RE: The Problem with Christians
March 11, 2016 at 6:55 am
(This post was last modified: March 11, 2016 at 7:08 am by AJW333.)
(March 10, 2016 at 7:37 pm)Esquilax Wrote:This comment probably deserves its own thread since it is so far off the mark. Islam denies that Jesus is the son of God. It denies that he is God, which is central to Christian belief. Their messiah is the twelfth imam or the Mahdi, and he is definitely not Jesus, in fact it is likely that the Mahdi is none other than the antichrist himself. Christianity says Jesus is the only path to eternal life and Islam says that worship of Allah and Mohammed are the only path. I could go on and on about how the beliefs of the two religions contradict each other to the point of being diametrically opposed but this will suffice for now.(March 10, 2016 at 7:09 pm)AJW333 Wrote: The Bible correctly predicts the rise of an end-times antichrist system. Why would a ragtag bunch of Jews 2000 years ago have the audacity to predict that the entire world would end up engulfed in a battle between what they believed as Christians and the forces denying their beliefs. It's an outrageously unlikely prediction and yet here we are watching it unfold. Fundamental Islam is slaughtering people all over the world for simply refusing to submit to its totalitarian demands. How is my observation of the actions of Islam bigotry or ignorance?
If you despise the Christian faith, how on earth could you not feel the same way about Islam?
Hey dude? I'll give you a big ol' hint: the Islamic religion does not "deny" christian beliefs. Allah is the Abrahamic god, it's just a different interpretation than yours, with one extra prophet. Hell, Jesus is still an important, accepted Messianic figure in Islam, it's just that their story has a canonical third part, where yours stops at the New Testament. In no sense are christian beliefs denied by islam, and more than they're denied by freaking protestantism.
(March 10, 2016 at 7:37 pm)Esquilax Wrote: Also, your description of this war is rather... limited, I believe intentionally so. You really think you've got just christians on one side, and islam on the other? These would be the same islamic terrorists who have also been attacking old temples dedicated to Baal, and even to destroying the culture of other islamic sects? Are you just not aware of the damage ISIS is wreaking on other religions? And wouldn't you have to conclude, taking into account the actual scope of the attacks here, and not simply those ones that impact you, that this is, in fact, not a battle between christianity and fundamentalist islam, but between fundamentalist islam and every other religion?Fair point. It is noteworthy though that there are more than a few researchers stating that Christians are the most persecuted people group in the world, especially in the middle east.
(March 10, 2016 at 7:37 pm)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote:Forgive my skepticism but this is hard to believe. If you really value the rights of people to believe whatever they want, why all the antagonism towards believers? If you and/or others here think that religion causes nothing but problems, wouldn't you rather see it gotten rid of? I know that's how some folk on this forum think.(March 10, 2016 at 7:31 pm)AJW333 Wrote: So I guess an anti-theistic government would suit you right down to the ground? In terms of anti-theistic regimes of the 20th century how well did they treat their citizens? Not well when you consider that practically every communist (anti theist) country of the 20th century slaughtered huge numbers of their own people and denied them a host of basic human rights. Consider the USSR, China, East Germany, Romania, North Korea, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia etc etc. On the other hand, countries that we might consider "Christian" seemed to fare much better. I know where I'd rather live.
No one wants an anti-theistic government. What we want is for everyone to be free to believe whatever they want without the (secular) government getting involved-- or, as everyone else on the planet but religious fundamentalists like to call it, non-theocratic.
From a Christian perspective, I think it would be great to have Christian leaders. As an atheist, I presume you believe that is the best ideology so why wouldn't you want to see atheist leaders?