponsibility and its closest cousin, self-defeating behavior.

However, it is important to respect the choices of others. Freedom of religion, among other freedoms (certainly not the least of which is 2A), is clearly stated in our Bill of Rights.

 

I like how people who have never spent any real amount of time in a predominantly Islamic country are some how an authority on the subject.

 

For me, it was just a matter of being at the lowest point in my life and almost dying while there. It wasn't religion and it wasn't faith. It was an answer to a prayer.

Well, I certainly don't consider myself an authority on it. I imagine that most here wouldn't. I guess it is the countless videos and images that I have seen, which pretty much brought me to my views of quite a number of followers of Islam.

Oh, also, the fact that Muslims follow a supposed prophet who was married to a child - that kinda gets stuck in my craw as well. Pedos aren't my kind of people.




Call me crazy. But, I am thinking these people really don't want to play well with others.

 

I don't think that living in a country for any real amount of time necessarily makes one an authority on the subject of the country's predominant religion...though, perhaps ignorance of the country's predominant religion can lead to a caning, or worse. Expatriates living in a country not of their birth and early upbringing can be as blindered and prejudiced as some Muslims may be who are presently living in western secular societies.

It is possible for one to become an authority on comparative religion without ever having lived anywhere else other than one's own country....most religions are so well, extensively, and accurately documented.....in any case, the theology in contention is many centuries old....I don't think any of the pundits who are authorities on these matters have time machines....though it would be cool if they did...it might clear up a few misapprehensions.

 

Here in Cambodia, the Muslims are not a large percentage of the population. I have seen a few scattered here and there. They are quite a docile people, from what I see of them here. Apparently, there are a percentage of them who are not so strict in their faith, either.

Here's a whopper. I personally know a bartender here. He is Muslim, drinks, and is gay. I wonder how many go against the grain, both here and elsewhere in the World?

 

Exactly, Islam is a very intolerant religion. While most Muslims aren't problem there is still a subset that is both intolerant and violent. The Christians killed in my post above were detained and then asked to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam or be killed. None of them would renounce Christianity and so were killed execution style.

Egyptian Christians Killed for Refusing to Renounce Their Faith in Jesus

"Survivors of the attack said that the ten masked Islamic State militants did not merely open fire on the bus full of Christian pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confesor, but that the victims were made to descend from the bus and asked one by one whether they were Christians before being shot by the assailants.

According to one of the chaplains of the group, Father Rashed, as each pilgrim came off the bus they were asked to renounce their Christian faith and profess belief in Islam, but all of them—even the children—refused. Each was killed in cold blood with a gunshot to the head or the throat."​

It is heartening that Egypt responded with attacks on the ISIS training camps likely used by the terrorists. It is also heartening that the Saudi's have denounced the murders as well, but I still hear crickets from other muslims.

 

Self proclaimed authority with zero experience...

 

The argument of authority by personal experience, falls down when folks who claim to be an authority on Christianity weren't there in Palestine between 1CE and 30-70 CE when Christianity evolved, and finally got kick started by Paul of Tarsus. Although the disciplines of comparative religion / biblical studies / Semitic studies sometimes relies on field work, much of the work is done back in academia, the product of which is there for all to examine, in the form of published treatises and scholarly journal articles. Unless you can demonstrate that you have the lived experience of someone closely involved in the nascent Christianity cult, in the early days of the Christian movement (pre 100CE) , in Palestine, then you are no greater authority on Christianity than I according to your own standards of lived experience being the necessary qualification to be considered an 'authority' on the subject.

The thing is, I have not proclaimed myself to be an authority in Islamic studies any greater than OldDude...just that I at least make some effort to research the subject and provide links to articles that spread a little more light on the subject.

 

What made you think I care about any of all that?

 

You're right...you seem to be mutterin' to yourself.

 

The only good things that will come of the eventual Muslim take over is they will kill the non believer apologies first and it's the quintessential male dominated society.

Is this all you do all day?
Because it makes mumblin to my self look very appealing.

 

We had a gay alcohol consuming Muslim finally snap during Ramadan here and killed 50 some people in a gay night club in Florida.
As long as they stay gay and alcohol drinking they're cool.