Similarities between Islam and Christianity...

You need to get over yourself.

For one, the high suicide rate in Japan is due mostly to culture.
Look here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/07/world/main543167.shtml

Also, here is the Dalai Lama's understanding of the purpose of life: http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/resources/purpose_life_dalai_lama.html

"In conclusion, I would like briefly to expand my thoughts beyond the topic of this short piece and make a wider point: individual happiness can contribute in a profound and effective way to the overall improvement of our entire human community. Because we all share an identical need for love, it is possible to feel that anybody we meet, in whatever circumstances, is a brother or sister. No matter how new the face or how different the dress and behavior, there is no significant division between us and other people. It is foolish to dwell on external differences, because our basic natures are the same. Ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home. If we are to protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of universal altruism. It is only this feeling that can remove the self-centered motives that cause people to deceive and misuse one another. If you have a sincere and open heart, you naturally feel self-worth and confidence, and there is no need to be fearful of others. I believe that at every level of society -- familial, tribal, national and international successful world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities. I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness. It is the time to help create a happier world. "


The great thing about Buddhism is that it leaves it up to you to discover the purpose of life. It give you guidelines (THERE ARE NO RULES OR COMMANDMENTS) but you must create the necessary conditions for the arising of realisation yourself. Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven lies within. You just have to sow the right seeds and cultivate your mind.

Buddhism defines suffering as merely the gap between what one wants the world to be and the way it really is.

"Finally, Nhat Hahn also spoke about the Buddhist perspective of dealing with suffering in our lives. Although it might at first seem paradoxical to many Americans, he suggested that, rather than our normal practice of "running away from our pain and sorrow, or covering it up with consumption," a Buddhist understands that "suffering must be recognized and embraced in order to alleviate it...Dear friends, let us embrace our pain and sorrow with tenderness to find out what is the deep source. Then comes the insight that will liberate you from suffering."

http://www.livingdharma.org/Real.World.Buddhism/ThichNhatHanh-Suffering.html

 

Buddhism is a very interesting religion. it's philosophies intrigue me a lot. there's just something about fully organized religion that doesnt feel right. they have lent themselves to so much abuse throughout their history that there just has to be an underlying problem. i dont know what that problem is (obviously), but it's there.

"religion is the opium of the masses"....... that quote is basically how i feel.

 

from the World Health Org


from the BBC April 2004

South India suicide is world high

Suicide rates among young people in southern India are the highest in the world, researchers say.

A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet says family conflicts, domestic violence and mental illness are the most common triggers.

The survey of 10- to 19-year-olds in the region around Vellore found that the average rate for women was 148 per 100,000, and 58 per 100,000 for men.

The average suicide rate worldwide is 14.5 per 100,000.

Globally, rates for men are three times higher than those for women.

'Major public health problem'

The report, due to be published on Friday, was written by researchers at the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, in southern India.

They say the high rates emphasise the need to treat adolescent suicide as a major public health problem requiring urgent intervention.

They found that suicide accounts for half to three-quarters of all deaths in young women, and a quarter of deaths of young men in the region.

Hanging and poisoning with pesticides were the most common causes of death.

Despite the small sample of people studied, researcher Dr Anuradha Bose says the figures are representative of rates throughout India.

"Reported rates of suicide in other parts of India are low because identification of suicides is difficult, owing to inefficient civil registration systems, non-reporting deaths, variable standards in certifying deaths, and the legal and social consequences of suicide," he says.

"We do not believe that our findings are an aberration," he adds.

Experts believe suicide is under-reported throughout the developing world.

"There is a very major trend here " Dr Jose Bertolote of the World Health Organisation told the Associated Press.

In commentary on the research in the journal, Wun Jung Kim and Tanvir Singh of the Medical College of Ohio say higher suicide rates among girls have also been reported in China and Singapore.

Socio-cultural, economic and political upheaval could be a contributing factor, they suggest.

"One can surmise that intergenerational and gender conflicts are more intense in a traditional agricultural society transforming into an egalitarian industrial society than in stable developed countries."

Highest Suicide Rates in the World
Suicides per 100,000 inhabitants per year
1. Lithuania (42)
2. Russia (37.4)
3. Belarus (35)
4. Latvia (34.3)
5. Estonia (33.2)
6. Hungary (32.1)
7. Slovenia (30.9)
8. Ukraine (29.4)
9. Kazakhstan (28.7)
10. Finland (24.3)

 

Any proof of this?

 

Sane --

Except that Christians feel that meeting the Ten Commandments fully is nearly an impossibility. Christians believe that because:

1. God is holy; and
2. Sin has broken our relationship with God...

that God repaired this through the blood of Christ. I can't do it on my own. Christ was the perfect sacrifice for my sin...borne out of the old Hebrew sacrificial system. and through God's grace and Christ's example, I strive to live by the law (the Ten Commandments, included)...but Christ boiled it down pretty simply and said, "the first commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and might...the second is to love your neighbor as you love yourself."

