Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! 1. Biblical references record God’s commands to specific people to wage war against certain groups for a particular purpose and a limited time period. These passages are a historic account of God’s dealings with His people. Conversely, the Koran’s more numerous violent passages call upon Muslims of all times to fight unbelievers with impunity and spread Islam with the sword. 2. The Crusades were a defensive response to centuries of incessant Muslim aggression, which threatened the very existence of European civilization. Indeed, Spain and parts of Italy, Sicily and France were dominated by the Muslims. Pope John VIII was even forced to pay them tribute. 3. Islam is unique among all religions of the world, since its doctrine, theology and legal system all mandate warfare against unbelievers. Moreover, the peace that Islam envisions will only come: “when everyone is a Muslim or at least subject to the Islamic state…to establish that peace, Muslims must wage war.” What do our members feel about the contents of this book?
This is from a previous post I submitted in Eastern Philosophy: " In the current cultural climate, Muslims are in danger of being misunderstood; the ethics of Islam being confused with the laws and politics of countries which are Muslim dominated. Random quotations from religious texts can be used to support any specious argument. And juvenile contributions from so-called defenders of the faith are contradictory to the sustenance of the religion. They only serve to shame those of us who want only the liberty to practise our faith as well as be productive members of a diverse society. I have good friends of all faiths and we choose to let our differences make our lives more interesting, rather than debate over which one of us is right or superior. In the Bhagvad Gita it says, Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me." Anyway, history is written by the winners and until we build a time machine or acquire paranormal capabilities, it is unproductive to look back at who did what. It would be more productive to look forward at what is required to enable people of different faiths, race, color and gender to live together. The most important problems facing the world today are environment, population, disease, natural calamities and terrorism, in that order. 4 out of 5 have nothing to do with religion or race. Time would be better spent in resolving issues than in re-hashing them and using them as an excuse to air your personal biases.
Yes of course, and no doubt fanaticism is a religion all by itself; that is why I emphasized today; anyway, I was just trying to underline that if the whole point of the Great Religious Debates is to prove who is better; it might be nice to actually survive long enough to see an outcome.
