Also, all early converts to Christianaity had to convert to Judasim also. It was some time before they officially dropped the Jewish part. BTW, Do all muslims prefer Islamic Law over the American justice system, etc.? I am completey ignorant about Islam.
I disagree. many of the terrorists were educated and had a good lifestyle. Many of them are sons of Millionaires that just left their worldly possesions and followed blindly in the wrong way... OBL wastn poor, neither are many of the terrorists. Certainly you're going to have the fanatics - but the environment that creates the terrorists is the poverty, in my opinion. That's where one crazy leader can control the masses - that's how Hitler came to power in post-WW1 Germany, and why we chose the option of rebuilding the country after WW2. If you have 5,000 Al Queda members and are picking 20 to run the 9/11 operation, certainly you're going to pick the best educated and most fanatical of the bunch - those are the leaders. The poor are most easily swayed away by money or other things, so they aren't reliable enough to put on the front lines of an operation like this. They, instead, are used for suicide bombings or similar missions. But the average terrorist is going to be recruited because of desperation - the terrorist group offers a way out, and an opportunity for a "noble" life. This is how the Madrassah's in Pakistan all work. Pakistan's government can't educate or provide for the impoverished, so these extremist groups do it. Parents are thrilled their kids get an education, clothing, food, etc. In the meantime, the kids get indoctrinated in hatred and eventually are ideal terrorist recruits.
Well thats a person by person answer. I personally like parts of both. For example in Islam the penalty for Murder/rape/terrorism is Murder. Many times in America we see LIFE as an alternative. There are some punishments out there that do warrant another look at ,but overall if the person does the crime he deserves the time/punishment. Some of the laws in countries like Saudi aren't entirely Islamic based, like the no driving part for women, that is entirely cultural as no where in Islam does it say that a woman cannot drive or ride a camel /horse back in the day...
This statement taht All madrassah's work as terrorist camps is entirely wrong. Madrassas are all over Islamic countries, and MOST of them(including pakistani) are just places like orphanages that teach the kids an Islamic Education. Many students of these Madrassas grow up to be Teachers, Preachers, Just everyday Imams in mosques, and all of these professions as far as I remember are respectable and honest careers. Ofcourse there are some corrupt among them, but then again thats life...
BTW, madrassah translates directly to "school" - which is exactly what they are. It's not some terrorist camp. But as you said, desperate kids are very gullible, but the right precautions can be taken. DUmbass Imam at our mosque was preaching stupid things to clearly vulnerable people a couple of months back, and he was immediately removed. Proper action can be taken - if that's what they want. As for Islamic law vs. Justice system... The difference is, for you guys, law is a category and religion is a category. For Muslims, everything is a sub-category of religion. Think about that sentence for a second to make sure you understand what I'm saying. I definitely agree that poverty and illiteracy is the main cause of terrorism. To answer your question, nothing in Islam allows someone to strap bombs to themselves and blow up innocent people. What you need to do is seperate region from religion. Not all Middle Easterners are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Middle Easterners. Terrorism caught on to the poorest, most desperate people - and those people happened to be mostly Muslims. That's why you dont see any terrorism in modernized rich countries like the U.A.E., Qatar, and Bahrain.
read Acts... they definitely held on to a lot of the trappings of Judaism. they worshipped in the temple for a while...Paul went to the temple FIRST when he entered a new town, probably because he found it easier to preach to Jews who had some context for Messiah. it was basically like a divided church over who Jesus was for some time...and finally a clear separation between Christianity and Judaism over the concept of Christ.
the idea that terrorism comes from economics and not theological basings is encouraging to me for some reason... but i'm still challenged by the idea that the jackasses who carried off 9/11 were anything but impoverished.
Religion or Islam? How is that possible in a world with many religions? Is it ever a problem to think yours is the only religion that contains truth? How will there ever be peace between religions with such a mindset?
I don't have to agree with you to have peace with you, Meowgi. I don't have to kill you...or blow up your children..because I believe that Jesus Christ truly died as the sacrifice for my sins. In fact, my Lord calls for the exact opposite response. That I'm to love everyone as much or more than myself...something I shamefully fall short of. I think there is the idea in today's world that if you don't accept someone else's truth that you are against them...or you hate them...I find no truth in that. Particularly since many of my closest friends disagree with me quite vehemently about the nature of Jesus Christ.
i'm not even sure what that means. God may be who He is, regardless of subjective opinions to the contrary.
Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth. "I take it that the present tense in the second question has been purposely used instead of the past. I am being led to my religion through Truth and Non-Violence, i.e., love in the broadest sense. I often describe my religion as religion of Truth. Of late, instead of saying God is Truth I have been saying Truth is God, in order more fully to define my religion. I used at one time to know by heart the thousand names of God which a booklet in Hinduism gives in verse form and which perhaps tens of thousands recite every morning. But now-a-days nothing so completely describes my God as Truth. Denial of God we have known. Denial of Truth we have not known. The most ignorant among mankind have some truth in them. We are all sparks of Truth. The sum total of these sparks is indescribable, as-yet-Unknown Truth, which is God. I am being daily led nearer to it by constant prayer. I have realised that every religion contains both truth and untruth. The root of all religions is one and it is pure and all of them have sprung from the same source, hence all are equal." - Mahatma Gandhi
Actually Satanism is nothing but a spoof on Christianity (they just like to freak out Christians and don't actually believe in Satan at all), but you get what I am saying.
thanks for that assertion of your version of the truth. don't mean to be coy or sarcastic...but i see this a lot. in saying there are no absolutes, we make the most absolute of statements...or in saying there is no truth, they assert for themselves their own truth, that being its non-existence. these are word games..."can God create a rock so big He can't lift it." semantic traps that from my understanding of truth have little to do with the issue. the sky is blue...the grass is green....there is a truth outside of my own perception. it exists in the very nature we're surrounded in. why would we assume less for a Creator?
ever met anyone who is into Satanism? I have. Best I can tell, they aren't spoofing. Not a worship of a deity, but certainly a worship of self above all else.
Nice post back there Darkhorse. There have always been various interpretations, splinter groups and cult offshoots of every religion. Look at Islam today, from a religion of peace to the extremes of the Taliban and Al Quaeda. Look at the variations in Christianity, Catholicism, Protestantism and it's various branches, some peaceful some to the extremes of the World Church of the Creator. Historically, some of these offshoots prosper and some wither or are exterminated. Some inexorably lead to clashes.
Moral absolute truths negate the need for rationial thought. If truth lays outside your perceptions, how can one system of thought have a monoply on it? Questions like "can God create a rock so big He can't lift it?" are great. It is like a zen koan, a means to breakthough perceptions and transcend duality. The only way you can understand something completely is through experience and not through conceptualization.
ok truth does lay outside my perspective. the sky is blue whether i perceive it to be or not. i am a carbon based being, whether you perceive that or not.
Still Jewish; just doesn't follow Judaism. As for non-Jews who 'become' Jewish (i.e., follow Judaism), it is quite possible, but since Judaism does not actively seek converts I doubt many people know much of the religion or even the ability to convert. (Conversion depends on the Rabbi and whether they are Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, or Reform will have some bearing. I saw a number of 200,000 converts in the US, prob most due to inter-faith marriage).