So my "religion" isn't really a religion. It's a response. When someone shows you overwhelming love or kindness...you feel a sense of wanting to return that. So the way I act towards others was commanded by Christ...but it's more of a response to the incredible grace I feel from being liberated from myself.

Not asking if you agree....but I am asking if what I wrote made sense to you...am I being clear? If we were face to face I could explain this better.

 

The main similarity between Christianity and Islam is that all over the world, people kill other people in the name of both Christianity and Islam.

 

how so?
Ireland is pretty religious and they are a "red" country.
much of the ME doesn't have any data on that map (the white parts) so who knows if it's red, yellow or blue

 

Max beat me to it. Sane, comparing the Ten Commandments to the Quran is a good shorthand way for comparing Judaism and Islam. Those two strike me as more similar to one another then either are to Christianity. In major bullet point fashion, I'd say they all agree that there is one supreme god and that he has a standard of moral behavior. They seem to part ways though in that Islam and Judaism say you can achieve that level of moral behavior and Christianity says it is impossible to do.

 

but to expound, grace doesn't then give you a free pass to go on sinning...instead it calls for its own response. the book of james says, "show me a faith with no works and i'll show you a dead faith."

works aren't something done to earn favor...they're done as response to grace.

 

I found this site a while back:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm

Shared Belief in the "Golden Rule"

"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal." ~The Dalai Lama


Bahá'í World Faith:
"Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not." "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself."

Baha'u'llah
"And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Brahmanism:
"This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you". Mahabharata, 5:1517

Buddhism:
"...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" Samyutta NIkaya v. 353
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18

Christianity:
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Matthew 7:12
"...and don't do what you hate...", Gospel of Thomas 6

Confucianism:
"Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
"Tse-kung asked, 'Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?' Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3
"Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence." Mencius VII.A.4

Hinduism:
"One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself" Mencius Vii.A.4
"This is the sum of the Dharma [duty]: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." Mahabharata 5:1517

Humanism:
"(5) Humanists acknowledge human interdependence, the need for mutual respect and the kinship of all humanity."
"(11) Humanists affirm that individual and social problems can only be resolved by means of human reason, intelligent effort, critical thinking joined with compassion and a spirit of empathy for all living beings. " 5

Islam:
"None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths." 6

Jainism:
"Therefore, neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra 5.101-2.
"In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara
"A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated. "Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

Judaism:
"...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18
"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
"And what you hate, do not do to any one." Tobit 4:15 8

Native American Spirituality:
"Respect for all life is the foundation." The Great Law of Peace.
"All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." Black Elk

Roman Pagan Religion:
"The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves."

Shinto:
"The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form"

Sikhism:
Compassion-mercy and religion are the support of the entire world". Japji Sahib
"Don't create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone." Guru Arjan Devji 259
"No one is my enemy, none a stranger and everyone is my friend." Guru Arjan Dev : AG 1299

Sufism:
"The basis of Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven't the will to gladden someone's heart, then at least beware lest you hurt someone's heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this." Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Master of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order.

Taoism:
"Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien.
"The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49

Unitarian:
"We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent of all existence of which we are a part." Unitarian principles.

Wicca:
"An it harm no one, do what thou wilt" (i.e. do what every you want to, as long as it harms nobody, including yourself). The Wiccan Rede

Yoruba: (Nigeria):
"One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts."

Zoroastrianism:
"That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself". Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5
"Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29



Some philosophers' statements are:

Plato:
"May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me." (Greece; 4th century BCE)

Socrates:
"Do not do to others that which would anger you if others did it to you." (Greece; 5th century BCE)

Seneca:
"Treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your superiors," Epistle 47:11 (Rome; 1st century CE)



Examples from moral/ethical systems are:

Humanism:
"...critical intelligence, infused by a sense of human caring, is the best method that humanity has for resolving problems. Reason should be balanced with compassion and empathy and the whole person fulfilled." Humanist Manifesto II; Ethics section.

Scientology:
"20: Try to treat others as you would want them to treat you." This is one of the 21 moral precepts that form the moral code explained in L. Ron Hubbard's booklet "The Way to Happiness."

 

why is it convenient? I didn't make the map.

I bet there are more atheists in the ME than you probably think.
they just can't talk about it freely there without being threatened (see Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasrin)

But fine let's go with your assumption:
Atheists are more likely to commit suicide than non-atheists

but here's mine:
Muslims are more likely to be suicide bombers than non-muslims.

 

Ouch.


In other news. Islam is based on plagarism and personal views of Muhammed. The 10 were written thousands of years before the Q. They were copied.

 

does that mean it's ok to put a death warrant out on their heads?

so in all your travels how many atheists did you meet there? what evidence did you see to support your view? in 2 of the 6 places you mentioned you admit it's not even talked about and it's a crimnial offense in Egypt too (see Salaheddin Mohsen). Atheists don't usually congregate anywhere like a church or mosque or wear recognizable symbols.

pointing fingers? you started this (again) by calling out atheism in your second post, right after your disclaimer about not wanting to offend anyone.