Originally Posted by Praxeas
Do you think there are as many "radical" Christian pastors as there are Islamic leaders?
There are radicals on both sides. I think both are wrong. I think there are more radical imams than radical pastors. I think there are more christian pastors who are adulterers, thieves and child molesters than there are imams who are the same. As christians as a whole cannot be judged by adulterers, thieves, and child molesters - Muslim as a whole cannot be judged by radicals who hijack bits and pieces of the Quran for their own personal power or gain. Thank you for asking me what I think.
There are no Christian nations where you can be stoned or beaten to death if you are a 13 year old girl that was gang raped by 3 men.
More are beaten, shot, robbed, stabbed, assualted, raped, burglarized, and killed by drunk drivers in Houston, where I am from, than Saudi Arabia, where I live now, in spite of what Fox News or whatever right wing news programs you watch actually choose to cover as news.
While I understand there are moderate Muslims, unfortunately there are either not enough, they are too weak or they are too silent. Your post? I think the ones that need to hear it are not Christians but those radical muslims. And rather than try to preach to us, stand up and denounce those radical segments if Islam.
I did not preach. I offered another side to this debate, which I did not start, along with a caution about taking bits and pieces of material out of context then extrapolating an "us vs. them" case about it for no purpose but to (1) spread a message of hate and bigotry and (2) self-gratification.
On the other matters:
We know we are saved. We know we have eternal life. We don't have to go through life wondering if we have done enough goodness to merit salvation.
Faith without works is dead. The Quran states that all will be judged according to their deeds. Where is this from?
"And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds."
The Bible also says so. Your words reflect neither.
Yes we believe in One True God. Is He the same God as Islam? By comparison it does not seem He is.
If you to the same God that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, Job, Ezekiel, Elias, Elisha, Jesus, John, Zekeriah, Johah, David, and Soloman prayed to, then you pray to the same God.
Regular daily prayer? That is essential, but we are not earning our way to heaven by doing so.
You said prayer is essential. I said it is a required part of a religious life.
Fasting? Required? Again, no. We don't have special days that we are commanded or forced to fast on. We fast for a different reason. In fact much of what we do is not about fearful obedience, earning our way to heaven or a fear of going to hell. It's about Love. We love God, so we have a relationship with God. We want to do things that draw us closer to God and maintain that closeness. And at the same time we love each other and try to be strong for each other. IF someone has a need, we pray for that person. Fasting helps to increase our faith as well.
Fasting is required in Judism and Islam. There are 56 references to fasting in the Old Testament and 30 in the New Testament. All of the above mentioned Messengers of God practiced fasting. Again, your words do not reflect the deeds of those who were sent by God to teach you. Including Jesus who also fasted.
Charity is again, not a requirement. Rather Charity, is or should be an ATTRIBUTE or the result of having a genuine conversion. We give because we want to, not because we are required to.
Giving a portion of your income or wealth to charity or back to God's work has been practiced by worshipers of the true God since the time of Abraham. Of course you do not have to do this, but this was practiced by the Prophets of God. We choose to emulate and follow the practices outlined since that time.
Have you been to Mecca? Have you circled around the Kaaba? Kissed it? Do you bow facing Mecca in worship? When we worship we bow in our hearts and we are facing God in heaven. He is the object of our worship. We have no idols. Do you know what the Kaaba was before Muhammed started Islam?
The Kaaba started as a place of worship of God by Abraham. It was turned into a place for worship of idols. Among other things, Mohammed toppled the last idol (Hubbal) and declared this for all time to be a place for worship of God only.
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